A Personal Brand that Can't Be Saved

I write a lot about corporate brands but I also have an interest in personal brands. More often than not, professional athletes provide great examples of personal brands gone wrong.

Growing up, baseball was my favorite sport because of all of the stats associated with the game. I spent countless hours looking at the back of baseball cards. So when a guy named Jose Canseco became the first player in the long history of baseball to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season, he simultaneously became my favorite player.

Jose played on the west coast well before the age of social media. Other than daily highlights on ESPN and what was covered in newspapers, I only got brief glimpses of him. He was taller, stronger and faster than other players of the day and his off-the-field issues only added to his "bad boy" image. More success on the field lead to more money...and more trouble away from the diamond. But all the negatives didn't matter - he was awesome and I was one of many who waited for hours for a very-late Jose to appear at a baseball card show in Montgomery more than 25 years ago.

At the height of his prowess, Jose and the A’s played in three consecutive World Series. Only Kirk Gibson’s game-winning homer from 1988 overshadows Jose’s grand slam from the same series.


On August 31st, 1992, Jose was traded from the Oakland A's. Jose learned the news while in the on-deck circle during a game. When I found out about the trade, I was baffled. The A's trading away the best player in the game completely blew my mind. Looking back, however, it's clear to see that Jose's contract and salary had become a burden. It was strictly business and a factor that would cause Jose to be shipped to and from many other teams during his remaining time in Major League Baseball.

Even though he continued to produce, Jose never stayed with teams very long after that initial trade in 1992. Eventually, it seemed no team wanted anything to do with him. Where he was once a rising star, it was as if he was being blackballed from the game after many linked Jose to the growing issue of steroids in professional baseball.

After such accusations, there was no way Jose could parlay his playing career into a television job like so many athletes are able to do. When a person's reputation (or brand) suffers this level of damage, that person must select the appropriate way to respond. Jose opted to write a tell-all book in 2005 in which he not only took credit for introducing steroids to baseball but also identified a lot of players and former teammates that used steroids. This decision made Jose an even bigger villain in the eyes of baseball fans.

Jose was no longer an athlete but he still had an athlete's desire for fame and money. The book release was timed nicely with an appearance on VH1's reality series, The Surreal Life. Unfortunately, Jose squandered this PR opportunity too. If the book caused people to see Jose as a cheater, I remember the show made him look like a womanizing jock.

As money grabbing opportunities dried up, Jose turned to stints with semi-pro baseball teams, celebrity boxing and appearing in (fake?) TV ads for Old Milwaukee. Each time a new story developed about a baseball player using steroids, Jose did all he could to squeeze his name into the headline. But by this time, everyone had stopped paying attention to him.

Surprisingly, Jose hit the ground running at the dawn of the social media era. Unsurprisingly, he failed to use these new tools and his large following to his brand's advantage. Jose really is his own worst enemy on Twitter. He smartly promoted his Home Run Tour in the summer of 2014 only to follow those tweets up by challenging Shaquille O'Neal to a fight, something he does frequently.

Jose made the headlines again recently for yet another boneheaded mistake. He accidentally shot off his finger while cleaning his gun. I’m really starting to think that Jose has always been a loudmouth weirdo - we just didn't know it because media wasn't as prevalent during his playing career.

Jose will never get elected into the baseball hall of fame because of his admitted steroid use and he has made no effort to make amends. He fully embraces his train wreck of a life but still claims to be a victim.

Sick of the media and how the edit my life To make me seem like the bad guy
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) November 7, 2014

Jose's had plenty of opportunities to bounce back but there's no way he can ever save his personal brand. However, I’m still a Jose Canseco fan. I no longer collect baseball cards but I did buy his rookie card a few years ago, after its value had plummeted from hundreds of dollars to next to nothing. Nostalgia has certainly helped me overlook his crazy, post-baseball life.



Top photo {Courtesy}

My Ever-Changing Perception of NIKE's Brand

Judging by the apparel worn by today's 8-14 year old boys in my area, brand loyalty is spread much wider than it was when I was in that age range. While the core of the traditional typical outfit (t-shirt, shorts, sneakers) remains the same, it's very common to see different brands for each piece. For example, I see a lot of kids wearing Under Armor socks with their NIKE shoes. Seeing how mixing brands has become perfectly acceptable makes me wonder if my perception of brands has become extremely outdated.

Growing up in the late 80's and early 90's, I would only consider wearing NIKE shoes. I was a NIKE billboard then, head to toe. This was purely based on the fact that Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson wore NIKEs. Performance, durability, pricing and other factors wouldn't impact my purchases until I grew older, but NIKE continues to earn my loyalty. Back then, I viewed Reebok as an inferior competitor and Adidas was a non-factor. Under Armor didn't exist yet so my choice truly came down to NIKE. I don't pay as much attention to the athletic shoe industry now because I don't wear sneakers as often as I once did but I'm really impressed to see the emergence of Under Armor. Kids seem to really like these shoes.  

I think Under Armor is a long way from overtaking NIKE but they're definitely making a dent, which is something I thought would never be possible. The following video from Fast Company fittingly details the history of NIKE's brand.

Quick point I'd like to make about this video: Tiger Woods was not unknown when he signed with NIKE. Many people outside of the golfing world were aware of him and knew that he was destined for big things. Signing Tiger was huge though - it allowed NIKE to enter a sport much like Michael Jordan did for basketball.  When I try to define "branding", I always point to NIKE as an example. My attraction to their products has changed on many different levels over the years and my perception of NIKE's brand is what I use when I try to identify other brands today. {Top photo: Courtesy}