Tiger Wood's brand is huge.
Arguably the greatest sports person of all time and the world's first billionaire athlete, it is his huge levels of professionalism and dedication to his sport that have (up until recently) made Eldrick "Tiger" Woods a first class role model to adults and children alike.
His superhuman self-control and discipline leading to the highest of his sporting achievements have shown how professionalism and dedication, go hand in hand with success and glory.
He is the ultimate in sporting achievement. When he turns up to a tournament, the audience and viewing figures go through the roof. When Woods was paid a reported $US3m to appear in the Australian Open in November last year, Premier Brumby estimated that the economic benefit to the state of Victoria would be over six times that amount at $US19m, just because of Wood's presence. After the tournament, it was declared that the figure was closer to $US 25-30m.
Unlike other global sport stars such as David Beckham, Tiger has always managed to keep his private life just that. We, the audience only ever knew what he was happy to share with us, and the image of a dedicated and focussed family man, with exceptional moral values who was seemingly modest and likeable, kept the sponsors queueing.
But, at the tail-end of 2009, the too good to be true persona was shattered, when it was alleged that he had up to 14 affairs with a series of waitresses, strippers and dancers. Four more and he would have played a whole round.
Sponsors began to drop him like a hot potato with Tag Heuer, Gillette and AT&T ending their association with the world's number one golfer.
OK, so this is not exactly news to regular readers of the tabloids, but please bear with me.
In Europe, celebrity endorsements are seen as no more than a vehicle to get a brand into the consciousness of the audience. Very rarely does an individual make a purchasing decision on the strength of the values of those seen endorsing it, as more often than not the brand have covered all the bases. If the audience falls out of love with one celebrity endorsing their product, more often than not there is another, more popular celebrity championing it. My girlfriend is a huge fan of Cheryl Cole (as is most of Britain at the moment) , but the fact that she doesn't particularly like Andie McDowell, hasn't stopped her buying L'Oreal. Similarly, as a Chelsea fan I wouldn't shun Nike football boots just because they supply the kit to Arsenal and Manchester United. And I don't wear Adidas trainers just because they are the sportswear providers for The Blues.
But in America, it's slightly different. When researching this article I stumbled across several blog sites and their responses, and some of the responses from our neighbours surprised me.
One poster stated "I'm not going to support people with no integrity anymore, which includes the corporations that stand with him." Another called Woods a "hypocrite" and demanded that the PGA take a stance against the man who 'betrayed his sport', whilst yet another described him as 'perverted' and felt betrayed at having been fooled by his corporate endorsements and franchises.
There were easily another two dozen, similarly scathing posts all declaring their hurt and betrayal on an almost personal level.
But why the big deal? We have seen politicians, sportsman and other public figures fall from grace in similarly embarrassing ways and recover seemingly effortlessly. Kate Moss has spent the last few years in and out of the tabloids surrounded by drink and drugs allegations, and yet in terms of endorsements, her face has adorned practically every possible advertising space imaginable.
Tiger Woods is no different. His brand is huge and he has so much brand equity to draw on that we should really be anticipating one of the greatest brand recoveries ever.
Whilst I am sure that none of us will condone Tiger's behaviour, from a brand recovery point of view he did exactly the right thing. He came clean, admitted he had his problems and politely requested that he was given the time and the privacy to make right his wrongs. He has taken an indefinite break from the game to concentrate not only on his family, but also to set about this recovery. You see, when you have a brand as huge a Wood's, it doesn't matter how many sponsors drop you, there will be hundreds more ready to take up the mantle.
The world of golf needs Tiger too, and he knows it. Tim Finchem, the PGA Tour Commissioner has already declared that "It won't be at the same levels without our No 1 player". People know and love Tiger for what he does on a course, and they know that he still has so much to give and achieve. For a man so focussed on being the best, it's hard to believe he would retire without beating the record eighteen major titles currently held by Jack Nicklaus. He is currently on fourteen.
He is a 'performance brand', and this is precisely the reason why Electronic Arts have stood by him - they need to make great games and need the greatest golfer to help them do it. The same goes for Nike. When you think of Nike and Golf, you think of Woods, not KJ Choi or Paul Casey.
However, there is one more aspect to this recovery, that many seem to have missed.
For years Tiger has created a 'holier than thou' brand, that has relied on his seemingly superhuman talents. He appeared to have everything, but the problem for many was that we knew nothing of Tiger the man.
Whilst he gave hope and inspiration to kids everywhere, for the everyday adult, we could understand and admire the man, but not relate to him. Remember, that whilst Tiger was in a position to do great things for young, aspiring black sports stars in America, he refused to be drawn on issues of race, for fear of upsetting his sponsors. As far as creating a strong brand with apparently solid values and morals, there is nothing quite like Brand Tiger. But the crucial, endearing element of brand personality was lacking. Until now.
Now the people in the street know that Tiger has his faults. He is human after all. Some like drink, some drugs and gambling, for Tiger and millions of others, it's women.
I'm not saying that the sponsors should look into exploiting the situation by launching a number of Tiger endorsed phone and text bundles or hotel packages, just simply that nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes everyday. Tiger may be rich and famous, he may be a sporting legend whose name will live on far longer than any of us, but he is just like you and I. His biggest mistake was being fooled by his own brand persona.
It's the same reason I liked Batman as a kid. He didn't actually have any special powers, he was just an ordinary guy who happened to like dressing up as a bat, and saving the city he loved with his superior martial arts skills (ok, the dressing up as a bat thing probably wasn't quite so healthy). Kids could relate to him because they didn't need to be bitten by a bionic spider, or be born to another planet, you just needed the passion and dedication to never be beaten. His weaknesses though, were as appealing as his strengths.
So, when Tiger eventually gets back to doing what he does best (golf), and we see him finally taking his next major title, remember he is human after all, and he is susceptible to the same mistakes as you and I.
His recovery won't be smooth and it certainly wont be as straight-forward as before. This time there will be people determined to make it hard for him, but equally he has a new demographic to tap into. Everyone loves a comeback, and this time it's the understanding that he does actually have a personality, which will be his most potent weapon.
