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What?  No Oprah?  In typical Tiger style, he is conducting a press…, sorry, I got that wrong.  I guess it was wishful thinking.  Tiger will be reading a statement in front of selected media and taking no questions.  Which will only lead to MORE questions.  See more here and my quote in the LA Times Article this morning.  I have written in this space with my insights.  I agree with the article, he should have followed the Andy Petite approach to handling adversity.  What approach is that, you might say?  That is precisely my point…

In today’s LA Times article about Tiger, I was quoted by Diane Pucin.   I want to augment the quote and lend some editorial.  You’ll see several posts on this subjects in my blog.  To get the full picture of my perspective, I suggest you read them all.

Here is my quote and it is also hypertext to the article.

Dan Beeman, founder of the Woodland Hills-based Sponsorship Insights Group, a global networking and sponsorship agency, said Woods’ unwillingness to take control of the situation “smacks of selfishness.”

“Tiger should have come out by now and released all his sponsors from their obligations and publicly rededicated himself to working for his foundation,” Beeman said. “Instead he and his representatives are letting his sponsors hang out there and fall like dominoes, one by one.”

The dominoes falling and his silence  is only extending the story.  Tiger is going through a self-inflicted ordeal that none of us can relate to as no sports figure has ever has the number of endorsements, is as widely recognized or has anywhere near the income generated by them.

People have and do cheat, but no cheating  has ever been so widely covered or been so serial in its nature.  Part of the incomprehensible irony which has mystified his fans is that golf has many metaphors about life through its’ rules of self-regulation, honesty and tradition.  So, sponsors jumped on the bandwagon of the best  golfer and capitalized on those attributes.  That is why so many feel cheated.  Cheating is not allowed in golf.

Almost all of his sponsors focused on his relentless drive for perfection and personal discipline which helped him achieve success.  He allowed sponsors to market himself that way knowing there was a natural, logical extension from his golf success to his personal success.  This was all reinforced by his public image – a lovely wife and two adorable children.  Sponsors hoped that same leap would be made by consumers as it related to their brand.  This image was reinforced by an apparently wholesome family life.  The extension of perceived perfection to his personal life and brands was natural.  By accepting the endorsements, he perpetuated that image.

Now we know that on field/court/course success should not be extended to assumptions of ones moral character or integrity.  We keep learning the hard way.  We want to look up to these athletes because they do physical things we can’t.

As I said in the article, he needs to get in front of it, show genuine remorse, accept responsibility and do something about it.  A good first step would be to release sponsors from their obligations.  This will end the domino effect of  sponsors, one at a time, spinning their way out of their connection with him by “respecting his privacy.”

The “selfishness” I spoke of in the article was not of Tiger (though, through his duplicity, he obviously was), but his agent who had the audacity to say he was disappointed in Accenture for dropping him.  His agent should have apologized to Accenture for tarnishing their image and allowing them to run their marketing around a campaign that now smacks of a sad irony – “Go ahead, be a Tiger.”  Yikes!

Accenture, and the others, should find causes/properties to sponsor that aim to do good, not individuals.  Tiger should endorse that.   That would stop the dominoes from continuing to fall and buy him some privacy, respect and the opportunity to start repairing himself and his image.  As we keep being reminded, humans are not perfect and will make mistakes, but causes aim for good and usually do it.

Thoughts?

Yesterday I was interviewed by Diane Pucin of the LA Times about Gillette’s carefully worded decision regarding their sponsorship of him.

“As Tiger takes a break from the public eye,” Gillette said in a statement, “we will support his desire for privacy by limiting his role in our marketing programs.”

I was quoted in the article and wanted to elaborate on my thoughts as it relates to sponsorship and Tiger.

Premise:  Man is inherently flawed.  So, sponsoring a man, as good as he is, or people think he is; is  a flawed model.  Especially if you want your brand to represent perfection.  While Tiger is an amazing golfer, he is human and therefore flawed.  He is, as we all are, bound to make mistakes.

His mistakes were compounded by his public persona and endorsement portfolio making him out to be something that he actually wasn’t – an honest, good person with the highest morals, integrity and principles.

His success in golf was due, in part, to his relentless drive.  This success led to confidence which was reinforced with more success.  As we all know, there is a thin line between confidence and arrogance.  He crossed that line with his personal behavior and it will cost him dearly – personally and professionally.

Here is the duality conundrum:  those attributes which make us successful can also be our weakness.  We must embrace and acknowledge this duality of our nature.

Now, to repair himself and his image, he must embrace the opposite of invincibility; humility.  If he is humble, shows his vulnerability and is authentic;  people (perhaps, even his wife) will eventually forgive and forget.

So, it all comes down to how he responds to this adversity.  He can continue to hide, live a lie or show genuine remorse.  If he does the latter, over time, he can come out of this and re-create himself more authentically.

Magic Johnson provides a good case study.  Instead of being known as a serial philanderer who contacted HIV through unprotected sex with multiple partners which forced and early, ignominious retirement from basketball; he is now widely regarded as a visionary business leader and philanthropist.

Philanderer or philanthropist.  What will it be Tiger?  Can you make good of this?

The opportunity is right in front of you.  Eschew and release all your sponsorship obligations.  Then, ask the companies to give that money to causes for good instead of lining your already deep pockets.

For brand/sponsors:  Embrace ideals and organizations/properties which aim to do good.  Scandal is not created by organizations,  but by corrupted or corruptible people.

Thoughts?

I developed a sponsorship program for a real estate developer who provided “aspirational luxury” stores at his retail properties for consumers who “aspired” to a luxury lifestyle.

It worked in retail as consumers shop to feel better, using consumption as therapy.  We sold sponsorships leveraging access to the consumers when their guard was down (while shopping) from being inundated by brand messages that were sent through traditional media channels.

I found an interesting organization that is offering partnerships by rewarding future behavior – and inspiring that behavior.

What is an X PRIZE?

An X PRIZE is a $10 million+ award given to the first team to achieve a specific goal, set by the X PRIZE Foundation, which has the potential to benefit humanity. Rather than awarding money to honor past achievements or directly funding research, an X PRIZE incites innovation by tapping into our competitive and entrepreneurial spirits.

How enlightened.  Why be aspirational if you can be inspirational?