STARS & MARKETING
I am an immense fan of Mark Cuban for many, many reasons. Having interacted with him on a few occasions (admittedly on the basketball court), I find him to be brutally honest and the quintessential entrepreneur – smart, focused, fun, accessible and real. For that reason, I often read his blog. Recently, I found his brother’s blog post about Evander Holyfield‘s bankruptcy to be especially interesting.
Over the years, we’ve worked with many high profile athletes and entrepreneurs, from Sean Combs to Pamela Anderson to Roy Jones. In the process, I’ve learned the truth behind many misconceptions of celebrity wealth, so I don’t find Holyfield, Tyson or other bankruptcy examples surprising. I’ve met many celebrities who aren’t wealthy in the least, for many reasons:
* Stars usually have very short career spans, without proper financial planning for when they are no longer relevant and large checks no longer appear.
* Becoming a celebrity creates basic lifestyle changes. A sex symbol from a single movie may suddenly need constant security (which they pay for themselves), or a black car to chauffer them, since public transportation poses a threat or a nuisance. As a star of a humongous HBO movie recently told me – “many changes.”
* Celebs often lack the desire to really work. They pay a ton of lip service, but often refuse to show up on time, take advantage of interviews, and focus on important decisions that need to be made about their businesses, careers, etc.
* Everyone wants to make a dime off them. I can’t tell you how many cold calls my entertainment staff and I receive from pariahs who seek or want something from these folks. The dozens of money managers who cold call me wanting to manage celebrity finances, or sell them something, is unreal. I have on occasion asked them, “Why not chase my countless entrepreneurial CEO’s who have less people around them, are easier to sell and more likely to hire you?”
Articles like this are one of the reasons why 5W has built a tremendously successful business of athlete-entrepreneurs who are smart, focused and realize that there is a life after professional sports.
There is a tremendous need for better managers and better advisors who will be straight with these folks. Additionally, these stars need to realize that on-air, on-court antics are one thing, but the same behavior won’t fly when it comes to doing business with corporate America. Many stars who are infamously difficult are in fact a charm when it comes to marketing or sponsorship deals. At the same time, those regarded as charming are, in fact, sometimes dishonest. This is another reason why stars need calculating managers to help them make decisions and need brands off the court or off the screen.
We have worked very hard to build a niche in the arena of being “cool enough to work with the stars/athletes, but buttoned up enough to work alongside decision makers in corporate America.” It’s a fine balancing act.
Ronn Torossian
June 26th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
True facts Ronn. And it not only applies to nationally known stars (Jay Z, Paris Hilton, etc.) but to “regional” stars and semi-celebrities as well. Two of my clients (one a big name lawyer around South Texas and the other an award winning producer) aren’t nationally known, yet, but you wouldn’t believe the vultures that try to get to these two guys.
One of the first things I did was have them sit down with their managers/accountants and start budgeting how they live. We left enough for them to “play” but a big chunk for solid investments and retirement.
It makes a world of difference and once you get your point across to them, it gives them a little more peace of mind.
Good blog.
August 7th, 2008 at 2:39 am
Wednesday I was searching for sites related to Marketing and specifically marketing planning process and I found your site.