Comments on: Crisis communications: Cleveland Cavaliers drop the ball on LeBron James http://karlsakas.com/cleveland-cavaliers-lebron-james-crisis-communications/ Raleigh Marketing Agencies Blog by Karl Sakas Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:35:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Karl Sakas http://karlsakas.com/cleveland-cavaliers-lebron-james-crisis-communications/#comment-445 Karl Sakas Mon, 12 Jul 2010 01:32:33 +0000 http://karlsakas.com/?p=2157#comment-445 "...please use a tiny fraction of what you were willing to pay Mr. James and hire a good copy editor." @Grant: Thanks for your in-depth analysis! You're right -- the tone and presentation don't make it seem like a serious communication. I can understand Dan Gilbert's hurt feelings, but it's not like this was a complete surprise for Cleveland -- there were just two possible outcomes that they needed to plan for, from a PR perspective. “…please use a tiny fraction of what you were willing to pay Mr. James and hire a good copy editor.”

@Grant: Thanks for your in-depth analysis! You’re right — the tone and presentation don’t make it seem like a serious communication. I can understand Dan Gilbert’s hurt feelings, but it’s not like this was a complete surprise for Cleveland — there were just two possible outcomes that they needed to plan for, from a PR perspective.

]]> By: Grant Martin http://karlsakas.com/cleveland-cavaliers-lebron-james-crisis-communications/#comment-444 Grant Martin Mon, 12 Jul 2010 00:00:42 +0000 http://karlsakas.com/?p=2157#comment-444 My first reaction to Dan Gilbert’s open letter was, “This has to be some kind of a farce.” As if the content, grammar, and punctuation weren’t laughable enough, the thing was written in Comic Sans font. Comic Sans! As I read on, it slowly dawned on me that this dude was serious. And that the only laughter was going to be directed at Mr. Gilbert himself. PR is not my strong suit, but at a recent International Association of Business Communicators event titled “Crisis Communications: When Your Worst-Case Scenario Becomes a Reality, ” I learned that some of the most important tenets of crisis communications are to establish your key messages early, be consistent, and stick to the script. I would add that if you’re going to be the person delivering the message, you need to be the grown-up and take the high road, even if your feelings are hurt. Shelve the sarcasm, and for the love of all things holy, please use a tiny fraction of what you were willing to pay Mr. James and hire a good copy editor. My first reaction to Dan Gilbert’s open letter was, “This has to be some kind of a farce.” As if the content, grammar, and punctuation weren’t laughable enough, the thing was written in Comic Sans font. Comic Sans! As I read on, it slowly dawned on me that this dude was serious. And that the only laughter was going to be directed at Mr. Gilbert himself.

PR is not my strong suit, but at a recent International Association of Business Communicators event titled “Crisis Communications: When Your Worst-Case Scenario Becomes a Reality, ” I learned that some of the most important tenets of crisis communications are to establish your key messages early, be consistent, and stick to the script.

I would add that if you’re going to be the person delivering the message, you need to be the grown-up and take the high road, even if your feelings are hurt. Shelve the sarcasm, and for the love of all things holy, please use a tiny fraction of what you were willing to pay Mr. James and hire a good copy editor.

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