Background checks

Every week there are new stories about an athlete accused of using banned substances, a movie or television celebrity who ended up in rehab or leaders of a sports organization involved in corruption.

These tabloid-feeding stories are the sponsors' nightmare.

Each time sports and entertainment stars end up in the news for the wrong reasons, they drag with them all their innocent sponsors.

In my late twenties working in marketing and sponsorship, I had to manage a few of these crises. Athletes accused of domestic violence or arrested for drunk driving, corruption and other doping news. Thankfully, I was able to treat them privately without any damage to the reputation of my employers.

Other brands were not so lucky.

Nike, which has a tradition of supporting its athletes until they can no longer do it, has suffered from caused by Tiger Woods’ extramarital adventures crisis. Other sponsors like Accenture and General Motors did not have the same patience and terminated their contracts with the athlete to avoid further damage.

But the most public case in recent decades and, considered by many, one of the greatest of all times, was Lance Armstrong’s. After much denial, he succumbed to the evidence and was convicted of doping. The soap opera, which dragged on for years, ended up in court with his former sponsors demanding reimbursement of their payments.

The cases of Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong took place in 2009 and 2012, respectively. A prehistoric age of social media.

Nowadays, with the almost universal presence of Facebook, Twitter and other platforms, where communication is instant and global, there is no way to be completely safe against these challenges. The only way to minimize the risk is through a good background check, a detailed assessment before signing any contract.

Surprisingly, there are still many companies that delegate this service to their advertising and event agencies. The task usually ends up with an intern googling the news. Not to mention that in many cases these are the same agencies that represent the athletes. A recipe for future problems.

The best option to perform this service is through specialized and independent companies. They do not recommend celebrities, negotiate contracts and are not involved in their marketing. Their business is simply making the best possible background checks with total exemption.

There are many areas evaluated.

Due to the high risk offered, the criminal records is where most of them start their search. Are there any lawsuits or charges pending against the individual? In some countries, this search is not available without the individual's permission. In many, the information is public.

The next step is social media searches. Fortunately, using artificial intelligence tools, it's relatively easy and inexpensive to scan everything that has been written since the first like or tweet. An airline, for example, needs to know if that artist has publicly criticized one of his late flights before hiring him to be his spokesperson.

The search follows public data on interviews, event participation and consultations with current and former sponsors.

In some extreme cases, with the permission and collaboration of the individual, it is also possible to conduct interviews with family and friends and even suggest consultations with psychologists to gather non-public information. This procedure is widely used for young athletes, still under the tutelage of their parents.

Using athletes and entertainment celebrities can greatly help brands be more remembered, relevant, gain new customers and accelerate their growth. Background checks might be a bit of extra work but will make you sleep much better at night. It's an absolute must if you plan to hire anyone to represent your brand.

Note: article originally published in Portuguese at Meio & Mensagem.