Mark's history of the Hollywood publicists - how the Fixers, Fakers and Star Makers Created the Celebrity Industry.
Why Tiger Woods PR disaster could scare brands off sports stars for good
December 11th, 2009 | 
Author: Another piece, by me, on the Tiger Woods brand disintegration has appeared in Guardian Online’s Media section. It looks at the way that sports endorsement has been shifting away from volatile and risky sports stars, and at where the big money is settling in the aftermath of the Tiger Woods PR meltdown.
“Let’s get one thing straight: Tiger’s situation is no ordinary brand collapse. This is the high watermark for individual brand disintegration. It’s not of massive media interest just because of the girls; the attendant hoo-ha surrounding Tiger’s spectacular brand disintegration has been heightened to such an extraordinary degree because of the high level of brand protection surrounding A-list celebrities and sporting giants.”
To read the full article, click here.
Posted in Mark My Words | 
Tags: arshavin, brand, collapse, contract, david beckham, gillette, golf, guardian, media, olympics, pepsi, PR, russia, tiger woods
Tiger Woods didn’t manage this PR mess very well. But that’s all – he hasn’t committed a crime, he has just exercised poor judgement.
However, it is the brands/companies that choose to align themselves to individuals that need to rethink their approach.
To align your company exclusively to a sole sporting individual (as Accenture had done) wasn’t wise.
Sports sponsorship isn’t dead. Companies from now on will hopefully be more realistic about their expectations from such deals and not invest their entire reputation in the fate of one person.