One problem with Tiger Woods’ current public relations problems is the difficulty separating personal emotions about him from his status as a brand and brand representative.
Woods’ case is especially challenging because the personal characteristics that make him so compelling as a role model for teens and other youths are the same traits that make him credible and compelling as a corporate spokesman.
He delivers a package with all of the ideal qualities. He’s young, talented, attractive, black, successful, polite, soft-spoken, well-mannered, temperate, and respectful. What’s more, he worked hard and bootstrapped himself to incredible success and vast wealth.
This is the idealized young man that mothers worldwide want their sons to be.
And, not surprisingly, CEOs find this package equally attractive and very valuable in pitching their products.
As a result, Tiger Woods long ago ceased being a mere golfer, or even a personality. He became a brand. And that changes everything.
Unlike animate people, brands are inanimate. So to humanize them — to make them attractive and approachable — brands must convey human qualities that include status, trust and warmth. Brand images must be able to reach out to consumers and evoke the right emotions. In the end, brands must stimulate positive buying decisions.
Tiger Woods, as a brand and brand representative, delivers. He has moved well beyond the animate human purposefully walking a fairway. For his own brand and some of the world’s largest corporations he is grace under pressure, he is trust, he is success. You want to be associated with him; you want to be him.
As a result of this unique status, Tiger Woods must guide his affairs differently than mere mortals, and expectations for how he is treated relative to ‘the common man’ are different, too.
- His allowed margin of error is substantially reduced;
- His expectations for privacy are considerably diminished; and
- His rights of personal privilege with the media are significantly eroded.
In exchange he is paid quite handsomely.
But, the public world of the personal brand gets even more complex. Since individuals and corporations invest trust, emotions and cash in their icons, they have stated and unstated expectations for the behavior.
Indeed, they expect those they have elevated to perform as promised, to be talented, attractive, successful, polite, well-spoken, soft-spoken, well-mannered, temperate, and respectful.
When performance disappoints, it can threaten the brand and the brand’s market value.
So, as much as Woods or his family may want to keep personal problems private, in the world of Tiger-Woods-the-brand those problems, or even suspicions of problems, are public business.
It is for these reasons, at a minimum, that we are amazed that it appears that Tiger-Woods-the-brand may be guided by a bevy of lawyers while nary a professional public relations counselor is in sight.
Had a competent PR and crisis communications professionals been part of the brand team, Woods would have been better prepared and presented. He would have been able to…
- Assess the possible impact of salacious tabloid articles and accusations before he was assaulted by press questions — and have devised suitable and sustainable responses;
- Devise tactical plans for a variety of personal and professional what-if scenarios [before the explosions]— and have devised suitable and sustainable responses;
- Respond appropriately, in the correct tone, and at the proper length following a minor auto accident; and
- Utilize the dispassionate interface that a PR representative provides a client when a harried throng of reporters comes calling.
While it may be unpleasant to depersonalize and commercialize individuals, that is what happens when a person becomes a brand.
And Tiger Woods is the biggest personal brand in the world with a net worth of over $1 billion and endorsement contracts that include the world’s leading corporations, including Accenture, American Express, AT&T, Electronic Arts, FedEx, Nike, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble Co.’s Gillette, Tag Heuer, Upper Deck, and the TW brand itself.
This onion will continue to be peeled, to the great satisfaction of the press. That Tiger hit this one into the pond is not in doubt. How he handles it remains to be seen.
But it brings to mind the risk and fragility of buying celebrity endorsements by advertisers. Even a squeaky-clean persona can go down. Not that Tiger has, nor will he, but it's always caveat emptor when deciding to bet millions on a personality or face. It's really linking your brand to a person you can't really control. Then, if there is some kind of glitch, massive amounts of damage control are called for, which is expensive and gets in the way of business.
Are we all nuts? You say "So, as much as Woods or his family may want to keep personal problems private, in the world of Tiger-Woods-the-brand those problems, or even suspicions of problems, are public business." It just ain't so. Tiger Woods is a person, not a brand, and he has every right to deal privately with private matters. While the media and public relations professionals might rub their hands in glee over his handling of his current issue, that does not entitle any of us to treat it as something we can relish. Give it a break!
This is not just about the glee the media has. This article post is a thoughtful perspective as to how a public figure could benefit from having a professional PR representative on his team to provide thought leadership and real guidance not just spin. Just a thought, but it might now be evident that PR person should have been onboard all along not just after the fact.
It seems to me that some are understanding of his need to preserve self, but are overlooking other non-narcissistic points of view. What about the brands that supported him? Will we have to go back to using cartoon characters like Tony the Tiger, because we can’t trust the real “Tigers?”