The foundation of all content creation should be your brand vision. Everything you and/or your representation says or does after your vision is established should ultimately direct your audience back to that vision. One of the the questions that I always ask clients when drilling down to their vision is, “what message are you trying to send?”
Messaging can be exceptionally difficult for those with little self-awareness or expertise. Every statement, even with the best intentions, can carry undertones that distract your audience from your vision. Delivering a rousing speech with arms crossed or with hands in pockets may be the most simple example of body language messaging. Using jargon that is inferior or superior to the intelligence of your audience is equally as off-putting. Adding a single word or excluding another can change the entire point of a communication.
Many times we get lost in the short term goals and daily tasks of managing ourselves or our organizations and our message can become inconsistent with our vision. For example, our vision is to provide non-profits and other NGO’s with pro bono creative services. Today, our gross income doesn’t support that initiative so my short-term tasks are sell, sell, sell. While our vision never changed, the message we’re sending is that we need more money. That insinuates a deeper message, maybe Soapboxr doesn’t manage money well, maybe we aren’t a legitimate company if cash flow is that weak, maybe I’m taking money to buy my own toys instead of following the vision that I created at the company’s inception.
LeBron James helped create an organization called Uninterrupted which recently posted this tweet. They’re catching a ton of negative flack for it and rightfully so. The medium, a low-quality cell phone video, by which the “Glass Helmet” was introduced was painful to watch. The message often supersedes the delivery and in this case, just added fuel to a fire that Twitter had ignited. Firstly, I understand that the glass (most likely plastic) helmet is a metaphor but never assume that the good ol’ people of the interwebs will catch on. I can’t, but I definitely can, believe how many people pointed out that it would be unsafe to use such a helmet and that the glass shards would inevitably cause life-threatening injuries. Someone suggested that bringing back leather, maskless helmets would subdue head injuries because players would be forced to make better, safer tackles. Good Lord…bring me a cute cat video before I lose my mind.
My main objection is not with the delivery or the strange metaphor, rather, with the message. Mr. James misuses the term “stigma” right out of the gate. A stigma is a negative preconceived notion or mark of disgrace. Forgivable, I listened to my former boss misuse the word “precedence” for a few years without correcting him. When I’m blue, I remind myself that I just let him do that for years and it cheers me right up. Second, making an assumption or generalization like “…them not having a voice, because of the helmet.” Sorry not sorry, I need some proof that a player’s personal protective equipment is the reason football players presumably have no voice. I understand that the whole purpose is to sell the idea of the glass helmets but this is a stretch at best. It completely discredited anything else that he said after this point in the video. Now I’m questioning the motive. I feel like the next video will be some sort of ask. Maybe they want us to buy the helmet at an exorbitant amount to fund “the cause” of which I’m still not sure what that actually is. Next point…What on earth is the sell here? Are they raising awareness? Are they following up with a fundraising drive? Did a buddy make a clear plastic helmet and they created this whole thing as a ruse to help expose it to the world? Maybe they’re going to try to sell the tech to a sports equipment manufacturer? Ok, this thing is really unraveling.
Now we’ve arrived at the crux, the assumption that football players have no voice. This is where a single word can change the entire message. I think the message is that the majority of ALL football players grind and sacrifice so much for a chance to make a living doing what they love. Furthermore, LeBron is allowing the insinuation that some sort of corporate entity is silencing these players for profit, those big meany-pants. Yea yea, there are many that sneer at the notion of someone getting paid millions to play a game. Whatever, it’s the world we live in. If advertisers couldn’t capitalize and make billions off of sports entertainment, it wouldn’t exist. That argument is hereby invalid. Ezekiel Elliot just made history by becoming the highest paid running back in history. Colin Kaepernick, love him or otherwise, has proved at the expense of his career that he has a voice. If anything, just having your name attached to the NFL gives you a voice in politics, religion, and other hot-button topics that is largely unwarranted by actual intellect or achievement. The only reason I think I know what LBJ was trying to say is because of a football mom who spoke up in response to the original tweet.
“I am a mother of a son at Wake Forest, and this hits hard! 3 star athlete who works so hard in this ACC competition but never seen. It's not his goal, but should be his reward! #glasshelmet!”
I hope that a “3 star athlete” is on a scale of 1 to 3 or else this just got awkward.
Much like those of us who fly a desk 8-12 hours a day in the corporate world, some players at sub-pro levels work extremely hard and never receive recognition, much less compensation for the hours of dedication to their craft. Of course it is admirable to at least acknowledge these people though I do find it odd that the undertone of the initiative is equality and LeBron only mentions him, he, his. Sorry female or gender fluid football players, your grind doesn’t matter I suppose. The NCAA is several steps ahead of Uninterrupted and has been campaigning on behalf of student athletes who have insanely hectic schedules yet maintain exceptional levels of excellence in studies and on the playing field. Most of which go on to corporate careers or other trades.
Many may see this as a personal attack on LeBron James but it isn’t intended to be. Here is my message: Don’t let your brand’s lack of messaging expertise or rush to publish content contaminate your audience’s perception and ultimately your vision. Hire a professional to help you sculpt your message and think before you speak.
Cover photo credit: Dr. Chris Chow