Cavaliers Owner’s LeBron Letter Way out of Bounds

After last night’s ridiculous LeBron James announcement special, I can certainly sympathize with Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert.

But the open letter Gilbert posted on the Cavs’ website last night was far too, ahem, cavalier. He missed a great opportunity for his organization to really score some points.

Gilbert’s defiant championship prediction is a decent touch (the all-caps shouting notwithstanding). But the rest of the letter is full of childish, petty name-calling.

Guess he’s playing to the fan base, including one Esquire writer. And that makes sense—to a degree.

The only problem? Fans in the immediate north-central Ohio region aren’t the Cavs’ only target audience.

Millions of people worldwide have been following this silly, sorry saga. Talented players Gilbert will need to deliver on his championship pledge are paying attention, too.

In that respect, he comes across as a bad boss with a serious credibility issue. What would he say to loyal players he’s traded in the past? Should those guys be crying “betrayal,” too?

Gilbert and the Cavaliers could have come away looking much better than the “narcissistic, self-promotional” man (Gilbert’s words) who spurned them. It was a chance to show some class and capture the admiration of a wide swath of the American public.

We love a noble underdog. Sponsors do, too.

But thanks to Gilbert’s letter, the Cavs appear less like the lovable little guy than an angry also-ran.

Gaining a Global Perspective from the World Cup

Maybe, like a lot of Americans, you don’t care too much about soccer. (You probably don’t care to call it “football,” either.)

But you might still want to tune in to some 2010 FIFA World Cup action—if only to study the advertising.

The broadcasts are a showcase for global marketing communications. Many of the spots carry not just a soccer theme, but an international flair as well.

Entries from Coke and Adidas, the two dominant World Cup sponsors, are good examples. Outside the realm of official sponsorship, Nike steals the show:

Note what all these spots have in common: connecting with the target audience—in this case, most of the world’s population (OK, except for many in the U.S.).

The lesson? Companies aspiring to compete globally must make the effort to understand and appeal to different audiences around the world on the audiences’ terms.

These ads aren’t about U.S. companies projecting U.S. perspectives onto everyone else. They’re about global companies, communicating with a global audience, sharing global sensibilities.

There is a big difference, and it can mean the difference between success and failure in today’s global reality.

That’s why keeping an eye on the World Cup is an important opportunity to expand your perspective. After all, just as Team USA is just another player in the World Cup, a U.S. company is just another player on the world stage.