Today LeBron James hired an ad agency to help him better connect with fans and take advantage of the ever-evolving world of social media.  This is a good thing, considering his brand page is already violating a key guideline of the Facebook cover image.  Yep, right across the middle in huge font sits “lebronjames.com.”  Just check out the Facebook page guidelines, Section III, B, ii – right there, boom: “Covers may not include contact information such as a website address, email, mailing address, or information that should go in your Page’s “About” section.”  With over 10 Million fans, one might want to check on that.

Sports.

Back to the point of this blog.  LeBron the brand.

Today he signed with creative ad agency, SapientNitro, to take care of his digital presence.

In my opinion, this is genius.  He, or at least his management company, understands that he is in fact a living, breathing brand.  They also understand the power of his online presence and social engagement.   He is perhaps the most recognizable athlete in the world.  He genuinely wants to connect with his fans, and he wants to be innovative in the way those connections happen.

I’m very interested to see what comes from this partnership, and I am expecting a lot of awesomeness.

I’ve always looked at LeBron as one of the smarter business athletes and this just reinforces that notion.