PR, Mark Cuban-Style
There aren't too many CEOs who enjoy a higher media profile than Mark Cuban. And fewer have been so successfully involved in a variety of press-generating operations. Cuban
was co-founder of the Webcasting pioneer Broadcast.com (which he and business partner Todd Wagner sold to Yahoo! in July 1999 for $5.7 billion), is the owner of
Dallas Mavericks basketball, and is the driving force behind 2929 Entertainment (which consists of the HDNet Films production company, the distributor
Magnolia Pictures, the Landmark Theaters cinema chain and the HDNet cable television channel.
Cuban's high media profile has brought him considerable attention, and not all of it has been flattering (Boston Celtics fans recently gave him a hearty boo when he sat
courtside at a Celtics-Maverick game). PR News asked him about his distinctive approach to PR and media relations.
QUESTION: What is the "Mark Cuban PR Strategy"?
MARK CUBAN: Keep an open line of communications with the media. Be quickly available, and understand the goals of the person and publication. If I can help them, then
they will usually return the favor
QUESTION: Many CEOs feel very uncomfortable in dealing with the media. From your experiences, how can you advise them to overcome this state of unease regarding media
relations?
MARK CUBAN: Be yourself, know the message you need to communicate and the priorities of the writer.
QUESTION: In your experiences, has it been easy in getting the media enthused in different technologies or ideas -- or does the media need to be pushed across the learning
curve before the ideas click with them?
MARK CUBAN: The media just wants to do their job, which is to write articles that capture peoples' attention. Once things start getting referenced on TV or the radio,
it's easy to get them to write about them.
QUESTION: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Bill Toland ran a piece last month with the headline "Mark Cuban Buys Pittsburgh...And Other Predictions for '06" and the
New York Times recently described you as the "madcap-billionaire." While no malice seems to have been intended in either case, are you concerned that your very high media profile
will open you to image-tarnishing commentary that could affect your business operations?
MARK CUBAN: Not a concern at all. If you are public, someone is going to kill you in the media every week.
Contact: Mark Cuban, [email protected]