The Marketing Tactics of Today's Athletes:
What does a publicist do when a star athlete needs
to represent his sport at a big charity event and he wants to join along with a
teammate while he's at it?
Well, if you're the star athlete's marketing/social media team, you get TMZ on speed dial and drag
along those who are willing to show the world "what the athletes are
getting". The big charity event was the American Century Celebrity Gold Championship and it was held July 8 through the 12th. From the very start, QB1 Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce were repeatedly shown they had guests along. This was not going to be a "guys' trip". And Harvey Levin's sleaze site TMZ was used every single time to let everyone know.
Taking off for Lake Tahoe.
Pre-match boating activities on the lake.
Evening entertainment at the local casino, some with masks, some without.
The tournament came right after Patrick had signed his huge contract extension with the KC Chiefs and those money bags needed to be brought up repeatedly, as did lots of skin by the...girls. Didn't you know? These guys are getting "plenty" of "this".
I think Patrick's now-famous face accounts for 1/1000% of the content of that photo. Isn't he the star in that photo??? Just askin'.
And so then the other one needed to compete in the Battle of Biggest Wedgie:
We can't help but wonder at the lack of social distancing exhibited. Let's face it, how can you be up in arms about the safety precautions taken during the season, when you can't observe social distancing and mask wearing on personal time?
Covid-19 pandemic? What pandemic?
Considering Patrick had just signed his mega, half-billion dollar deal, the odds must be good that all of these folks would have been tested before this trip. And with that kind of investment, the KC Chiefs are not going to have one of their players catching the 'Rona due to a wedgie boat outing. 😉
Not only that, but who couldn't tell the entire weekend's agenda wasn't planned out ahead of time? Marketer Dahl had a schedule and it was carried out; they knew who would be on the trip. Still, not everyone thinks of that and so some fans are thinking, 'why should I wear a mask or social distance? They're not.' Just something to think about.
Interesting too, isn't it? You don't hear or see much about the wives or gf's of other players. Chiefs fans used to see Jennifer Montana (wife of Joe) once in awhile up in the suite during games. Once in awhile, the wives/gf's used to be seen in a commercial spot promoting a donation project. But who knew or recognized any of the other players' wives/gf's? With these two players, Matthews & Nicole are front and center, mostly undressed.
Even in this Madden 99 box presentation by Travis to his QB Patrick, look at who needs to be seen entering the room first, ahead of the star player. Remember, this is for a video game award and this promo video isn't even one minute long, yet it's important for everyone to see Matthews.
This is what was choreographed, er - determined, you "needed" to see, before Patrick was presented with and opened up his Madden box.
I don't know...
Now, let's add a late addendum to this tale. Last night, Jul 26, Houston Astros Cy Young Award winning pitcher Justin Verlander began trending because he developed a sore elbow.
Guess who else begins trending as well? His wife, who is Kate Upton. Because a pro athlete is injured, his wife trends? Well, if she's a Sports Illustrated cover girl, she does. Lots of tweets like this.
Isn't that interesting when an elbow injury is enough to bring on twitter trend reminders about who your spouse is? And so looking back at how Matthews and Nicole are being used on social media in an unavoidable fashion, the tactic is similar and should make people wonder why, when the athletes are all so exceptional in talent.
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In the Narnia "Swiiiiiiing and a Miss" category, looks like I goofed when it came to our Father's Day post of our faves with their fathers. I guess this oversight occurred because I was searching for "Kevin and his father", but I should've searched for "Kevin and his mother"; then, I would've found this picture of him and his father! Duh! And here is the gorgeous Kevin McHale with his mother and father; you can certainly see some of their inherited features in his face. Wonderful picture from this past May!! My apologies I whiffed and did not get this pic included in our Father's Day post.
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And since we last posted, guess who we heard from?
Looks like Austy told Jakers, "I'll be in the study!" and he shut that door for some "me" time. But you know how that goes if you're a parent. Whether it's Tool Time, Me Time or Bathroom Break Time,
LOL! Good luck with that one, Austin.
Austin pulled out that DGA card and made up some hours. His presence in the audience was appreciated.
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And speaking of parenting, remember in our March 11 post, Winter/Spring 2020 Musings: Bringing Back Jake and Austin, Pt 4 of 5, we had mentioned that Michelle Williams had pulled a 2-for-1, she was suddenly pregnant AND engaged to Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda's close friend and work partner. So, she predictably disappeared (i.e. the London GPS placement) and then in June, came this vague announcement,
And as everyone knows, when a proud papa comes into the office or factory, he tells everyone "We had our baby!" But he can't disclose any other details? "Nope, don't ask anymore questions, please. Just know that we had our baby." Riiight. That's not going to pass muster at the workplace, or amongst friends. Or, those proud phone calls to the family. Everyone wants some details when it comes to the birth of a baby; that's why you make the announcement, right? Then you can show pictures and disclose the weight, length, head circumference, etc. You know, every last little detail. Except for 2019-2020 Hollywood and going forward, this is what we now get:
"There's no news about the gender or name of the baby, at the moment."
Even People.com didn't know.
"Child". "The Baby". One website seemed to be daring enough to publish that "the baby" was a girl. So does this mean that later on, US Weekly or People will have the exclusive cover story and "first pictures" at a time to be determined, when either Williams or more likely, Thomas Kail needs the extra promo?
Remember that Thomas Kail is the writing partner of Lin-Manuel Miranda and their joint effort of "Hamilton", just recently debuted on Disney Plus's streaming service, bringing the network a huge boost in new customers. The venture was a success and now Disney is rumored to be entertaining the idea of bringing the Broadway version of Aladdin to Disney Plus. So Miranda and Kail's profiles have been raised even more than they already were.
It will be interesting to continue watching this out-of-the-blue pairing of Williams and Kail, one that has the overwhelming appearance of being mutually benefiting.
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And courtesy of Cartier, we have a new throwback photo from Jake with another person who is identified as his father Stephen in the caption (hence the bizarre photoshopped Pittsburgh Pirates ballcap atop of another ballcap). No doubt this is fetus Jakers in the foreground though! #Awww
One look at Jake's social media, and one can see how his social media team is struggling to compensate for his and Austin's absence (brought on by the restrictions due to COVID-19). Remember, he was going to have Sunday in the Park With George to provide the perfect reason for him and the fam to be in the UK all summer. With the play being totally cancelled, the alibi is gone, plus there are some British pounds not going into the bank account, which probably hurts a bit.
Despite this, both men are likely having fun building sand castles with their own "crew". 😉 Enjoy, fellas!
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Coming up next, we've got a Narnia Salute for Mr. Liam Payne, congratulating him on his very impressive and entertaining LP Show, which streamed live on July 17. It was likely inspired (and perhaps test-run?) by the success of his You Tube shows, but the LP Show did benefit food banks through The Tussle Trust, and tickets were very affordable. In ADDITION to this, Liam utilized a band and stage engineers, sound workers, etc., employees who have suffered from lack of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So huge applause and salutes to Liam!!
Liam referred to this unique streaming show as "Act I", so hopefully there will be an Act II. His set list included:
1. Strip That Down (feat. Quavo)
2. Bedroom Floor
3. Live Forever
4. Tell Your Friends
5. Home With You
6. For You
7. Little Things
8. Midnight
9. Familiar
10. Polaroid
Here he was checking the streaming messages:
Singing and dancing.
We hope there will be an encore, but in the meantime, he is to be commended and admired for this successful venture.
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What about Adam Lambert also putting the positive "P" in performance for this car-dragging of a year, 2020? Here's Adam as he was participating in a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden. The fundraiser, called Celebration for Change, was live streamed on Facebook last night, July 26. Adam sang Ready to Run, whose lyrics seemed pretty boot kickin'! Huge thanks to Adam for lending his voice and support.
Boots on the ground
Had enough of this clown, no
I won't stay 'round
Catch a bus, Greyhound
No, I'm not gawkin' back
Turn around, it's a trap - "Ready to Run" - lyrics by Adam Lambert
Had enough of this clown, no
I won't stay 'round
Catch a bus, Greyhound
No, I'm not gawkin' back
Turn around, it's a trap - "Ready to Run" - lyrics by Adam Lambert
And that's what we've got for this round, little bit of this, little bit of that. Even with the restrictions of a pandemic, there can be some noteworthy observations. Have a great week and thank you for reading.
pic sources: liam 93 productions, Just Jared, newnownext, pinterest
our playlist: Ready to Run - Adam Lambert
Polaroid - Jonas Blue, Liam Payne and Alesso
Sand in My Shoes - Dido
