About two and a half years ago, the sports world was rocked with the Tiger Woods scandal. I’ll spare everyone the details because I doubt anybody needs to be reminded of them. In the wake of the scandal, Tiger lost many of his most prominent sponsors: Gatorade, AT&T, Tag Heuer, Accenture, Gillette, and Golf Digest to be exact. Perhaps Tiger’s biggest and most notable sponsor, Nike, the sponsor of his clubs that had been there through victory after victory, fatefully remained.
Why would Nike stick with a guy like Tiger Woods after such a public fall from grace? Aside from possibly assuming that he would come back just as strong as he had left, there is one intriguing theory. Through all of his PGA Tour victories and major wins, Tiger had been using a Scotty Cameron putter. When Tiger returned to the game, he slowly implemented one of Nike’s putters into his bag. First, he was only going to use the Nike putter on slower greens like those at The Open Championship. Now, Tiger uses a Nike putter full time. Clearly his results since his comeback have not been up to par with those results prior to the scandal. An inconsistent putter has been one of his biggest obstacles in achieving greatness again.
Many believe that Nike stuck with Tiger post-scandal after giving him an ultimatum: You drop the Scotty Cameron putter and play with Nike clubs exclusively or we drop you just like all of the other endorsers. Whether you personally believe it or not, it is a strong possibility.
So here is the question for you as a sports marketer, specifically Nike in this case. Do you allow Tiger Woods to go back using the Scotty Cameron putter that he was wildly successful with? Or do you continue to force him to use the Nike putter in order to keep his golf bag exclusively Nike and risk the continued relative mediocrity? Post your answer and explanation in the comments below.
It will be interesting to see how Tiger Woods bounces back from his most recent injury, to his left Achilles, which forced him to withdraw from the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championships on Sunday. With the Masters rapidly approaching, I’m sure the PGA Tour would greatly appreciate Tiger’s name in the field for the purpose of television ratings. It is arguable that golf does not need Tiger like it once did, but it sure does help to have him.
--Written By Kevin Rossi
@kevin_rossi
Personally, I would like Nike to let Tiger go back to using the Scotty Cameron. Much better rhythm in his putting stroke. I think his victories are much more marketable than the Nike swoosh on one extra club. Nike will still always be known as Tiger's clubs no matter what putter he uses. Wins are key.
ReplyDeleteI swear he's using the scotty today at bay hill. he's makin birdies baby!
ReplyDelete