Tiger Woods and Nike, Newest Ad a Crisis??

If you're a fan of Nike, or follow Nike Golf, you've probably seen this ad:

(photo credit: www.wwd.com) 

This ad which claims, "Winning Takes Care of Everything" has stirred up some controversy and anger in several people.  At first I hesitated to call this an actual crisis for Nike, because I have no doubts that they are a large enough brand to walk away from this relatively unscathed, but after reading several articles and scrolling through Twitter feeds it is an issue for Nike that should not be brushed off lightly.  

Back when Tiger Woods was at the peak of his issues during the fallout of his marriage, many of the brands that signed with him dropped Woods for fear of a bad image for them.  Nike was one of the few to stand firm with him.  And while I respect their faith in him and staying with him during his return to the top, I can't help but disagree to their approach with bringing Woods back into the public.  It feels as though they went into this with the intention of, "Look, I overcame this obstacles and persevered."  Which is all well and good but to use his quote of "Winning Takes Care of Everything" was not the best route.  If people had somewhat started to forget about his past issues, this quote just brings all of that negative publicity back.  In addition, it feels as though the impression that as long as you are at the top you can do whatever is being put forth.  Any young, aspiring golfers could be led to the impression that they can hurt people, act out, etc and as long as they stay #1 it's whatever, no consequences to their actions.  I don't understand how out of the numerous people that Nike as working for them, not one person stepped back and said, "You know, there is probably a much better route to go about doing this."  

Personally, and this is completely my own opinion, if I was employed with Nike's marketing department I would want to pull this ad and release a new one with the same possible intent mentioned above but worded in a different, more positive manner.  Nike would still be supporting Woods while maintaining a strong brand image. 

Anyone that happens to read this, I would love to know your thoughts on the matter.   

Here are links to several good reads on the topic:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/nike-tiger-ad-winning-takes-care-social-media-firestorm-article-1.1299825

http://news.yahoo.com/winning-tiger-woods-ad-thumb-eye-reinvention-flawed-171459439.html

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/9112095/tiger-ad-way-bounds

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/26/winning-takes-care-of-everything-tiger-woods-ad_n_2957004.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

I need to visualize this...oh look!! An infographic, how visually stimulating :)

By a show of hands, how many of you that have stumbled across  this blog are visual learners??  You can't see it, but I am raising my hand as well.  Sometimes it's a struggle to understand new information or data without it being presented in a right-brained manner.  Behold, the power of an infographic.  Finally, someone has found a way to present data in a way that can be easily interpreted for those that learn from a more "creative" presentation.

So what is an infographic??  Exactly as it sounds.  It's a graphic or picture that presents information about a business, social media stats, step-by-step instructions, etc.  You can also turn your resume into an infographic!!  It will definitely make you more memorable.  Infographics are a success for purely psychological reasons.  Infographics are another way to be transparent with your audience by putting all your information out there with a creative spin.  They are easily memorable, which you need for today's market.  Not only for competitive reasons but purely for the fact that if you can't capture a viewers attention and then maintain it in something like...5 seconds, you're already hurting.  And again, for those of us that find our strengths from the right side of our brain, it's easier for us to tap into the memory bank of our minds and recall information because we have a picture and colors to put with it.  For example!!  

(photo credit: Pinterest via KISSmetrics)



Now, if you had attempted to simply tell me this information vocally or written it out in stats form on a blackboard or PowerPoint...I'd probably look at you like you had grown another head.  But with the help of infographics and KISSmetrics, I understand the concept of bounce rates, the stats and analytics behind it, as well as how to strengthen bounce back rates and what not to do.  

Want an infographic about INFOGRAPHICS??  There's an infograph for that ;)

(Photo credit: Pinterest via AEJMC PRd)


To be completely honest, I wanted to attempt to make this entire blog post infographics (created by yours truly) about infographics.  Sadly, I ran out of time, but you can certainly go to these resources and make your own!!  C'mon, its fun :)

Websites:

Infographic Tools

Visual.ly

Infogr.am


Videos!!  (all of which you can find on YouTube) (give credit where it's due):

I highly recommend getting on YouTube and finding videos on your own.  Some are upwards of 20 minutes long, but very helpful :)

(the above is a bit lengthy, 'round about 7 minutes)