Tiger Woods: Improving His Brand Image
TW – Exec Summary
The following report examines how Tiger Woods’ functional and reputational core competencies have affected his professional life, specifically relating to his financial status as a marketing tool for golf companies. Prior to his 2009 scandal, Tiger Woods was ranked #1 in the world, one of the highest grossing athletes, and one of the leaders earning multiple lucrative endorsement deals. He made millions leverage his two major core competencies: functional (professional athleticism-based) and reputational (image-based). Functionally Tiger was one of the greatest golfers in the history of golf as a sport. Reputational-wise, Tiger was perceived as a positive role model demonstrating strong and confident manhood and masculinity. He was the best and represented the best. After his scandal in 2009, Tiger’s reputation endured a drastic decline amongst his fans, sports enthusiasts, and society overall. His personal brand was damaged and needs to be strategically repositioned in order for Tiger to earn back his financial revenues comparable to the amount he earned from his endorsement deals prior to his fall from grace in 2009.
The most strategic decision to help improve Tiger’s reputation is to use Tiger himself. Tiger as an athlete is his most valuable asset as it relates to potential collaborators and customers. Trying to approach repositioning Tiger from a more functional standpoint will be successful as Tiger wins more golf tournaments. Leveraging his athletic ability will in turn help increase his favorability and better manage external relations because new endorsement relationships have the potential to be established.
Currently Tiger’s endorsement deals range from commercial to brand name products, but the common thread throughout all of his deals is they promote Tiger from a value-added point of view: as Tiger promotes their products, the companies’ brands help promote Tiger’s athletic strengths and successes. For example Tiger
The following report examines how Tiger Woods’ functional and reputational core competencies have affected his professional life, specifically relating to his financial status as a marketing tool for golf companies. Prior to his 2009 scandal, Tiger Woods was ranked #1 in the world, one of the highest grossing athletes, and one of the leaders earning multiple lucrative endorsement deals. He made millions leverage his two major core competencies: functional (professional athleticism-based) and reputational (image-based). Functionally Tiger was one of the greatest golfers in the history of golf as a sport. Reputational-wise, Tiger was perceived as a positive role model demonstrating strong and confident manhood and masculinity. He was the best and represented the best. After his scandal in 2009, Tiger’s reputation endured a drastic decline amongst his fans, sports enthusiasts, and society overall. His personal brand was damaged and needs to be strategically repositioned in order for Tiger to earn back his financial revenues comparable to the amount he earned from his endorsement deals prior to his fall from grace in 2009.
The most strategic decision to help improve Tiger’s reputation is to use Tiger himself. Tiger as an athlete is his most valuable asset as it relates to potential collaborators and customers. Trying to approach repositioning Tiger from a more functional standpoint will be successful as Tiger wins more golf tournaments. Leveraging his athletic ability will in turn help increase his favorability and better manage external relations because new endorsement relationships have the potential to be established.
Currently Tiger’s endorsement deals range from commercial to brand name products, but the common thread throughout all of his deals is they promote Tiger from a value-added point of view: as Tiger promotes their products, the companies’ brands help promote Tiger’s athletic strengths and successes. For example Tiger