Bernard Gauthier

I’ve been watching with some interest the efforts by Jim Balsillie to secure an NHL franchise and move it to Southwestern Ontario. I’m a big NHL fan and as a fan in a smaller Ontario market (Go Sens Go) I really empathize with the folks in the other part of the province who would dearly love a hockey team to call their own. Trouble is, Balsillie’s PR efforts are reaching all he wrong people. There’s a lesson there for anyone looking to PR to solve a non-PR problem.Balsillie has done a nice job of getting his message out to Canadian hockey fans. He’s appeared in dozens of media interviews, most of them with very positive outcomes. His enthusiasm is contagious at times. The web site he’s set up (www.makeitseven.ca) is clever and nicely done. You can even buy a Make it Seven t-shirt.

Here’s the question I have about all this: What exactly are Canadian hockey fans going to do with all this enthusiasm? They aren’t Governors in the NHL. They aren’t general managers either. And last I checked, Canadian hockey fans don’t run American television networks or the NHLPA. In other words, Balsillie is appealing very effectively to all the wrong people. 

The lesson here is to make sure you reach out and connect to the people and organizations who matter — the ones who can make or break your success in whatever it is you do. Of course, some times, it makes sense to connect with those who can influence the people who matter. Here again, though, Balsillie’s strategy doesn’t pass the test as I see it. The owners and GMs of existing Canadian NHL teams are worried about hanging on to their fan base and slice of the TV revenue pie. They likely won’t be swayed by enthusiastic fans of a potential rival. Meanwhile, American owners and GMs are trying to grow the game in that market — their long-term return on investment depends on it. In other words, don’t expect them to be swayed or even amused by Balsillie’s PR efforts.

Will this effort actually work for Balsillie? I hope it does and I know how compelling money can be in a fast-tanking economy. But I suspect Balsillie won’t really succeed until he reaches out and connects with the people who really control his fate. That will need to be a quieter and more focused effort. Big PR pushes and cool websites are fun but they are not always the most strategic way to go.