Tiger Woods really needs his wife. And his A-game. That's the advice of experts in the art of getting people through media crises such as the one the golf champ faces after his single car crash led to multi-woman pileup of infidelity allegations. If Woods can persuade his wife Elin Nordegren not only to stick by him, but to opine in the presence of a large media outlet or two that she has forgiven her imperfect husband and that everyone else should feel free to do likewise, then resurrecting his image is easier than nine holes of putt-putt. Being in the room while he makes a statement of contrition (see playbooks by Spitzer, Silda or Bryant, Vanessa) is a close second.
The quicker this can be done, the better. Woods is uniquely ill-suited to being the center of a tabloid whirlwind. He's excruciatingly private, he plays in a conservative, country-club sport and he and his team have cultivated a personal brand that represents control, discipline and a hair-away-from-perfection. Allegations of numerous mistresses, of Las Vegas romps, of audio purportedly of him asking a woman to disengage the caller ID feature from her phone so his wife doesn't see it, plus a final, belated, admission that "I have let my family down," do not gel well with this image.
"What Tiger and his advisers have managed to do so far is make this a much bigger story," says Michael Sitrick, CEO of crisis management firm Sitrick and Co. "There's this mindset that if you hunker down and take the 'high road,' it will go away." The publicist points to Bill and Hillary Clinton as exemplars of the "wife-first" approach; once Hillary said it was between Bill and her, the heat lowered. "If he can get his wife to support him, I'd pick one print and one broadcast outlet and then never talk about it again."
But Woods is equally ill-suited to the kind of kimono-opening demanded by this approach. He's always been prickly with the press about his personal life. So his statements have trickled out piecemeal, the worst way. "I don't see him going Oprah," says Kevin Sullivan, former White House communications director, who now runs his own PR firm. "And I don't think he should provide any details of what went on."
Tiger may not have much choice given that his alleged mistresses are reported to have text messages from him and to be willing to share them (at a price, presumably). Also, given the very public nature of golf, where the crowds and press can get very close to players on the course, it's unlikely he'll be able to hide completely unless he never plays again.
One thing all the PR and sports marketing experts agree on is that he should play as soon as possible. "He has the huge advantage of still playing really well," says Sullivan. "Americans are very forgiving and sports fans especially so, and as soon as he starts playing again, he should be fine."
Much of Woods' reported billion-dollar wealth has come from endorsements — Gatorade, Nike, Electronic Arts, among others — and it is these deals that are usually most damaged by crises. But as long as Woods still sinks the ball, big companies will want to walk in his spikes. Nike and Gatorade have already released statements of support — they are too heavily invested in him to cut him loose now.
"There's some kind of calculus here," says Kenneth Shropshire, professor of sports management at the Wharton School of Business. "You have to factor in the degree of the wrong, how quickly the apology was made and how many people were hurt." Against that you have Woods' freakish ability. "If he's going out and playing at a high level, that has proved itself to be the best way to move beyond these incidents."
source: Time.com
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