Client

Lamar Odom, Los Angeles Lakers

Today, Lamar Odom is close to becoming one of the few professional athletes to cross over into the world of entertainment successfully, all the while still maintaining the integrity of his on-the-court brand. Among even casual NBA fans, he is known for being selfless and determined as a teammate, and one of the most versatile, dynamic players in today’s game.

When we started working with Lamar in late 2006, people had a different perception of him. Their opinions were mired in inaccuracies and exaggerations about who Lamar was, on and off the court. Having had the opportunity to get to know Lamar fairly extensively, presenting a true picture of who he was became the primary focus of our digital branding campaign.

We worked hard to articulate who he was with complete clarity: a young man raised without a father, who lost his mother to cancer at age 12, who had only an elderly grandmother to guide him through his early years as a professional. And who, despite some missteps along the way, was one of the most talented players in professional basketball, and one of the most positive, forthright, well-intentioned athletes in any sport.

Over time, through a combination of his web site and social networks (1.1 million followers on Twitter, 127,000 on Facebook as of January 2011), that was precisely the picture of Lamar that began to take hold. We revived one of his old college nicknames -- the Package, because of his wide-ranging skills -- and it began to appear online and in widely consumed periodicals like US Weekly.

And as we continued to work for Lamar on our end, he took care of business on his. Three years after we had begun, Lamar and the Los Angeles Lakers captured the 2009-10 NBA title. By the time he married Khloe Kardashian, the public and media perception of Lamar was what it was now: an accurate reflection of one of best players and people in the league today.