Tiger Woods has been all over the news after last week's mysterious single-car accident outside of his house in California. Since the accident, he has remained very quiet about the whole matter and has made little efforts at commenting. I believe Tiger has failed to efficiently deal with this issue that has caused extensive media coverage.
Many are criticizing Tiger and "his people's" issue management. In the articles, "Woods may be failing 'PR 101', could learn from Kobe, Dave" and "Tiger Woods engulfed in PR storm" the authors explain why Tiger should come clean already.
Tiger needs to make a better statement than he has thus far. He has canceled all police interviews and has made only one statement through his website. If it was just an accident, why the cover-up? Not commenting only makes you look guilty. The media and tabloids will only seek continue to seek answers, which will only generate more unwanted publicity.
I understand privacy, however I think the best solution would be to deal with the issue and tell what really happened so speculation will stop. Put an end to all the rumors of affairs, arguments with his wife, etc.
Tiger Woods is a public figure and role model. Many people look up to him and admire his talent. If something did happen, own up. The public will forgive him and soon forget. If it truly was an accident, make a statement and be done with this whole ordeal.
With all this aside, I still love you Tiger.
http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/sports/19176-woods-may-be-failing-pr-101-could-learn-from-kobe-dave.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/12/01/tiger.woods.public.relations/
8 comments:
I agree - The issue could have been cleaned up much more quickly and efficiently. I'm afraid that now Woods is achieving all sorts of tabloid buzz as rumors of an affair bubble to the surface.
Here is the official statement made by Woods on his Web site: http://web.tigerwoods.com/news/article/200911297726222/news/
Here is a very different take on the story, claiming Woods' has been involved with a 31-month affair with a cocktail waitress:
http://thecelebritycafe.com/features/36489.html
Who will general public believe - Woods or the press?
Milwaukee's TMJ4 News Anchor, Vince Vitrano solicited free PR advice to Tiger in his blog. Vitrano says it best: "Yes, Tiger. You are, as everyone is, entitled to a private life. You do not owe anyone a public apology or explanation of your actions. That is true.
Now... you remember you're one of the most famous people on planet earth, right? Get over it and get ready to tell what happened."
http://www.todaystmj4.com/bloggers/vitrano/78334757.html
I'll be keeping up on this. We'll see what changes are made.
I completely agree with coming out with a strong statement right off the bat. I feel like even the (in my opinion weak) statement he gave was far too late, the speculation had already begun and was swinging in full force. The truth will get out eventually, but in the meantime outrageous stories (true or false) will take over and will prevent you from effectively handling the problem from a PR perspective.
I agree- Tiger has failed PR wise thus far. As we all know, PR is about creating and maintaining a public image. His elusive behavior and vague comments are tarnishing his image just as much as the accident and affair allegations have. Who on earth is his PR person?
Really, this will turn out to be a lesson in crisis communication. Tiger should be open and honest to a certain degree. If he came from a truthful place to begin with, chances are all the speculation and media frenzy would have died down considerably by now.
Although I agree that Tiger Woods failed initially from a PR perspective, I felt like his strong comments to the media a day later were bolstered by his initial silence. I don't think we should have an expectation of being granted unrelenting access to anyone's personal life, and I think that Tiger Woods made the decision to stay quiet even while knowing how it may hurt his image and brand.
It is hard to believe all that has unraveled in the Tiger story within the past couple weeks. Not only has the public found out about the sketchy situation surrounding the car accident but also a mess of issues that led up to this. I wonder when and if this story would have broke if there had been no accident?
I personally feel Tiger would have saved himself a lot of trouble by coming out with a clear statement at the beginning but I don't think it would have totally saved him from what has happened since. Either way, I think the truth would have gotten out. When looking at the situation now, I can't even analyze as far back as the initial statements surrounding the accident. The big PR question will be now how Tiger handles everything that is before him....only time will tell.
Well Congrats Tiger because you still got Athlete of the decade! Now, I could care less what Tiger does in his personal life. He's an athlete, one hell of a golfer, and THATS what he should be famous for. What he does to stray away from his marriage is him and his wifes problem. BUT rumors of him taking performance enhancing drugs...now thats not so great. If he took something that affected or caused his great game...that is low and if that is the case he does not deserve athlete of the decade..does he?
Post a Comment