The Mauling of a Tiger
December 1st, 2009 by Jarhead
Personally, I don’t really care to know what Tiger was doing crashing his Escalade into a tree. Nor do I care why his wife Ellen smashed the back window with Tiger’s golf club. Maybe it was to rescue him… maybe it wasn’t – I don’t care.
What I do care about is the horrible manner in which Tiger is managing his communications during this time. He further fueled the situation by allowing his lawyer to dictate what he should say to the media and the police. “It’s a family matter…” is a legalistic move that will damage Tiger’s chances at mitigating this issue and moving on with his life and career.
Here’s what he should’ve done:
1) Tell the truth. Celebrities don’t get to have secrets.
2) Tell the truth. This isn’t Napa Valley and bad news doesn’t get better with age.
3) Tell the truth. Formulate a communication strategy, execute the plan, and stick with it.
4) Then, tell the truth. Get out in front of the media and tell them what happened, again and again until they get sick of the same story.
5) Relegate your lawyer to legal matters, not communications.
By relying on lawyers, you may stay out of jail, however, life can continue to be miserable…, profits can continue to tank…, and worst of all, your reputation or your company’s reputation can be ruined for life.
A Communication Counselor’s involvement is absolutely necessary during times when the media is on a feeding frenzy.
Unfortunately, the “Tiger Woods” brand has now been inflicted by the media and its audiences.
Fortunately, the American audience is a forgiving public.
Tiger: communication takes work – hire someone. SOON!
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A Public Affairs Officer for the Marines, Danny is an innovative and forward-thinking executive, with a passion for leveraging effective communications to fuel employee-engagement, build community goodwill, and drive profits.
- 2 Comments »
- Posted in Communication, Corporate Communication
I was listening to ESPN Radio the other morning, and they commented how Tiger will eventually get past this, and how he kept all his endorsement deals (the endorsers even issued public statements sympathizing with Tiger Woods).
You said fortunately, the American audience is a forgiving public… is it fortunate? Perhaps we’re too forgiving. Kobe Bryant, for instance, completely shed the negative image from the Colorado rape allegations (far worse than Tiger’s situation), and even went on to score the MVP and earned endorsements back after losing all of them.
Maybe the forgiving American audience is perpetuating the problem — “sure I screwed up but I’m a celebrity and they’ll end up loving me again” — and this poses a problem when we’re talking about people who are more than corporate brands. They are role models for a future generation who might be unknowingly taught a lesson that it’s okay to cheat if you have good PR to back you up.
Danny- I agree with you 100%. I was commenting the other day on how terrible he is handling this situation. Who’s running his PR right now? They should be fired! Tiger is the “Brand”! Where’s the damage control? His livlihood is dependent on his reputation.
Warmest regards and Semper Fi,
Chris Turnquist
Former Marine SSgt
CEO- Proteus Design Studio