Why betting the farm on one person is a really bad idea

Posted: Tuesday, December 15, 2009

At this point everyone is sick and tired of hearing about Tiger Woods. From CNN to TMZ, there's no question that he royally screwed himself (and many others). But setting Tiger aside for a moment, let's talk about all of the sponsors that thought putting a "morality" clause in Eldrick's contracts was a mere formality. On Sunday, Accenture announced that they are cutting ties with the billion dollar man. Gatorade and premium watch manufacturer Tag Heuer are also starting to distance themselves from Tiger as if he had the Bubonic plague. You see, when you have more mistresses than major championships things like this start to happen.

But the lesson of this blog isn't intended for Mr. Woods. On the contrary, it is for all of the sponsors that invested millions of marketing dollars into the once highly-regarded, squeaky clean mega-star. Haven't they ever heard of not putting all of their eggs in one basket? Look at Nike. So far they have been steadfast in their support of Tiger. But how could they take any other stance? They built a $100 million dollar golf division solely around Tiger. Before he burst onto the scene, Nike didn't even sell golf equipment. With no other golfer remotely close to national recognition on the Swoosh’s roster it puts Phil Knight into quite a predicament, doesn’t it?

Simply put, banking on one personality to propel your business is not a sound strategy. No matter how sure of bet it seems. This story has played out too many times. Famous person is liked by millions around the globe, famous person uses this to pad his bank account with million dollar endorsements, famous person commits a crime, gets into drugs or has a sex scandal, the public becomes disgusted and famous person is no longer at the top of the mountain so the business suffers. In sports, just look at Kobe Bryant, Alex Rodriguez and now Tiger. The athlete who now reigns number one is Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. With his likable and funny personality who could ever see the Sony and Visa pitchman in a compromising situation? Yep, we said that about Tiger too.

Marketing already has too many variables, so why let the actions of one person (especially one who's just aligned with your company for a paycheck) tumble your business like a house of cards?