Football is a PR Battlefield: 10 PR Best Practices from College Football

Schools are back in session, students are arriving to campus rested and full of energy for the upcoming year, and professors are getting back into the swing of things when it comes to teaching and research.  Fall offers many chances to enjoy the university lifestyle, and one of the favorite things about the fall semester is college football season.  I have always enjoyed watching college football from my days at the University of Florida to USC to Tennessee.  I will be busy this season following all of my favorite teams (Florida, USC, Tennessee, WVU, Army, and Lousiville).

Mom, Kristin, and I at the USC-Notre Dame Football game in 2006

However, when we look at college football, we can definitely take some lessons from what has happened recently and take away some best practices in public relations.  Here are 10 public relations lessons we can take away from college football:

1. Accepting gifts are not the way to go to be an ethical practitioner.  Ohio State and Miami have both been in the news lately for their current gift and incentive crises among their football players.
2. Be aware of the regulating bodies who will be keeping an eye out for you.  Whether it is the professional organizations looking at ethical practices or if you are working for a particular client involved in a particular industry (ex. food industry – FDA), you need to know the rules.  Some football programs have seem to forgot some of the rules laid out by the NCAA, and this is something to keep in mind.
3. What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.  Life throws us many challenges in life as a PR professional – whether it is handling a crisis or a research publication is rejected – we have to learn how we deal with these challenges.  It all comes down to how you pick yourself up and learn from the experience.  USC has learned this from their tough NCAA sanctions – they are working hard, keeping their eyes on the prize, and focusing on making a big comeback in the next couple of years.
4. Your team image and reputation is based on the people behind the logo.  Whether it is a PR agency or university, or a college football team – image and reputation will only get you so much, but it all comes down to the leadership and people behind the logo that defines what the team will be remembered for.  Some of the best teams had consistency in their appearances, good PR practices, engaging interviews with the media, and were actively contributing back to society in a positive manner.
5. There is never a time where you are “off the record”:  The media and journalists in the area of PR will be reporting about your client or company whether you like it or not – and the same goes with football teams.  Tennessee got a lot of attention for the way that they handled the press conference with Lane Kiffin leaving the university to coach at USC.  Agencies, PR professionals, and football teams can’t control the messages and what the media can and cannot report – especially with the use of social media.
6. To be successful, you have to treat your job like training for a football season:  Being an athlete, especially a collegiate athlete, is a 12 month, seven days a week job.  You have to be a student of the sport and event, work out to train your muscles and become mentally prepared for the competition, while also being able to effectively manage your time with your studies and social life.  The same principles can apply for PR professionals as well – if we take the same approach, we will be more effective in our work and time management.
7.  Freedom of speech at the workplace with social media:  Many organizations and agencies do have a social media policy for their employees to follow, and the same has happened to college athletes.  There have been very extreme cases where coaches have banned the use of Twitter for their football players, which has resulted in some interesting findings.   What about the issue of free speech?  This continues to be a growing issue in not only collegiate football, but other sports as well.
8. Enjoy each moment and take time to celebrate after a job well done.  Working hard will make winning easy – celebrating your accomplishments on the field with your teammates (or fellow colleagues) who have successfully won a championship or secured a big account or got a huge grant for their department.  It is good to take the time out to enjoy life and what makes us love the job we are doing.  Savor each accomplishment and allow this to motivate you to continue on this path.
9. Respect all fans:  We have to be aware of the fact that our biggest supporters are our fans – whether they are internally within our organization or outside in the community. They come out and camp out before the games, defend the team on various discussion boards, and purchase tickets to our events to support us.  We have to engage with these individuals proactively and thank them for their support and encouragement.
10. Be aware of what the competitors are saying and doing through the traditional or social media outlets:  One of the best motivations for athletes is to see a quote from another competitor or team talking about what they are going to do for this season – and this motivates the athlete to work and train harder to prove them otherwise wrong.  The same thing goes for PR – we have to be aware of what our competing agencies and organizations are saying about our work as well as what they are doing – this will help energize the current environment within our own organization and motivate us to work even harder as well.  Posting these comments around the office or having motivational quotes around the weight room (or business office in the case of PR) will help integrate this into the internal culture.

In summary, there are many lessons we can take away from college football from a PR perspective.  Working hard towards our goal takes time and dedication – you have to have the right team behind you to support and guide you along the way.  We have to be aware that we are both in areas where there is a lot of focus and pressure to perform well – we have to rise to these challenges and embrace them.  We also have to recognize that we have to learn from others who have dealt with their own challenges and crises, and make sure that we stay true to our reputation and take actions to sustain it for the long term.

I wish all of the football teams out there the very best this season – especially my Florida Gators, USC Trojans, Tennessee Vols, WVU Mountaineers, USMA Black Knights, and UofL Cardinals! 🙂

Hope you all have a great day!

Best Wishes,

Karen