Tiger's new Nike ad

Tiger Woods relaunched his marketing image late Wednesday with a new Nike ad. Much discussion has flowed from it. I have three takes on it - one personal, the other two as a marketing professional.

Personally... The ad is disgusting and disgraceful and opportunist in the worst possible way. Instead of continuing to keep saying the right things, relating to fans and appearing lighter and more accessible than before, Woods chose to jump right back into the circus. I was buying his rehabilitation and redemption this week and, even though it has zero direct effect on me, I was happy for him. He seemed like a different person. This ad told me he has not changed one bit. It's about the image, the money, the brand. It's a big negative for me and makes me care about him not one iota.

Professionally... I think Nike gave Tiger Woods an ultimatum. After months of wondering whether their international, billion-dollar brand might be suddenly ruined, they are anxious to get their brand equity back. They could not resist the opportunity to get their name in front of hundreds of millions of golf fans at Tiger's return to professional golf at the Masters. My guess is the power in their relationship has seriously swung from Tiger to Nike, and Nike told him he is going to do this, whether he wanted to do it or not. No doubt Tiger approved the concept and is not completely blameless in this. But I'm pretty sure Nike is driving it.

Creatively... How do you sell redemption? That was the ad agency's challenge. A dead father's voice, was their answer. (Here is where I think Tiger is morally bankrupt, allowing this concept to proceed. It is becoming increasingly documented that Earl Woods was not the upstanding moral figure that he is commonly portrayed as. Why allow him to be the "voice from beyond" in an ad like this?) It is certainly provocative and that was their goal. How do you overcome four months of disastrous PR? Clearly, this was their intended first step to turn the corner. Now that this is out there, the next ad can be a more standard sales ad. They had to acknowledge the situation and turn the corner so they could get on with the business of leveraging their top golf brand. Mission accomplished.


Addendum: ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski said it much better than I in this column.