Community

So much is still so fresh, and unanswered, in the Tiger Woods drama. Woods' sponsors seem to be sticking with him, at least for now, according to this AP piece. All of this isn't stopping people from casting their snap judgments and predictions for what will become of his endorsements for Nike, Gillette, AT&T, Accenture and others.

A Millward Brown neuroscience study conducted in September indicated that Woods was the third most effective celebrity brand spokesman, behind Will Smith and Brad Pitt, respectively. Marketing News has more on this study in the December 30 issue.

But now Woods' affinity levels with consumers may diminish, suggests Ann Green, senior vice president of marketing solutions at the Naperville, Ill.-based research company.

"By going quiet as long as he did, it may have tarnished his image, perhaps more than the incident itself," she says in a statement. "As he suffers from scrutiny in the public eye, his brand partners may want to underplay their relationship with him for a period of time. ... If this incident impacts his ability to focus on the game, he may suffer from longer-term endorsement issues, but if he plays well, this will hopefully be a short-term bump in the road."

Robert Tuchman, executive VP of Premiere Global Sports, an agency in New York, told Ad Age that the controversy ultimately will have a negative impact on the Tiger brand, while in the same article, New York University sports management professor Robert Boland said, "unless there is something much more sordid than what has come out, it will not hurt his credibility." And in an online chat on the Washington Post Web site, Jason Maloni, vice president and head of the sports and entertainment practice at Levick Strategic Communications, suggested Woods can learn from, of all people, Eliot Spitzer. "To his credit, Eliot Spitzer confronted cameras in a very direct way and made what apparently is a full disclosure with his wife standing by his side. Despite the fact that he is an athlete, Tiger could take a page from this playbook. ... People can forgive a transgression but what Tiger should be concerned about is that he is perceived as not being completely honest with his fans."

Rounding up this unofficial panel, Dan Lobring, supervisor in public relations for sports marketing firm rEvolution, tells Marketing News exclusively that, "When it comes to transgressions by their heroes, most sports fans have short term memories. Take Kobe Bryant, who after settling his alleged assault case in 2003, regained the top selling jersey spot both in 2007 and 2009. Or better yet, Michael Phelps and his now infamous bong photo from earlier this year. How many sponsors did he lose? None really. Kellogg’s agreement was up and they were not likely to renew."

Personally, I anticipate this all blowing over, but three things may prove to have a negative impact. One, the details that emerge, and how scandalous they may be. Two, how Woods and his wife handle that inevitable revealing TV interview. But most importantly, Tiger will have to remain a pro golf superstar. If his play suffers, that, along with potential fan backlash, could damage his endorsement deals.

But what do you think? Will this dramatically damage Woods' endorsement deals and his ability to effectively sell products to consumers? If so, what type of consumers, and for what companies would his endorsement powers suffer? Or is this just a juicy little story that has no substantial impact on his brand appeal? Sound off in the comment section below. I'll be checking in and offering up some responses.

UPDATE (01/07/10): Obviously a lot has happened on the Tiger Woods front in the past month. Accenture dropped him Dec. 13 (although posters for the B-to-B giant starring the disgraced golf player were still up at airports during the holidays). AT&T dropped him too during the quiet holiday season. Then late last month, the University of California, Davis released a study proclaiming that shareholders of companies endorsed by Woods lost $5-12 billion from the time of his car accident until his announcement that he was taking an indefinite leave from golf.

But EA Sports is still releasing the game Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Online this month. In a blog post, the video game company's president, Peter Moore defended their decision to release a Woods game saying its partnership was always rooted in golf. "By his own admission, he’s made some mistakes off the course," Moore wrote. "But regardless of what’s happening in his personal life, and regardless of his decision to take a personal leave from the sport, Tiger Woods is still one of the greatest athletes in history."

Do these developments affect your opinion about Woods' effectiveness as a sponsor? At this point, I'm thinking that his endorsement power won't be as strong for some time, and certainly not until he returns to golf and proves to the world that he is still one of the game's greatest players. But we'd love to hear your opinion. Feel free to post a comment below.

You might also want to take a look at a new story published in Marketing News very first e-newsletter, Marketing News Exclusives, out this week. The piece, "Tiger Woods' Fall From Grace Will Impact Celeb Marketing," explores how this scandal affecting one of America's biggest celebrity spokesmen will affect celebrity endorsements in general.