un-Branding Tiger - Not Out of the Woods...

The branding campaign of an entertainment figure can be considered a lifetime project and depending on the decisions made by the individual, their brand is almost synonymous with their person. Whether the brand is Whitney Houston, Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey, Jay Leno or Venus Williams, the entertainment audience’s response is the gauge of their success and the risk of new releases, ventures and popularity are at times volatile based on the media coverage. One such example of this is the last few months in the life of Tiger Woods. As a professional golfer, Tiger is no doubt the cream of the crop, however, being a successful athlete in today’s world is not just based on athletic skills but sponsorship by leading companies, which brings additional revenue and in turn popularity with the sports audience. At first glance, the Tiger Woods infidelity scandal has been for most an entertaining saga of saucy women and paparazzi-style media speculations between he and his wife. One reality remains – this three-ring circus has dealt a critical hit to the Tiger Woods brand business-wise. The risk of playing the field (pun intended) was high – to be an athlete, one will have groupies; to cheat on your wife as a man in high regard is playing with your career as well as your marriage. If Tiger were not married, none of this would matter, would it? He took the risk of exposing himself to opportunistic groupies by being one of the highest paid athletes, and he took the risk of scandal by engaging them. Buzz Bissinger maintains that Tiger throughout his career endorsed family as a priority, which made his scandal so much more devastating and discrediting. As a result, sponsors felt uneasy to have him endorse their products, because if he were to tell untruths about his priorities, then his endorsements about their products were shady as well. Several things could have been done to prevent the scandal, or the magnitude of the scandal. Of course, most point out that he either should have not gotten married in the first place, or at least made a decision to be faithful to his wife in spite of the many offers dangled in his face, even by his manager, which brings me to another solution – he should have had a better manager and/or image consultant. His response to the media after the scandal was presented was done improperly. The story would not have been as exciting if Tiger did not attempt to pay off one of the mistresses, especially knowing there were at least 14 more women that could also benefit waiting in the wings. As soon as he paid her, it was acknowledging that her demands were validated, in turn validating all the others, whether it was true or not. The last thing that could have been done differently was the public confession and departure from golf. Major athletes have been accused of infidelity for decades, but what separates Tiger from the rest is his confession to the world concerning a private matter between he and his wife. To allow the public in to private matters was a huge mistake and immediately after his sponsors started pulling their campaigns, a blow to the successful Tiger brand. Departing from golf further damaged his credibility, showing that he could not handle his business affairs (no pun intended) and personal life at the same time. According to the article Tiger Woods in Vanity Fair: Tiger in the Rough in the Washington Post, his brand will probably not be what it once was, meaning that his revenue will likely take a hit. Reference: Bissinger, Buzz. (December 2009). Tiger Woods in Vanity Fair: Tiger in the Rough. Washington Post Online. Retrieved January 10, 2010 from http://htxt.it/PzsH