Tuesday
Jun192012
Tiger Showing Signs Of PR Savvy...
The Cleveland Plain-Dealer's Tim Rogers reports on the stunning news that Tiger Woods has committed to the WGC Bridgestone in August, maybe his earliest non-major commitment ever and the simplest but best public relations move he can make.
"This is the earliest Tiger has entered since I've been here," executive director Don Padgett III told the newspaper. "Last year he waited until the Thursday or Friday before, which is his right. But having him commit early is a plus."
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 09:54 PM
Reader Comments (19)
Now if only he would have a little similar consideration for the Tournaments that are struggling and to which he occasionally cares to lend his presence. Any bets if he'll play that Fall Finish event again -- Fry's, or whatever it will be this year?
Right now this is just what the headline says: good pr at absolutely no cost to himself.
When was the last time Phil played a Fall Finish event? Rory? Come on, those events have never been geared towards the stars. He added the Greenbrier this year, a tournament he never has played before and committed weeks early to this one as well.
As I've said more than once, Tiger provides plenty of legitimate ammo to allow you to criticize (e.g. reaction to Beau Hossler) without straining to invent others.
Nice try though.
You missed my point completely. I didn't say he added the Frys "for the good of the Tour," or indeed mentioned the Frys at all. Rather, I said he added the Greenbrier this year as an example of adding new tournaments. No one will disagree that he only played the Frys because Couples asked him. My only point about the Fall Series was that none of the stars plays the Fall Series, so to criticize Tiger for not playing the Fall Series is dumb.
Anyway, he might be getting on the right track re committing. Let's see how often it happens before we give him an A+ on it. Committing to Bridgestone, as I noted, hardly counts.
And 18 Beats 14: right you are. Let's face it, nobody else's commitment practices are even noteworthy. That this is worth covering at all is revelatory about Tiger's usual practices and about how even one small courtesy becomes invaluable pr for him.
Tiger, being who he is (and he willingly signed his name on the dotted line) is held to a higher standard. Is this fair? Probably not, but it is the bed he made for himself. His past routine of committing to an event on the LAST POSSIBLE DAY was basically an "F-U" to the tournament director(s) who live and breath by showcasing the top players to spectators, TV, and most importantly in these uncertain economic times...the sponsors who actually write the cheques. Don't me started on those play-school like internet "Ask Tiger" on Google or WTF webpage it was on.
IMO...professionals who make their livelihood from playing a maddening/silly game owe the game as much...err...uh..."Positive PR" as they can give....see Arnie's career for how it should be done. I know the tiger "enablers" will be throwin daggers at me...but I don't give a $hit!
JCZ
As a tournament organizer which scenario would you prefer:
A. run your event and if you get Tiger at the last minute it's icing on the cake?
B. build your whole PR campaign around Tiger for the 4 months leading up to the event and then lose him last second?
PS...over the last decade it's been pretty easy to figure out where Tiger was, and wasn't, going to play.
Personally, I would rather have Tiger commit 3-4 months before, work my tail off promoting the event, and cross my fingers he doesn't hit another fire hydrant or get a hangnail or get sick or blow another joint/tendon/etc. Life's supposed to be full of surprises.
He's in a tough spot, damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. I wouldn't trade lives with him in any case.
And here's some more in terms of thinking about the true business effects. Truth is not many corporate customers (those buying a tent, or a table in a tent, or multiple pro-am spots) base a decision on whether or not Tiger will attend. These purchases are driven by a CEO or local executive who is generally a golfer and values golf and entertaining at the tourney as a business development tool -- these are the purchases that are sometimes made many many months in advance.
Then there's the small corporate customer who is going to buy a package with say 20 weekly badges and maybe some one-day tickets too, these also tend to be repeat in nature and not driven by any one player (not even Tiger). These are smaller companies that are spreading badges around among the customers.
Finally there's the individual badge holder and one-day ticket buyer, this is where Tiger has a HUGE impact....like a 5X impact at Fry's. This is where potentially an event could leave a little bit on the table when Tiger commits the previous Friday. Mostly this is driven by families who might otherwise attend the event but are out of town. Short of that, those customers that hinge on Tiger's presence will buy ticket and will find a way to get there.
So, again, while the risk of Tiger WD'ing is relatively low, I'm of the opinion that I want to run my event in a profitable manner and if the upside of Tiger drops into my lap at the last second, hallelujah!!
PS...the other important consideration is the effect Tiger has on your shuttles, ability of marshal's to handle fan traffic, etc...this is where the "signaling" comes in. In the last decade few if any (that I am aware of) events have ever gotten Tiger completely out of the blue the Friday before with no warning at all.
PPS...as previously stated, the events Tiger is going to play in generally have a good idea he will do so, including Firestone. In the end I bet bottom line business results at Firestone will not be meaningfully different than previous years when Tiger played. There is a nice little burst of publicity right now but that will wane quickly.