Be like LeBron

In case you haven't heard, LeBron James is going to make a decision on which team he'll be playing for this evening. In fact, he's going to do it on a one-hour program broadcast nationally on ESPN.

Speculation has run rampant in the sports media and blogs for months on where he will end up. Groups in Cleveland, New York and Chicago have gone to great lengths to demonstrate their love for LeBron producing videos, direct mail pieces, even putting together elaborate star-studded dinner parties, all in an attempt to attract the star who supposedly is worth millions to the franchise and city that land him.

It's all a little crazy. And unbelievable marketing by LeBron.

In much the same way as Apple does in the run up to its new product launches, LeBron has made news by saying nothing.

Apparently LeBron knows that in the absence of information around matters that some consider important, people will fill in the blanks themselves. The lack of news coming out of LeBron's camp has fueled the speculation and extended the life of the story. 

Contrast this with Chevy's painfully long and tedious launch of the Volt. We've seen pictures of it for years. It's at every auto show. Major media outlets have been granted test drives. We've even been treated to the glory that was the Volt Dance. There is nothing we don't know about this car and we're still months away from its launch.

No network is going to run a one-hour special on the Volt even though it's arguably more important to the future of the U.S. economy than where LeBron plays basketball next year.

In fact, GM has done such a bad job in the prelaunch publicity of the Volt, that it will be old news on the day it hits the showroom floor.

As LeBron proves, when it comes to fueling the media, the less you say, the more buzz you create.