The new Nike commercial featuring Tiger Woods has been a hot topic all week-long with many discussions taking place around the water cooler or in my case at work in the workroom and in my marketing class. I have taken the stance that this commercial is a great example of strategic crisis communications in action to rebuild his image. A man who was once seen as squeaky clean family man and role model fell from grace when it was revealed that he engaged in multiple affairs with various women (thought I would recap just in case you have been living under a rock and don’t know or pretending that you don’t care and don’t have a personal opinion about it). Many people including a few of his sponsors, dropped Tiger from his endorsement deals and public marketed image.
This commercial follows his public apology to his wife, family, fans and sponsors. The apology received such lukewarm impact on how people see him now and honestly aren’t sitting around with feelings of personal betrayal, the general feeling is “oh well he is still the best golf player in the game,” but for all of those that feel for poor Elin Woods (Tiger’s wife) this commercial might be his ticket back to “redemption.”
The commercial works. No matter how you analyze it or scrutinize his decease father’s lecture from the past, the commercial uses the voice of the one man Tiger admired most – his father. I felt it showed that Nike supports Tiger as family supports their loved one despite their questionable behavior and poor choices. A coworker of mine believed it was solely because Tiger is Nike’s entire golf industry and they would loose big by dropping him. I think it really depends on the way you view it. Yes Tiger is golf and really the number one player golf fans care to watch and yes, Tiger makes Nike a lot of money, however I still believe you can say everyone loves a comeback story and the Nike ad is the perfect redemption video. Do you agree?
[...] Response Blog #2: Nike Tiger Woods ad | April 24, 2010 My classmate Linda, explored the motivations and wisdom behind the Tiger Woods video in her blog post entitled “New Tiger Woods Nike Commercial – Marketing Genius or Cryptic Ploy?” [...]