LeBron and his Genius Marketing Strategy

If you didn't know, (and most of you don’t), the NBA Playoffs are now in the second round and the Miami Heat look as if they are head and shoulders above the other teams remaining.  After sweeping through the Bucks first round, LeBron was deemed Most Valuable Player of the NBA for the second year in a row and for his fourth time, joining a very select few of major NBA legends.  Magic Johnson, a legend himself and an anchor on the NBA on TNT show, had something to say later that night on the broadcast:

I'm in disbelief. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin have more commercials than LeBron James. I can't believe that. In all my 35 years, I've never seen an MVP, back-to-back winner...not have any endorsement deals, not have any commercials on TV? Every time I look at the TV, I never see any LeBron James commercials.

Until Magic said that, it had never occurred to me, that as of right now, there are zero LeBron commercials in television rotation. ESPN Businessman, Darren Rovell, immediately took to Twitter explaining what was going on with LeBron’s marketing campaign.  

Deals with Nike, State Farm, McDonald’s and Samsung and none of them are appearing during the NBA Playoffs?  It’s reported that LeBron was the one that introduced Chris (and Cliff) Paul to the State Farm ad.  The McDonald’s ad was apparently not very successful.  And the $200 million dollar Samsung commercial that was aired in a Super Bowl was a major hit, but had run its 6-month course. Another point that Rovell raised was that advertisements are becoming more successful online through social media and other outlets, in which LeBron is being used heavily.

You may recall, years ago, when LeBron was signing his rookie NBA deal, Nike inked LeBron with a $90 million dollar endorsement deal. But where are all his commercials?  Rovell reports that LeBron’s marketing team decided collectively not to pursue a Nike television commercial campaign this year. GREAT MOVE if you ask me! Nike has come out with a line of shoes for LeBron this year that come in 20 very exclusive colors ranging anywhere from $150 a pop and up. Nike has also reported that LeBron’s shoe sales are reaching numbers that only Jordan shoes have ever seen!  Coincidence? I don’t think so.  Ask any sneak-head, we don’t want to be over-saturated with corny TV ads, we want the exclusive shoe that flies under the radar and that only the select few can afford to show off.  Look at Michael Jordan line of exclusive shoes for example; on Saturday mornings Jordan has been known to re-release his legendary shoes and sneaker heads will line up throughout malls all over America to buy the same pair he sold 20 years ago!!  So believe me when I say, Nike is making their money that they invested in LeBron!

LeBron is figuring it out.  I don’t want to see LeBron on every advertisement; I don’t want to get sick and tired of seeing him.  He doesn’t need to be in every single commercial to sell products.  He needs to win games, win championships, win awards and that will be his greatest advertisement of all time.  He is concentrating on becoming the best player ever, and not about making more money for himself by selling out.  He’s already rich, and he knows he’ll continue to get richer. The mission for him in the prime of his career is to be the best; not to make the most money he can while he’s in his prime.

As viewers we need to enjoy and respect what he is doing.  This type of player does not come around to a major league sport very often.  Selling out and making money off every single commercial doesn’t win games or championships. LeBron has learned to let the game speak for itself. Worry about the commercials when you retire.