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Tiger Woods Mea Culpa Failed to Improve Standing, Study Shows
Mar 4, 2010
Tiger Woods Mea Culpa Failed to Improve Standing, Study Shows
By John Helyar
March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Tiger Woods’s televised apology for infidelity on Feb. 19 failed to reverse his plummeting stature with the American public, according to a survey by a unit of Omnicom Group Inc.
Davie Brown Entertainment found that the 34-year-old golfer’s appeal as a corporate spokesman reached a new low after national polling in the week ended March 2. Once ranked sixth as a celebrity endorser by the firm’s Davie Brown Index, he now ranks 147th.
The index is used by advertising agencies to gauge the ability of celebrities to influence consumers. Eight surveys conducted since Woods’s Nov. 27 auto accident, which led to revelations of extramarital affairs, have chronicled a steady decline in Woods’s stature.
“Companies have to decide whether the damage will spill over to their brands,” said Rick Burton, the David Falk professor of sports management at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. “Some of the decision is driven by research, some of it reflects chief executives’ values.”
On Feb. 26, Gatorade, a unit of Purchase, New York-based soft-drink maker PepsiCo Inc., became the latest company to drop Woods as an endorser. Jennifer Schmit, a spokeswoman for Gatorade, wouldn’t discuss the reasons for the decision.
‘Outpouring of Support’
Glenn Greenspan, a spokesman for Woods, said that Woods’s apology has helped.
“It is becoming clear that the public listened to Tiger with an open mind and we have had an outpouring of support in letters, calls and e-mails to our office,” Greenspan said in an e-mail.
Greenspan cited a Feb. 19 HCD Research survey of 1,090 people who watched Woods on TV, of whom 31 percent came away with a more positive perception of him, 17 percent a more negative perception, and 52 percent were unchanged. Survey results are posted on the Web site of HCD’s MediaCurves.com.
“He spoke genuinely and from the heart, but as he pointed out, people should make up their own minds based on his sincerity and his actions,” Greenspan said.
Matt Delzell, a Davie Brown group account director, said Woods’s inability to turn around his public standing in the firm’s index was best measured by one of its eight components: trust.
Ozzy Osbourne Levels
Woods once ranked 117th among the firm’s celebrity universe of approximately 2,500, putting him in the company of singer Reba McEntire and comedian Robin Williams. In the latest survey, Woods ranks No. 2,378, in the company of rapper Lil’ Kim and rock star Ozzy Osbourne.
“He appeared to be a great family man with a perfect life,” Delzell said. “When you shatter that, it’s hard to regain. Anybody can come out and make a statement. People are going to want to see about his actions.”
Woods’s overall DBI score would have been lower, according to Delzell, if not for his high recognition rate -- 99 percent of the latest survey’s respondents were aware of him. That figures heavily into the DBI.
Woods’s “attribute average,” combining measures of such characteristics as appeal, influence and trust, has declined from a score of 74.32 before the accident to 52.2 in the latest survey. The score blipped up to 53.28 from 51.77 in a survey completed Feb. 8, but resumed its decline after the TV appearance.
Nike Inc., which produces a line of Tiger Woods golf gear and apparel, has stood by him and will continue to do so, said Beth Gast, a spokesman for the Beaverton, Oregon-based company.
“Our position remains unchanged,” she said in an e-mail.
Burton, the Syracuse professor, said Woods can only reverse his DBI numbers and other public-approval ratings by getting back into competition and playing at a high level.
“He’ll have to win a tournament, and then win over and over again,” he said.
