Strategy of the Week
TIGER GETS IT RIGHT… FINALLY
April 6, 2010
After several months of almost always doing the wrong thing, Tiger Woods finally figured out how to manage the shark pack, aka the media, in the wake of his serial adultery. Yesterday, Tiger held a press conference at the Masters, and he finally managed his crisis in a professional way. First, he had over 200 reporters but used Masters rules to keep out the reporters who might go over the top. Second, he didn’t try to stage it but let it flow freely. Third, he answered the questions with honesty and admitted his responsibility. Yes, he looked humiliated, but it turned the tide for him, something his last press conference – the one that looked like a funeral – didn’t do. The highly respectful media crowd didn’t ask the nasty questions and let Tiger say things like, “I’m just gonna go out there and try to win.” The appearance almost made the reporters look like voyeurs and took some of the pressure off the world’s greatest golfer. Now, finally, Tiger can just play golf. Of course he will now have to deal with the highly focused Swedish anger, but that is now a private family matter. The only problem – it’s three months late, but better late than never.
CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS RESIGNS….OR MAYBE NOT
March 8, 2010
Here’s an example of a strategy that was so successful that its author may have wanted to pull it back. It concerns our Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts. Here’s what happened. On Thursday morning last week a professor in a first-year law class wanted to demonstrate to his students that sources could not always be trusted, even trustworthy sources. So at the beginning of the class he told the class that Chief Justice John Roberts would be resigning, perhaps by the end of the day. He asked the class to keep it confidential and tell no one. But by the end of the class word had got out on Blackberrys, and it spread like wildfire. At the end of the class the professor told the students he had made it up, but, as they say, word was out. It was picked up by Radar Online, the National Enquirer site that got the John Edwards story right. It spread to other news sites and made the rounds to all the major networks, although the rumor had been squashed before they went on the air. It shows that a rumor, even one in a classroom in Georgetown, can get currency and Internet play within minutes, no matter how outlandish. The professor’s lesson plan was to show the students how sources can be wrong, and it got out of hand on him. He may have been a bit relieved, but he was also very successful at proving his point. BTW, President Obama will be re-registering as a Republican later today, but keep it quiet, would you?
The Ultimate Message: You Can Run but You Can’t Hide
March 1, 2010
It might seem strange thinking of political assassination as a form of communications, but the Israelis delivered the ultimate message to Arab terrorism last week: You Can Run but You Can’t Hide. Here’s the story if you missed it. A trained team of 17 Mossad agents from the Israeli intelligence agency used fake passports to fly into Dubai. They were after Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a known terrorist responsible for the killing of many innocent Jews. The assassination team then put on an Oceans 11 kind of performance, very much aware that security cameras were recording their every move, as they moved about the hotel. They broke into al-Mabhouh’s hotel room, waited for him to return, and killed him. The entire team then took cabs to the airport and flew out. Now why, you might ask yourself, would the Israelis want to be recorded on security cameras killing a terrorist. Answer: to send a message, using the media. Wherever you are, wherever you go, wherever you hide, we will find you and take you out. Now every terrorist in the Mideast has cause to worry. And in Israel, it’s been a great recruiting tool. Israelis are rushing to join Mossad, and the disguises worn by agents are selling like hotcakes, with a wink and nod to the intelligence agency, which has refused to comment on the killing.
TIGER AND THE “UGH HUG”
February 24, 2010
The key communications strategy last week was clearly Tiger Woods’s press conference to admit adultery and acknowledge his guilt. Some people said he did well… “I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated.” But most of his cheerleaders had something to gain from Tiger, such as his sponsors and the PGA that wants him back and playing. In fact, his press conference was a disaster. One paper later called it “a sorry performance.” His confession was too little, too late. His timing was awful. In a crisis, sincerity is everything, and it was scripted and forced. His press conference looked like he was giving the eulogy at a funeral, with his family sitting in the front row, no questions. Then came the hug from his mother, the ugh hug, where the public cringed, saying, oh this is unseemly. Women lambasted him, men said, “just play golf, would you?” and his mistresses used this opportunity to read sexy text messages from Tiger saying “you were the best,” and that kind of thing. So why did he do it? Because he was losing sponsorships and he had to do it, or so he thought. But come on. The timing has to be right, and it can’t look like a funeral, and he has to be sincere. He failed on all fronts. He probably should stop the soap opera and act like an adult, which he probably will once he returns from his next round of sex therapy.
Crash Test Lugers
February 16, 2010
The Olympics got off to a tough start when a luge contestant from the country of Georgia, Nodar Kumaritashvili, lost control of his sled in a training run, popped over a wall, struck a metal poll, and died a few hours later. That was the first tragedy, but the second tragedy came from the International Luge Federation (ILF) that conducted an exhaustive 12 hour investigation and released a statement that said basically, “it was his fault.” Nice. And not really true. Clearly, the 22-year old World Cup contestant, ranked 44th in the world, lost control, but the question was why. The ILF issued the press release that said, “There is no indications that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the track.” It then proceeded to change the start of the race to a lower down position, build a wall at the spot of the accident, and pad the metal poll. What then came out was that the ILF has been treating the lugers as crash test dummies. Speeds have gone from about 70 mph to over 90 mph. One luger said before the crash, “We are just little lemmings thrown down the track and we’re crash test dummies.” One turn is called the “50-50” because that’s your chance of coming out without crashing. The ILF, by issuing the damaging press release and ignoring the facts, has done irreparable damage to its reputation arouond the world. The Georgian President even got into the act: “No sports mistake is supposed to lead to death.” Well said. The ILF ought to take note.
Ten Is The New Five
February 16, 2010
You would think with all the Super Bowl ads that the Strategy of the Week would come from one of the ads, but while some of the ads were creative they were not as strategic as they should be. Therefore, the award for Strategy of the Week last week went to the Academy Awards. After 82 years of nominating movies the same way, the Academy decided to nominate not five movies for Best Picture, but ten. This year ten movies were nominated, including Avatar, Inglorious Basterds, and The Hurt Locker. Also nominated were movies that normally would not have made it, like “The Blind Side,” “Up in the Air,” and “A Serious Man.” What the Academy has recognized is that there is clearly more room for people to see nominated movies, perhaps up to ten. Now instead of people seeing three out of five, they might see seven out of ten. It gets more people to the movies and allows non-blockbusters to succeed in the awards. We will have to wait to see if any of those movies win anything, but the Academy’s move to open up the process was clearly the most strategic move last week.
Here Comes The iPad
February 1, 2010
Last week Apple launched its newest device, the iPad, which is a web browser, photo viewer, music player, book reader – on a giant screen (hence, the pad in iPad) meant to wow you with 140,000 apps, all for between $499 and $829. The launch was clearly a success, as only Apple can do. As the best kept secret in Apple history, no one even knew its name a week ago and now it’s a household word. Look closely, however, at the keynote address from Steve Jobs himself, last Wednesday. Jobs, who is rumored to be ill from liver disease, took the stage and did a remarkable demonstration of the product itself. It was like having Jobs himself give you your own tutorial. Take a look (apple.com – see the keynote) and you will see the brand personified by a single person. He takes you through not just the iPad but the reason to be an Apple customer. After it’s done, you can’t think of anything better than dropping the five c notes on the new device. Steve Jobs’s keynote, positioning the new device for the public, was last week’s strategy of the week.
ARMANI IS NOW HIS MONEY
January 8, 2010
There’s a new tallest building the world – the Burj Dubai, renamed the Burj Khalifa after the ruler of Abu Dhabi bailed the project out – and the new Dubai skyscraper is 2,717 feet tall, over 1,000 feet taller than the former tallest building in Taipei. To give you some idea, it’s 50 stories higher than the Sears Tower in Chicago, America’s tallest building, and twice as high as the Empire State Building.
The $1.5 billion Burj Khalifa opened today, with 12,000 invited guests, 160 floors, 1044 luxury apartments, and a hotel. But the strategy of the week is not the building, but the hotel inside the building, The Armani Hotel Dubai, created by fashion titan Giorgio Armani, the guy who used to sell you suits. Armani, who’s no spring chicken, decided to hit the scene with a bang, and put his first hotel into the Burj Khalifa. It has 160 rooms, a spa, two restaurants, a nightclub, and ten floors of the building. It’s his first hotel – and already it’s known to every world traveler who might even think about going to the Mideast.
With all the media, Armani succeeded in becoming a world hotel brand in a weekend. His second hotel will open in Milan later this year. Fashion, accessories, and now hotels. What a way to hit the scene! He probably won’t need it but Good luck, Giorgio.
If you need a strategy for your advertising or public relations, call Carroll Strategies at 505-842-6600 or go to www.carrollstrategies.net
