What Tiger Woods Should Really Do
Tomorrow, the process of image rehabilitation will begin for Tiger Woods, and from that point forward, he’ll be putting the scandal of the last few months behind him.
Many, many people — sportswriters, public relations specialists, etc. — have weighed in with their thoughts of what he should have done, or be doing in the days ahead. I’ve put together a few representative samples here to a) take a look at some of these suggestions and b) debunk some of the assumptions that have been/continue to be made about Tiger’s situation, primarily because Tiger Woods and the reaction to him provide some noteworthy examples of the world professional athletes inhabit, and ultimately, what they should be prepared to deal with.
The Suggestions
One of the most widely talked about plans for Tiger came from Rick Reilly of ESPN. The heart of Reilly’s strategy, as plenty of others have suggested, was that Tiger needed to appear on “Oprah,” sooner rather than later.
First, Oprah Winfrey.
“It has to be Oprah,” says the king of Las Vegas publicity men, Dave Kirvin. “If you did a poll on who’s most disgusted by this whole mess, it would be women. To win over those women, you need to win over Oprah. You win over Oprah, you win over America.”
Once he’s on Oprah’s couch, he says this:
“To my wife, to my kids, to my family, to my friends, to my fans, I am so sorry. You believed in me. You looked up to me. You thought I was different, and I let you down. I’m ashamed of myself. My mom is ashamed of me. I’m sure my dad would be ashamed of me. I’m an idiot.” Then he has to go full Tebow: “From this day forward, you will never see somebody work harder, 24 hours a day, to win back your trust.”
It has to be next week and no later, because every day the British tabloids have him sleeping with everybody but the Page 3 girl. “The sooner he makes his public act of contrition, the sooner he takes the oxygen out of the story,” Kirvin says.
I’ll address the flaws in this thinking shortly, but let’s move through a few other samples.
Howard Bragman, CEO of Fifteen Minutes Public Relations, told Good Morning America that — contrary to initial thinking — hiding out might be the best course of action for Tiger:
Public relations expert Bragman, who once suggested that Woods get out in front of the tabloids and speak publicly, said the golfer’s troubles have become so numerous that it might be prudent for him to hide out for a few months and possibly seek rehab if tabloid reports of sex or prescription drug addiction are true.
“You don’t clear the road until the avalanche is done and this avalanche is not over yet,” he said.
Brand expert Aaron Kwitten of Kwitten & Company told Entrepreneur magazine that Tiger was a lesson in how not to handle a crisis. I’m excerpting his article fairly heavily because his suggestions were representative of what many public relations experts have suggested.
You can run, but you can’t hide
Tiger waited way too long to clarify what happened. Several days passed as unsubstantiated information was dispersed by the media. Even if you don’t have much to say, commenting early will help put you in control of the story.
No comment or too little comment from you gives others permission to comment on your behalf, leaving more room for rumor and speculation. I’m not necessarily a fan of Gov. David Patterson (D-N.Y.), but I do think it was wise of him to preemptively disclose his past extramarital affairs with the media prior to taking the oath of office for a position that was disgraced by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer (aka “Client 9″). By speaking up before the media could, Patterson made his “transgressions” virtually a non-issue and a one-day story.
David Letterman handled his confession quite brilliantly. By getting out ahead of the situation, he was able to better control the stories that ensued. Letterman was smart to maintain a business-as-usual strategy. Tiger should have done that, too. Canceling appearances and being a shut-in only spawns more speculation and misinformation. Tiger’s decision to be a no-show at his own charity golf tournament was a mistake.
Avoid doublespeak and shore up the information leaks
Customers aren’t looking for confessions, but they are looking for an acknowledgement and quick response to the issue at hand, at least. And they don’t want doublespeak or evasive language. From Tiger’s “transgressions” to Bill Clinton’s redefinition of sex or former presidential candidate John Edwards’ “terrible mistake,” euphemisms will not endear you to the public faster.
It is also important to make sure your advisors (legal, PR, finance) and their teams do not speak with outsiders or media. Unauthorized leaks of information beget rumor and speculation, which help drive additional, unwanted and often inaccurate media coverage. In Tiger’s case, the additional rumors of more mistresses and pending negotiations to give his wife a financial incentive to stay with him reflect a glaring error in his crisis management strategy.
If I were Tiger’s advisor, I would have relied less on his fan website to post statements. Instead, I would have suggested that he choose one reputable media outlet or reporter he trusts (not TMZ) to provide a statement and show a willingness to answer a few questions that are vetted and agreed to in advance. I also would have advised that he be more forthcoming about his situation from the start. Now his only recourse is an exclusive TV interview to set the record straight. Oprah or Larry King, anyone? Or maybe the Today show? It doesn’t matter: we’ve seen this movie before, and we know how it ends.
Setting the Record Straight
A number of faulty assumptions are made in the above examples, primarily because a) there has never been a public relations situation like this before and b) Tiger is one of the most popular athletes in the world, and being an athlete with Tiger’s brand pedigree brings a whole host of variables to the table that make dealing with him totally different from, say, a company or another kind of public figure from a public relations standpoint.
He should have gotten ahead of the story. This, more than anything, is what PR people have said about Tiger and how he dealt with this crisis — that if he had acted more quickly, he could have put this scandal to rest or at least have controlled it somewhat. Instead, he did nothing and let it snowball out of control. This is a complete fallacy, mainly because there was no possible way, given the media coverage and the nature of what they were covering, that Tiger could have gotten ahead of this story. Assume for a second that Tiger had called a press conference the day after the accident, admitted his infidelities, named every person who would eventually be named in the scandal, taken a few questions, and called it a day. There would have been absolutely no change in the way that his story was covered. Tabloids (and the major news networks, who were also all over this story) would have pursued every angle with just as much fervor as they did. The nature of journalism in the digital age is that any story, particularly one like this one, is going to be everywhere and it is going to be covered until people’s eyes and ears bleed from seeing and hearing it. You cannot prevent that, and you cannot escape it. What athletes do need to understand is that they need to be prepared to deal with scandals like these before they occur.
He should have done what celebrity/company X did. Tiger Woods is one of the world’s most famous and revered athletes, and built his brand image on abstractions like excellence, hard work, family and integrity. To suggest that one could deal with Tiger’s scandal the same way that an airline would, or a public official would, or that David Letterman would reveals a lack of understanding about the way that people relate to athletes, particularly athletes of Tiger’s stature. No one really cares about a public official or is surprised when they’re lacking with regard to their ethics (a sad commentary on the world we live in). People think David Letterman is funny, but they don’t like him, and they certainly don’t feel any sort of emotional connection to him. People are disappointed in Tiger Woods, rationally or not, on an emotional level because in some way — like all great athletes — he was a foil for them, for the best that they imagine in themselves.
He should have gone on Oprah. I actually do think that Tiger should eventually appear on Oprah Winfrey’s program or one like it, but not now. If Tiger Woods were to show up on Oprah tomorrow, apologize and answer questions, why would anyone believe anything that he says? It would come off as totally inauthentic, and ensure that people respond to Tiger with nothing but cynicism (much as they do Mark McGwire) moving ahead. Think of it like this: On the one hand, you have Tiger Woods, claiming to be sorry, that he loves his wife and wants to repair his marriage (per Reilly’s suggestion). On the other, you have the following fact: That he cheated on his wife with a dozen-plus women for several years, and told more than a few of them how unhappy he was. Any kind of interview that Tiger does at this point is going to come off as totally contrived. No one will believe that he’s sorry.
He should have used a single media outlet to push his cause. There’s no need to belabor this, but suffice it to say that it wasn’t the use of his web site that was flawed, but rather, the execution. At one point there were more than 30,000 unmoderated comments posted right under his initial apology, and as you might imagine, the vast majority of them were not supportive.
What Tiger Should Do
So what steps should Tiger take if he’s actually going to rehabilitate his image? These are fairly basic suggestions, primarily because at the end of the day, this isn’t all that complicated to repair.
You’re in, or you’re out. This entire scandal revolves around Tiger’s infidelity; he has to take a clear stance on his marriage to gain control of it in the eyes of the masses. Only he and his wife know if his marriage can be repaired. If they both are honestly interested in fixing it, he should say that he’s going to do as much. If not, he should acknowledge that he was a terrible husband, apologize for failing his wife so horribly, say she deserves much better, and get divorced. All that matters here is that the path he takes (ironically) is an honest one. The only way he’ll be able to prove that he’s a good/redeemed husband is if his wife eventually says that he is. She’s got a lot of credibility now. So if that’s where he’s headed, he should start down that path as soon as possible. At the same time, if he gets divorced and moves on, people will respect him on a basic level (and when I say respect, I don’t mean that he’ll be getting any kind of credit for doing this — it will just feel like an authentic move), and for treating his wife respectfully.
Don’t waste time with the media. The absolute worst thing Tiger could do at this point: media interviews. He should do exactly the opposite. Make his apology tomorrow, and that’s it, no matter what he says or how it comes off. Done. No more interviews, no answering questions about anything scandal related. Face the hecklers, let them heckle, but just move on. All that participating in non-golf related interviews will do now is fuel more media coverage, speculation, and the like. The only thing that Tiger Woods should be giving people to write about from here forward is golf.
Play great golf. At the end of the day, as embarrassing as all of this is, as much heckling as Tiger is going to take, where sports is concerned, winning cures just about everything. It won’t make people think he’s a great husband, but his image can be reinvented with great golf driving it, and in some ways, that new image could be just as powerful as his old brand, if not more so. Just ask Kobe Bryant.
About a year from now, go on Oprah. Time not only cures all wounds, it also makes your actions a lot more believable. A year from now, when Oprah is nearing the end of her television run and when there’s ample evidence of contrition (or at least, some great golf being played), Tiger should go on and admit his mistakes, say how sorry he feels, and talk about the steps he has taken to change his life (like being a good father, regardless of whether he stays married or not). At the right time, Oprah can be the ultimate stamp of authenticity; if she believes them, why shouldn’t everyone?
Be Prepared
As I hinted earlier, athletes need to understand that the new digital world has its own set of rules — namely, that with lowest common denominator journalism, the TMZs and tabloids are going to ensure that athletes are faced with these kinds of challenges (to various degrees) throughout their careers. It’s not enough to react — you need to proactively be cultivating a brand identity that can counteract these kinds of issues. And while nothing could have stopped the media tsunami that consumed Tiger Woods, the failures of his brand — as abstract as it was — provide some valuable insights for how athletes can shape their own brand identity in a way that can actually help them in times of crisis. But that’s material for another post.
I’ll leave you with this from the Wall Street Journal:


