Dahle Communication

Directing the message - Tiger finally speaks

In my previous posts regarding Tiger Woods, I discussed how his NOT talking was hurting him. He was being quiet while the rest of the world was talking - and what the rest of the world was talking about was not good. Sadly, Tiger's representatives were adhering to the old-school philosophy of public relations: that they can control the message.

If you are unfamiliar with that type of logic let me explain. Back in the day before social media and websites like TMZ.com, public relations was all about controlling the message. The PR machines would hold their press conferences when they wanted, they would only release statements that they wanted and they dictated what the newspapers and talk-show hosts would talk about. A good PR person would be able to spin a story and the major media corporations then ran with that story.

 That is now an archaic model. As anyone who is familiar with todays internet will tell you - that just doesn't work anymore. We've seen how certain videos can go viral within hours on youtube, something can take over the trending topics on twitter within minutes and sites like stumbleupon, Digg, Technorati and others spread news at such a fast rate that everyone finds out about it within hours.

It is because of this that PR machines can no longer "control" the message. At best, what you can do is help direct which way you'd like the discussion to go - almost like a discussion leader would do in a group setting. You can't dictate what people will say, but you can at least give them some direction. This is what Tiger should have realized right away - sadly he didn't, so the message went anywhere and everywhere with no direction coming from Tiger.

With that said, Tiger is starting to do some things that are going to help start directing the message more. He gave his apology in a lengthy prepared statement. He gave a 5 minute interview to ESPN and he is going to return to golf at The Masters. All of these steps are starting to direct the message in a way that will help Tiger Woods return to golf. While he will never have the universal respect that he once did, these steps are at least beginning to help the process along.

I will say that the decision to come back at The Masters was a great decision. The Masters is better than anyone at being an old-school style facility. They are a private club that determines who gets in and who is shut out. They can decide which media members will get passes and who doesn't. This means that someone from TMZ probably is not going to get a media pass to this event. Hecklers will be at a minimum and will be swiftly thrown out if they cause a disturbance. So Tiger's first event back - which could have been a disaster - is going to help by being more controlled than other events would be.

Overall, I still think Tiger Woods could have done a much better job with his brand. It is now damaged so severely that he is going to have to create a new brand - and it is going to be very hard to do so. However, his current actions are at least a starting point.

One Year Down - A review of my favorites

 One year ago today I published my first post on communication here at Dahle Communication. I wasn't quite sure how much I was going to be able to spend posting articles or what I would talk about all of those times. After one year though, I have realized that there is a great deal to talk about and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon!

With that said, here are my top 10 posts from the past year. They are not the top ten in views or comments, but what I feel are the 10 bests posts. Best can mean a variety of things, but to me it represents a post that was thought provoking, got some good feedback and has continued to attract interest not only from everyone out there, but me as well.

10. Presentations to watch: xBlog: Did You Know 4.0 - I put this post in the top ten because of how good the video from xBlog is. Its a great presentation that has given me some inspiration and has also gotten me to think about the world.

9. Prezi - A Revolution in Presentations or Just Another Program? - Prezi is a presentation application that has made me re-think the way presentation CAN be done. However, much like anything new, its novelty has worn off some for me. However, I think it is still a great presentation tool that can be added to any successful presenters repertoire.

 8. A Good Story Helps Propel Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor - Justice Sotomayor's profile has decreased quite a bit since she was nominated and confirmed as the most recent Supreme Court justice. Her rise to fame however allowed the Obama administration to show all of us how to use a story to get your audience on your side.

7. Watch the context of your language - why MSNBC should learn slang - The reason I put this up on the top 10 list is that I am a political junkie. I follow politics a lot and like to follow how candidates and activists use communication - either to their advantage or disadvantage. Sadly, a lot of people apparently need to learn slang, because this issue is still around. Besides, this has quite possibly the funniest clip from The Daily Show ever!

6. Macworld 2009 Keynote - Minus Steve Jobs - All of us know how good of a public speaker Steve Jobs is. So when he didn't present at the Keynote address of Macworld people were concerned - about Steve and the status of Apple. Apple is so tied to Jobs and his ability to present eloquently that unless his successor can follow in his footsteps as a confident speaker, Apple might be in trouble.

 5. Pearl Jam Ten Redux CD - Addition by Subtraction - I put this post up simply for the fact that music is a big part of my life and I have used music on several occasions to prove a point. Other posts include one talking about Allison Krauss & Robert Plant, The Watchmen Trailer, Alice In Chains, Chris Isaak and Muse. Music can teach us a lot about communication.

4. Destroying a Brand the Tiger way - This has turned out to be a huge story. What's more amazing is that is it still unfolding in front of our eyes. By the end of 2010, we might know everything - but I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't.

 3. Are things like Twitter, Texting, Facebook and Blogging hurting communication? - This was one of many posts regarding communication and how it is being affected by on-line media. A lot of people have simply forgotten how important effective communication is.

2. Twitter vs Facebook - Why Simplicity Matters - I have posted several times about Twitter because of its impact on our world as communicators and on society as a whole. 

 1. Mantras versus Mission Statements? How about a Passion Statement - This post got a lot of responses from people about the idea of a passion statement. While reading Guy Kawasaki's book Reality Check, I liked his idea of a mantra instead of a mission statement. However, I like the idea of a passion statement even more - which is why you will find one of our pages on our website titled "About Our Passion"

These were just 10 of the 88 posts I had over the past year. I can't wait for the next year and what communication will have in store for us.

Tiger still hasn't learned anything - maybe I can help him

 Last month I talked about how quickly Tiger Woods destroyed his brand image with his actions. In that post I stated:

In today's world of instant news, gossip dominates coverage (which I despise) and videos go "viral" - events can change the way we look at something in an instant. Communication has changed so much with Twitter, Facebook, e-mails, blogs, etc. that you cannot control the message. It is impossible to control the message - you can have some influence as to the direction of the message, but you cannot control it. Tiger didn't understand that and he still doesn't. He has only given a couple of statements on his website, no interviews, no communication at all.

That was on December 14th - before sponsors had begun to drop him. At that point in time, Tiger had taken a huge hit in his brand - but it was still strong enough to garner the attention of companies who wanted to sell their products. Sadly, Tiger didn't realize that his lack of communication to talk about what happened was causing him harm.

Brett Duncan over at Marketing In Progress made an interesting comment on that post that I wanted to talk about here. He states:

It's really quite amazing what we've been witnessing with Tiger. Especially even since you originally posted this, he's lost quite a few sponsorships. Turns sponsorship into a great way to explain branding: if companies want to sponsor you, then you're doing something right with your brand.

As to the communication side of things, I'm curious as to how you think Tiger could have handled this better?

Brett makes a great point when talking about branding and sponsorship. If your brand is good, people want to ride that brand to help sell their products and want to sponsor you. Hence, if your brand is not good, they don't want to be associated with you. This is what Tiger has to realize - that his brand has taken such a hit that companies that have spend millions supporting him are now bailing on him. Companies add and drop people all the time, but they usually do it because of their skills declining and a newer, better version is coming up. This isn't the case with Tiger Woods - he is still the most dominant golfer in the world - they are dropping him because his brand is now THAT tainted.

To look at Brett's question on what Tiger could have done better, this answer is simple: Communicate! Tiger Woods loves his privacy and he felt that he could keep quiet about it and people would leave him alone like they always have. Unfortunately for Tiger, the news media smelled blood in the water and were like sharks. The media is like this - they like a sensational story - either sex or violence - and if its both, hallelujah - and this one had sex with some hints of violence (directed towards Tiger - with a golf club no less).

Had Tiger come out right away and addressed what happened the media might have been easier on him. However, because he has been so quiet, bloggers, pundits and anyone with an opinion has filled the gap. While he wouldn't have been able to cover things up - at least he would have been able to facilitate something to help himself and his brand. 

Is it too late for Tiger? I'm not sure. I am sure he will come back and be a great golfer and will continue to be the world's number 1 player for years to come. However, unless he comes out soon and starts communicating with people - either giving interviews or having a press conference - anything - he will continue to fall in the public's eye and will continue to destroy one of the most valuable brands in the world.

Destroying a Brand the Tiger way

Over the past two weeks I have witnessed quite possibly the fastest destruction of one of the best brands in all of history - the fall of the Tiger. As Bill Simmons at ESPN put it:

it transformed our collective perception of a famous person and made us re-evaluate every opinion we had about him

Your brand is everything. People buy into you and your product, service or company based on the brand. Having a strong and definitive brand is one of the things that sets apart a thriving business from a struggling one - Seth Godin has a great definition of what a brand is here. And Tiger Woods had one of the best brands around - until now.

The only brand destruction that I can even remotely think of coming close to Tiger is the fall of Enron.

Enron was considered one of the best energy companies around - people had their life savings in Enron stock and were going to retire on and then the collapse happened. However, the difference between them and Tiger is that unless you were either employed by Enron or were heavily invested in them, you didn't really care that much. With Tiger, he changed the way Golf was watched, played and covered.

Tiger has his own Gatorade named after him, he makes millions upon millions in sponsorships and he skyrockets the ratings of golf when he is in the hunt to win a tournament. Tiger had crafted his brand to be that way - we loved him and wanted to be like him because he was so dominate.

Unfortunately, his actions are causing his brand to fall - and the bigger they are, the harder they fall. 

In today's world of instant news, gossip dominates coverage (which I despise) and videos go "viral" - events can change the way we look at something in an instant. Communication has changed so much with Twitter, Facebook, e-mails, blogs, etc. that you cannot control the message. It is impossible to control the message - you can have some influence as to the direction of the message, but you cannot control it. Tiger didn't understand that and he still doesn't. He has only given a couple of statements on his website, no interviews, no communication at all.

 Because of his lack of communication and attempt to direct the message, he is letting others control that message. Maybe he doesn't have PR people that understand the new world of communication - which means he needs to fire them and find new ones! The world has changed - and Tiger and all celebrities need to understand this. Maybe Tiger needs to take a lesson from Ashton Kutcher. If you would have read that line 5 years ago you would have laughed - but in todays world, Ashton gets it when it comes to the new world of communication and Tiger doesn't.

What we can all learn from this (besides NOT screwing around on your wife) is simple: learn how to communicate in todays world of social media. If you are not sure what you would do if your brand took some kind of a "hit", start working on that plan now. You won't be able to control the message - but hopefully you'll be able to help direct it towards something manageable. Which can mean the difference between survival and destruction of your business.