The Wrath of Lance, Brought to you by Twitter
Lance Armstrong is the rare professional athlete who has transcended sport to become a household name. Apparently when you’re given a 40% chance of surviving cancer, beat it, and then ascend to the upper echelon your profession, celebrity follows. And thanks to social media so does an influence that makes <most> everyone sit up and take notice.
Last year Armstrong returned to professional cycling and embarked on a brilliant social media campaign from the back of the team’s tour bus. During the Giro d’ Italia – Italy’s version of the Tour de France – Lance and teammate Levi Leipheimer recounted what happened during that day’s stage with a short video interview that was posted to the team’s website as well as Lance’s Twitter and Facebook accounts: no reporter, no scripted footage, just a raw and unedited recount of the good, bad and ugly.
The result? Fans watched, talked back and joined in. Today Armstrong’s Twitter account has amassed nearly 2.5 million followers, which is about 28,000 less than USA Today’s daily circulation and a half million more than the Wall Street Journal. Lance has nearly complete control of his ‘brand’ and the ability to speak directly to an engaged audience. And when Lance talks, people listen.
Earlier this year when ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser suggested on air that motorists run down cyclists he signed up to be a recipient of Lance’s Twitter Wrath:
Rarely if ever one to eat crow, Tony issued an apology and continued to backpedal through a live on-air interview with Lance later that week.
Fast forward to yesterday and Versus TV, which is broadcasting the Tour of California. With the most action-filled stage just two minutes from concluding the network decided to switch to pre-game hockey. Lance, who had lobbied the race organizers to move it to May, was not a happy biker.
Perhaps I’m wrong but my guess is that Versus anticipated Lance and his legion of followers would lift the network as opposed to throwing rocks at it. Cutting from the end of a sporting event to watch the warm-ups for another? Bad move. And in the highly regarded corporate communication strategy of “sticking your head in the sand until this blows over” Versus neglected to issue an apology or even “my bad” statement. Worse move.
Perhaps companies will soon realize that social media also brings positive and/or negative consequences in the form of social media wrath. But in the meantime, luckily cycling fans have Lance watching their back.
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