After Tiger Woods’ Mea Culpa, Now What?

After Tiger Woods’ Mea Culpa, Now What? Advertising Age – Rich Tomaselli February 19, 2010 Brittney Belshe, Sarah Berwick, Parker Scanlon

Tiger Woods • Professional Golfer • 14 Professional Golf Major Championships • Thanksgiving accident • Result – Infidelity • Are his sponsors willing to “get back into bed with him?”

Sponsors • Nike Golf • EA Sports • Gillette Champions • Tag Heuer • Golf Digest • Accenture • NetJet • Upper Deck • Tatweer: Dubai • TLC Laser Eye Centers • PGA Tour (partner)

Sponsors Status • Accenture – 1st to drop Woods • No longer an effective vehicle to deliver advertising messages • AT&T – Dropped • Gatorade – Discontinued Tiger focus drink • Gillette – Scaling back advertising • Tag Heure – Downscaling image pending return to course

Image • 2008-2009 injury, PGA viewer ship drop 47% • “Positive buzz” • September 2009: 81 • February 2010: 6 • “Negative buzz” • September 2009: 2 • February 2010: 80 • Was one of the top 3 celebrities – Millward Brown Chart • Now bottom 3 • Above Lindsay Lohan & Kanye West

News Conference • Held February 19, 2010, 11am EST • Wall Street trading stopped, increased post conference • Televised – 6.86 Million viewers • Fox News: 2.07 Million viewers • ESPN: 1.71 Million viewers • CNN: 894,000 viewers • Golf Channel: 741,000 viewers • Ustream: 683,000

Other Scandals • Michael Phelps • Suspended • Sponsors dropped • Chris Brown • Sponsors dropped • Michael Vick • Suspended • Sponsors dropped • Jail time

Questions/Discussion • Do you agree with sponsors dropping Woods? • Do you feel differently about a product/brand when celebrities behave badly? • Will people still respect Woods as an athlete and buy the products that endorse him? • Should there be a behavior clause in contracts?

After Tiger Woods’ Mea Culpa, Now What?

After Tiger Woods’ Mea Culpa, Now What?

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