Tiger Woods Needs to Fire His PR Team!

Tiger Woods’ PR reps have handled this crisis terribly from the very beginning. Thanksgiving night when he wrecked his car and the allegations of affairs starting coming forth, the PR reps should have had a plan of containment and proactive media communication. Instead they had Tiger wait nearly 80+ days to have a “non” press conference, where a speech was robotically read over a 14 minute period with no question/answer period.

Tiger gave off the impression that he's above reproach and that he's not somebody that needs to be questioned. People were shocked that Tiger was not who he projected himself to be and they felt deceived. Now that he has the opportunity to make amends, he drops the ball by not releasing a statement or having a press conference before he enters rehab and once he does do a press conference – sort of - he appears insincere. The speech is completely manufactured. Overall, it was a complete disaster.

Cons:

• Tiger’s appearance was shabby. It was a failed attempt at being approachable and low key. Although a suit with no tie and blue shirt are appropriate for an event such as this, Tiger’s shirt collar was crooked, he looked terrible. He should have come out looking clean cut, tailored, in a suit, shirt with no tie but exuded confidence that he did something wrong but was making amends. He did not exude confidence; he looked scared, haggard and beaten. His PR team was trying to humanize him and appear to be humble but instead they made him appear slovenly and weak. He looked obviously out of his element. He gave the opposite impression than what a PR team should have made him appear.
• The speech Tiger read was clearly READ and too long! It was so scripted and read it like a robot. Not having the script somewhat memorized or practiced gave the appearance of lack of sincerity. It would have been better to issue a statement than to do what he did yesterday.

Pros:

• It is well known that bad news should always be delivered on a Friday. This gives the public the opportunity to talk about it over the weekend and get over it. It usually dies down following the weekend. The bad part about this is that Tiger Woods is internationally known and people care about what has happened. They are paying attention. So although, it is a media tactic that usually works, it had little to no impact on this issue.
• It was a sound tactic to have a conference where the message was controlled but it would have been wise to take certain questions and had prepped answers. Because Tiger is so private, he has less experience with interacting with the media and how to work them to his advantage. This was clearly apparent.
• Tiger did apologize to everyone and in the right order. The fans, to his sponsors, to members of the media, and to his family – the apology was key but it was too scripted and rehearsed and did not come across sincere.
• It was important that he address the security and privacy necessary around his family and it was well stated in his speech. It was one of the places where a touch of emotion could clearly be read.
• The token nod to his sponsors that he may be back in the game this year was well put and although brief, will help diffuse the media frenzy of whether he will be back or not. Financially his sponsors banking on him to get back to work. This conference did not humanize Tiger in a good light, which in turn is a poor reflection on his sponsors.
• Although the hug to his mom would have humanized Tiger, it came across as scripted and manipulating, which is exactly the opposite of the impression one wants to leave the public with. Fans are generally very forgiving but they do not want to be manipulated. They want to see the human side of their idols and the genuineness of sorrow for their failures. Tiger did not give this to his fans.

Overall, let me say that I do think that Tiger is sincere in knowing that he made a terrible mistake and must make amends to salvage his marriage and career. Knowing his background in that his father also cheated tells me that Tiger grew up with some ill conceived “tools” of how to appreciate women and a lack of understanding about relationships. Although I say this, it does not excuse his behavior in that he has a choice to follow in the footsteps of hurtful mistakes that his father made or correct the sins of the fathers. He chose to cheat and deceive his family & the public and must now pay the consequences. Tiger should hire a new PR team, one that has experience in handling scandal such as this and get to back to rebuilding his life.