Not to pile on, but Tiger Woods has finally broken his silence, a little.
I won’t rehash the story here because you can certainly Google it, but we all know that after his accident, Woods refused to talk to police, and the press.
Bad move. When someone that high profile refuses to talk, everyone else does the talking for him. And we began to hear speculation about fights, multiple affairs, and all sorts of sordid rumors. Now, without giving details, Woods has apologized for unnamed “transgressions.”
Too little too late? The damage has been done. Oh, I don’t feel bad for Tiger. He’ll recover for the most part and still rake in gazillions, but…he is tarnished. I don’t know whose decision it was to stay silent, but if he was advised to do this by an agent or PR person, they should be fired.
Transparency and brand control, anyone?
Tiger should’ve taken a page out of David Letterman’s playbook. Letterman saw the writing on the wall, went on national television, and basically admitted that he messed up big time and apologized. Up front. And in no way do I approve of his actions, but for the most part, people don’t even discuss his situation anymore.
These are two different ways to approach social media, particularly in the areas of transparency and brand control.
But there’s a third way that’s even better. Mother Theresa’s approach.
Huh?
That’s right. Don’t make those mistakes in the first place. If you are a WYSIWYG person or business, you won’t have to address these issues. Have a passion for your work, and just go about it quietly. Do it well. Mother Theresa didn’t look for interviews or exposure. I’m pretty sure she never had to hire an image consultant. And yet all through her career, she never lacked media attention.
Sure Tiger and Letterman make a lot of money, but of the three, who’s “brand” will stand the test of time? And more importantly, which of the three made the biggest difference?
Sometimes the soft, quiet, unassuming approach to social media is the best approach.
Thoughts?
