Has Tiger lost weight? Has he gotten shorter? I recently watched one of his tournaments and couldn’t believe it was him. It was as if a body double was playing him on T.V. – public perception is a beast.
When the public is on your side you look taller and more dominating than you really are. Since Tiger’s personal flaws have been exposed he looks 5 foot 3 and about 150 pounds soaking wet. What happened?
What happened to him is what happens to powerful, talented people all across the globe after a fall from grace. He has lost the aura of invincibility. While we all agree Tiger is the one to blame for his actions, I place partial culpability on one entity you may not have considered, his marketing team.
Nike and Buick were only a couple of the corporations pouring millions into his yearly endorsement pocket. So what’s the problem? The problem is this. When you set up a celebrity to be angelic it’s only a matter of time before his demon wants his 15 minutes of fame. The traditional approach for corporate endorsement marketing campaigns is to position the client as untouchable. This approach will not work in our new global economy.
Kids and adults alike now crave the authentic. They crave commercials showing an athlete’s losses not just his wins. It’s counter-intuitive, but if Tiger had allowed us more insight into his imperfect life, his marital imperfections would not have ruined his commercial value. Authenticity is good business.
Enter email below for FREE download of New Ebook: Preparing for Denver: 3 Critical Lessons for the Pro Athlete