By Preston Kelly

After a season of football victories, losses and upsets, the waiting period is over and the time has finally come.  Super Bowl XLIV is here!

As a rookie to the sport of football, I enjoy the Super Bowl for all the wrong reasons (and, in my own defense, two out of five Super Bowl watchers are not football fans).  Besides, what other night of the year is it socially acceptable to chow down on junk food and stare at the television for four straight hours?

Others, however, enjoy it for more than the opportunity to eat an obscene amount of chips and critique the long-awaited million-dollar advertisements.  Whether pulling for the Saints or the Colts, these sports fanatics view it as a night of beers, bets and football bedlam.

It’s not much to assume that, with an estimated audience of one billion, many of these fans choose a sports bar to watch the big game.  And what better opportunity to grab some attention to your own restaurant than through Super Bowl specials?

Local restaurants have jumped on this bandwagon by hosting Super Bowl parties of their own, including the Downtown Sports Bar & Grill, Michael Dean’s Seafood Grill & Oyster Bar (yeah, they’re an MMI client), Woody’s @ City Market, Tobacco Road Sports Cafe and more.  Whether hosting a party, radio show, drink specials or a buffet, these restaurants are getting a quick PR boost through the upcoming Super Bowl Sunday events.

I found that in making Super Bowl plans myself, deciding what to eat and where to watch the game was the easy part.  Now I just have to decide who to pull for!

Photo Source: RMTip21

Carolina Panthers’ Fox Finally Speaks Up

The rumors swirling around Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers are rampant. Blogs all over the Web purport that the 29-year-old Panther star is ready to say goodbye to Charlotte and join (insert random NFL team here). In short, who really knows?

The communication lines between Peppers, his agent and the Panthers organization have been fuzzy and scrambled, enough so to lead people to make their own assumptions.

A native of Wilson, N.C., Peppers has lived in North Carolina for his entire life. After wrapping up a successful two-sport career at UNC, he went on to become a first-round draft pick for the Panthers in 2002. In his eight seasons in Charlotte, Peppers has become known as one of the most athletic and versatile players in the NFL. Today he is the highest-paid non-quarterback in the entire league.

Still, in January Peppers and agent Carl Carey confirmed early speculation that Peppers wanted to play for another team for the upcoming season.

Then, for more than two months, Panthers head coach John Fox kept quiet and never mentioned the statement. Now, finally, Fox has publicly stated his preference — to get Peppers a more lucrative contract, franchise him and keep him off the free-agency market.

To add fuel to the fire, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick talked extensively about Peppers on a Boston radio station last week, while Patriots owner Bob Kraft has remained coy in his comments.

“We never negotiate in the paper,” Kraft told the Charlotte Observer during the annual NFL owners’ meetings. “We like to try to execute and not talk about it. So we don’t talk about it.”

The self-imposed gag orders set by both the Panthers and Peppers’ potential suitors has left NFL followers high and dry. As a result, those involved have gone to the media independently, leaking leads and painting an abstract image of how negotiations are going. Business ramifications aside, Peppers’ stature among Panther fans and football enthusiasts calls for increased transparency so as to avoid damaging reputations. Until that happens — cross your fingers — we’ll stay tuned to the blogosphere and pipeline of leaks.

Photo via Flickr

Team Continues To Surprise “Experts”

I know I’ve already written one blog about the Carolina Panthers, and I’m sure that all of you remember that I concluded by saying that the Panthers would win the Super Bowl.  Well, it’s more than halfway throug the regular season and who would have thought that it’s actually possible?

The Carolina Panthers have a record of 7-2 and are the third best team in the NFL, and things are looking to get better!  Their last seven opponents include the winless Detroit Lions, the abysmal New Orleans Saints, and the mediocre Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers.  However, they must also face the defending champion New York Giants, and division rivals Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons.

If the Panthers can win three of their four “easy” games, and play well enough to win two of their more challenging games, then a record of 12-4 is very possible.  Not to mention that they would also win their division, resulting in a bye week for the first week of the playoffs, something they haven’t accomplished since their run to the Super Bowl in 2003.  Coincidence?  I think not!

At the beginning of the season, Sports Illustrated predicted the Panthers wouldn’t even make the playoffs.  They discussed how the preseason antics of Steve Smith (Smith punched a teammate resulting in a two-game suspension) would divide the team and how they would be unable to recover from such a devastating event.  Now all the Panthers need is three more victories to lock in a wild-card spot.

It’s funny how in only two months a team can go from complete oblivion to being the focus of attention for much of the league.  Football isn’t the only area that this holds true for.  In business, a company can have no publicity or only negative publicity, but as soon as their number rise, or they start performing well in the community or in the business realm, it becomes hard not to hear good news about them.

Or maybe it’s not the media, but it’s just a rocky start to the year, or conflicts within your organization.  Maybe different departments or sectors aren’t communicating well on a project.  Every company goes through times like this, but the important thing to worry about is how you handle the tough times and ensure that your company comes out unscathed.

The Panthers did just that.  They ignored the negative press, handled the problem internally, and got back to business.  And now here they are; a team on the rise and a team that the rest of the league is starting to worry about.

Does your organization need a PR firm?  MMI Associates is a full-service public relations firm located in Raleigh, NC.  Please visit the MMI Associates website for more information.  Any questions? Give us a call at (919) 233-6600.

With balloting kicking off today for the 2009 NHL All-Star Game, one would think the hubbub in Raleigh might surround Hurricanes star Eric Staal or captain Rod Brind’Amour. Instead, Staal has struggled to find the back of the net, and Brind’Amour has had a lackluster performance thus far.

Enter… Niclas Wallin?

Staal, Brind’Amour and winger Ray Whitney are listed as ballot selections, but ‘Canes fans have rallied around casting write-in votes for Wallin, a defenseman not listed among the ballot options this year. Wallin has developed a solid reputation with Carolina as the “Secret Weapon” — he’s tied for first in NHL history with three overtime goals during the playoffs, a remarkable statistic for a defenseman with 20 career goals.

Wallin isn’t an obvious All-Star; the Swedish-born player’s work often goes unnoticed. But he has electrified the ‘Canes fanbase this year with a staggering plus-minus total (that some are predicting to reach astronomical heights). He legitimately deserves an All-Star selection.

Luke DeCock of The News and Observer best explained why the Wallin movement stands out as opposed to a similar campaign for Rory Fitzpatrick of the Vancouver Canucks two years ago, an endeavor that ultimately failed:

“One difference here is that the Fitzpatrick campaign was at heart a joke — let’s get a guy, who while a good team player and a useful reserve, is about as far from ‘All-Star’ as you can get, into the All-Star Game — Wallin is actually having a good season and has had a solid career.

But the spirit is the same: It’s partly a protest against the actual NHL ballot, which always offers an inexplicably narrow range of candidates for selection. (In the Web era, why not open up every player with an nhl.com bio for voting? Why not offer two forwards, one defenseman and one goalie from each team?) And it’s partly an acknowledgement of a player who often goes unacknowledged. As an All-Star, the Secret Weapon would be a secret weapon no more.”

Wallin is public relations gold. Any business would love to have an employee with the selfless output Wallin has given coach Peter Laviolette and company this year. That effort should not go unnoticed.

Vote for Wallin! Visit the All-Star balloting page and submit him as a write-in defenseman in the Eastern Conference.

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NC State Basketball Fans Are Not Fooled…Why Not?

McCain this, Obama that.  It seems that everywhere you turn all you hear about is the election.  Not that the election isn’t important, it’s just that every once in a while you need a break from it.  So let’s turn to something a little more interesting, like NC State football…on second thought, an under-achieving team with only two wins and six losses isn’t that interesting.  Well, we always have hope for basketball!

That’s right!  It’s only the first week of November, but with the NBA well underway, it’s never too early to start talking college hoops baby!  I know what some of you are thinking; NC State is ranked by most of the sports media to finish somewhere in the bottom three in the ACC, so who really cares about State basketball?

However, it doesn’t seem to matter how awful NC State basketball is, they always seem to rank in the top 20 in attendance in the nation.  Perhaps that’s because every year, all you hear about is how good we’re going to be, or how we’re going to finally beat UNC.  Or because we all know that no matter how bad we are, during the college basketball season we’ll see Jim Valvano storm the court at least a dozen times.

But this year feels different.  There is no hype around Wolfpack basketball.  No one is talking about our new prospect that’s going to win us an ACC championship, or take us to the final four.  And why don’t I at least think that one of our freshmen is going to score 40 points a game?  There doesn’t even seem to be any hope at all!  Has NC State given up with trying to convince us we’re going to be good?  Or have State fans realized that it’s just not going to happen anytime soon?

Regardless of what you think, you have to admit it feels a little empty.  All I heard last year is how Brandon Costner and the team were going to return to the ACC championship, but this year, even the most optimistic fans are hoping for an NIT bid at best!

Where are the PR people for State basketball?  It’s ACC basketball, and I don’t even know when the first game is. It’s hard to get excited when it seems as if the team and its marketing department aren’t even getting the word out.  Sometimes it’s hard to market a failing team or business.  It can be difficult to put a drowning company in a positive light, but whether you’re in PR or marketing, that’s what you have to do. You have to address the bad, but you have to emphasize the good as well.  Sure, State is terrible, but does that mean we need to quit having faith? Apparently that’s the strategy their PR people have taken.

I don’t care if everyone has given up on Wolfpack basketball, I’ll still be there at the first tip-off.  It’s time for NC State to get back to where they belong; at the top of the ACC.

Does your company need a PR firm?  MMI Associates is a full-service public relations firm located in Raleigh, NC.  Please visit the MMI Associates Website for more information.  Any questions?  Give us a call at 919-233-6600.

NFL Coach’s First Post-Game Conference Leaves Niners Fans With More Questions Than Answers

Fans of the San Francisco 49ers, who were back in familiar territory with a 2-5 record coming into Sunday’s game, might not have been surprised by the decision to fire head coach Mike Nolan Oct. 20. The move to promote assistant coach Mike Singletary, who also served as linebackers coach, was met with some relief.

But Singletary’s first game at the helm, a 34-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, saw the coach bench starting quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan for backup Shaun Hill. He later sent tight end Vernon Davis to the locker room early after Davis drew an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty during the fourth quarter.

But both instances took a backseat to Singletary’s post-game press conference performance. The coach appeared both confident that his practices would shape up a chaotic team and bewildered that the early implementation of those practices hadn’t slowed the Niners’ tailspin at all.

Lively, off-script press conferences certainly are nothing new to football. (My personal favorite: Come after Mike Gundy. He’s 40!) And there are promising flashes of legit regime change in Singletary’s tirade. But Singletary should take a cue from the old politician’s advice and stay on message. Implementing sweeping changes is great, but if improperly articulated, they’ll fall on deaf ears. Plenty of coaches have come and gone promising discipline to wayward teams, only to fail in actually establishing some tangible evidence.

Running an NFL team seems an awful lot like running a political campaign. Your most ardent supporters want to hear a well-crafted approach, and Singletary’s rambling conference, even if fundamentally sound, didn’t quite hit the mark. He will have to work harder to sway perceptions both in the locker room and out of it.

Does your company need a public relations firm?  MMI Associates is a full-service public relations firm located in Raleigh, NC.  Please visit the MMI Associates website for more information.  Any questions?  Give us a call at 919-233-6600.

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PR Fail of the Week: Broncos Quarterback Jay Cutler

Welcome to the Raleigh PR Fail of the Week feature blog post.  Each Friday we will bring you the PR Fail of the Week.  Please feel free to comment about our selection or to propose a PR Fail of the Week.  This week’s winner is Jay Cutler of the Denver Broncos.  His quote in reference to his arm strength is a perfect story to begin our PR Fail of the Week blog post series.

“I have a stronger arm than John Elway, hands down.  I’ll bet on it against anybody in the league.  Brett Favre’s got a cannon.  But on game days, there’s nobody in the league who’s going to throw it harder than I am at all.”

Where to begin?  Let’s start with his claim that he has a stronger arm than John Elway, quite possibly the best quarterback to ever play the game.  This is a doubtful statement at best and is completely untestable!  From a public relations perspective it is simply ridiculous to call out John Elway.  Elway is the reason many became Bronco fans in the first place!

Cutler then goes on to say that he has a stronger arm than Brett Favre and that Cutler would be willing to bet on it with anybody in the league.  I’ll skip on the Brett Favre comment, as it has already been covered (see the John Elway section above), but NFL quarterbacks should not publicly encourage any sort of betting (even as a joke).

Let me be clear that I think Jay Cutler is a very promising quarterback with an excellent arm.  All he needs now is for his brain and his mouth to catch up with his arm.  Congratulations Jay Cutler, you’ve won the PR Fail of the Week.

Are you afraid that your business might be featured in the PR Fail of the Week?  We’re a full-service public relations firm located in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Please visit the MMI Associates website for more information.  Any question?  Give us a call at 919-233-6600.

One Red Sox fan suffered more than just the loss of a World Series bid

For Red Sox fans, Sunday’s tragic loss to the Tampa Bay Rays put an end to a season and a damper on dreams of another World Series appearance.  As fans around the country accepted the loss with dignity and moved forward with high hopes for next year, one Triangle fan is no doubt still reeling from an unpleasant surprise he found upon returning home after the Oct. 14 game versus Tampa Bay. 

As featured in the Oct. 17 story in the News & Observer, Sean Bunn, Triangle local and undeniably one of the most popular members of Red Sox Nation, returned to a collection of Yankee-themed artwork displayed throughout the gallery of his own condominium.  No doubt, a bad day turned terribly worse for this Red Sox fan.  The vandals not only destroyed Bunn’s collection of Red Sox memorabilia, but proceeded with the rampage by stamping their Yankee pride on the furniture, cabinets, carpeting, and other miscellaneous fixtures in Bunn’s home.  The ensemble was completed with none other than the infamous Yankee pinstripes painted all over the walls.

So much for sportsmanship.  While the rivalry between New York and Boston is as old as the sport itself, the Yankees may be a bit reluctant to add charges of breaking and entering and destruction of property to their repertoire of tricks.  For fans of either side, one thing’s for sure, if you’re going to represent your team, you might want to get the facts straight first.  The vandal, or vandals, mistakenly spelled out the word “Yankes” several times around the condo and neglected to check the record book before painting the “26-3″ reference to the number of Yankees’ World Series championships relative to those won by the Red Sox. 

Bunn declined to speak publicly about the incident, a smart move, considering the potential for repeated attacks, or retaliation from angry Red Sox fans.  As for the New York Yankees, these are the very things that stir up controversy for an organization.  What better way to ruin your image than a couple of your own disgruntled fans?  In the spirit of America’s favorite pastime, take pride in your team, which ever side you choose, rather than adding criminal charges to your brand.  Although the incident is probably not the first of its kind, and may never make national headlines, the message serves as a clear reminder of how important it is to have the right people representing your organization.  Minor incidents, such as Bunn’s unfortunate experience, are just enough to sway the opinions of your major supporters.  For Boston and New York, the rivalry continues as fans turn to what’s ahead for next year.

Does your company need a public relations company?  MMI Associates is a full-service public relations company located in Raleigh, NC.  Please visit the for more information.  Any questions?  Give us a call at 919-233-6600.

Slow Economy Hurts NASCAR Sponsorship

The belief that the sports industry is like Teflon in terms of its being affected by economic instability has been called into question in recent weeks. While the stadiums are still full, the willingness of companies to turn over tens of millions of sponsorship dollars has halted in some cases. This slow down has major implications on the world of NASCAR, which receives 75 percent of its revenue from sponsorships.

No more than a year ago, Hendrick Motorsports was receiving multiple sponsorship offers as a result of its contract with renowned driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr.  Mountain Dew AMP Energy Drink and ARMY National Guard teamed to pay Hendrick Motorsports $30 million for sponsorship rights. However, Hendrick, along with its competitors, does not expect similar payments to be made this year.

“It’s a scary time now,” Jeff Gordon recently told the media. “We see strong teams struggling to get sponsorship.”  Conversely, smaller teams and less known drivers are having to compete with the Dale Earnhardt, Jr.s and Jeff Gordons of the industry, and thus not receiving sponsorship at all. With NASCAR being one of the few sports where fans are emotionally tied to the driver more than the team, a driver not racing because he or she could not meet their sponsorship requirements could be devastating for the driver and the sport.

NASCAR will have to tread carefully in coming weeks and months to avoid a public relations nightmare.  The first driver to stop racing due to loss of sponsorships would catapult this situation onto the national sports’ spotlight.  The last thing NASCAR needs is talking heads on ESPN tearing down the sport.  This is the type of attention NASCAR can and must avoid.

Are you looking for a public relations firm to help you reach out to your community? Visit the MMI Associates website for more information.  Have questions? Give us a call at (919) 233-6600.

Hurricanes, Colleges Get Wins Even Without Key Players

“No man is an island,” said philosopher John Donne. Had Donne been born a couple of centuries later, he probably would have enjoyed watching legendary basketball coach Dean Smith’s Four Corners scheme at UNC. But Triangle sports teams have been plagued with worrisome injuries as of late, and missing those key players is critical.

Judging by actual performances, however, things are looking up. There’s a public relations lesson to take from this.

The Carolina Hurricanes are missing a slew of skaters, most notably winger Justin Williams, a valuable goal producer who is out for four to six months. Both UNC and N.C. State’s football squads have struggled with gaping personnel holes, from quarterbacks T.J. Yates and Russell Wilson (respectively) to Heisman hopeful Brandon Tate, whose Tar Heel career ends today with news of a ligament tear. Even Dean Smith’s old team, the Roy Williams-led UNC basketball Tar Heels, is dealing with an injured Marcus Ginyard, and they don’t even take the court until November.

Fret not, Triangle fans. The whole is more than the sum of its parts. (Aristotle this time.)

• The ‘Canes are 2-0 going into tonight’s matchup against the Detroit Red Wings, and a balanced offensive streak led by Eric Staal has local hockey fans breathing a sigh of relief.
• UNC’s football team is 5-1 after quarterback Cam Sexton led the Tar Heels to a win over Notre Dame on Saturday. The team still boasts a deep receiving corps to fill Tate’s role.
• N.C. State will rely on its coaching strength and performance in the clutch against teams like East Carolina when the Wolfpack take on Florida State in a nationally-televised Thursday night game.
• As for UNC’s basketball team? Ginyard’s backup is Danny Green, arguably the best sixth man in the nation.

The problem with some attention-grabbing headlines is that they are allowed to dictate public opinion with a broad brush. It’s easier to lose confidence than it is to gain it, but there’s certainly room for optimism. (For example, many financial analysts now are saying to gobble up undervalued stocks left reeling after last week’s massive selloffs while they are at a premium.)

Don’t let a troublesome part drive the discussion about your company or team. Rather, keep the focus on the results of the whole. The philosophers were right, even if they couldn’t tell you what a spread offense is.

Does your company have public relations needs in Raleigh?  In North Carolina?  Visit the MMI Associates Web site for more information.  Any questions?  Leave us a comment or give me, Patty, a call at 919-233-6600.