Thursday, January 21, 2010

Accenture high performance -NOT delivered!

After relentless badgering over the last month and a half, it seems the much coveted Tiger Woods' brand is beginning to crumble. Not to a massive degree (Nike hasn't announced it is dumping him) but still, it’s a HUGE loss!

Firstly, Bloomberg has just reported that not one of Woods sponsors has broadcast an advert featuring their most famous (and most well-remunerated) pitchman since 29 November, two days after the initial car crash.
The last prime-time ad featuring the 33-year-old golfer (in the US) was a 30-second Gillette Co. spot that ran on Nov. 29, according to New York-based Nielsen. Woods was also absent from commercials on a number of weekend sports programs, including NFL games, Nielsen said.
"Last weekend there wasn't any advertisement during those games," said Aaron Lewis, a spokesman at Nielsen.
Darren Rovell, the sports business reporter at the US TV network CNBC, responds on his excellent Twitter feed that "only eight Woods adverts were shown in the whole of November". Still, it doesn't look good!

So now my question is does a Sponsor or a band get affected by what the Brand Ambassador does outside of his professional domain?
I mean let’s take a look at some of Tiger Wood’s biggest sponsors
1. Nike
2. Tag
3. Accenture


Did anyone really BUY a TAG watch because TIGER was a good man, faithful to his wife! NO OBVIOUSLY NOT!
Did anyone go out and buy NIKE Golf accessories because TIGER was faithful in his relationship! And finally & most importantly ….

DO RECENT EVENTS IMPLY THAT TIGER IS NO LONGER A GOOD GOLFER!!!!

That’s ridiculous… absolute nonsense! Tiger Woods is huge and is who he is because he plays exceptional Golf. That’s the truth! And nothing that anybody says or does can change that! INCLUDING HIM!

If he chooses to go and sleep with a 100 women at the same time (and considering recent news that’s distinctly possible) he will still continue to be a tremendous golfer! And that’s why people write about him, want to know him and be seen with him! That’s why brands have flocked to him over the years! It has nothing to do with Elin or anyone else

At this time it would have been more prudent of CEO’s to say we know TIGER is our Brand Ambassador, we think he’s a tremendous golfer and we would like him to be the face of our company, because we think he’s an exceptional sporting talent (which he is!)
So here we are, sticking by him in this i.e. his time of need!

Now wouldn’t that not be wonderful!!!! I’m certain the American public & people world over (or at most ardent Golfing fans) could accept that. That’s not too much to ask for….

And besides people like reality & drama right! They love people who make the best of out their second chances in life! How can you forget?
Can you forget the adulation Jordan got? Or Aggasi or even Martina Hingis??

People love the “homecoming” or the “second-coming”. It’s like their STARS are re-born again! And then, the second time round the love & adulation is also DOUBLE!!

So I guess one would have to say that this time the great marketing guru’s of the WEST
have got it wrong!

They should NOT have turned their back on the Tiger, because he is still lurking out there somewhere in the bushes, waiting for a chance to pounce once more!

And yes, oh yes…you guys from Accenture….. high performance -NOT delivered!

2 comments:

  1. True... I agree completely with you. Had thought of the same when this news came out first, its summed up perfectly when you say, "DO RECENT EVENTS IMPLY THAT TIGER IS NO LONGER A GOOD GOLFER!!!!"

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  2. Unfortunately human beings dont have a rational mind. They ride on sentiments. So when things are going good, a Brand tries to ride on the good things associated with a star. When it's bad it's correct not to be associated with it. When you keep showing a Gillete or an Accenture ad, people will not be thinking about the brand, they'll only talk about Tiger's life and it doesnt help the brand. As it is brands paly shitloads of money to Tiger. And when tiger comes roaring back, I am sure both will be happy to work with each other.

    A brand associates with a sportsman because a lot of people like him and follow him, not because he is a good player.

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