TCU’s Great PR Timing Comes up Roses

To paraphrase the Rolling Stones, “You can’t always get what you want, but with great timing, you usually get what you need.”

Just ask TCU (Texas Christian University). They might not be playing for college football’s National Championship, but those unfamiliar purple uniforms you'll see in Pasadena tomorrow are no accident.


“Small” schools like TCU, Boise State and Utah have been under full frontal PR assault by athletic directors from “BCS” conferences, especially the Big 10, Big 12 and SEC. Talk radio hosts have been ridiculing them too, telling any and all listeners that a team not facing NFL talent week after week doesn’t deserve to play in such a revered game as the Rose Bowl. TCU had to further endure relentless arguments that heavyweights Stanford, Ohio State or Alabama - all from big conferences and facing hostile crowds of 90,000 people every week - should supplant them. Conversely, the critics argue, TCU plays in a weak conference and faces smaller opposing crowds than a typical Friday Night Texas High School football game.

So the week before #1 Auburn and #2 Oregon played their final regular season game of the year, #3 TCU turned the tables on everyone:

“We’re joining the Big East in 2012.” (A BCS conference)

What brilliant timing, and for several reasons:

1. If either Auburn or Oregon had lost its final game, TCU’s announcement would have been very hard for Big East coaches who vote in the USA Today Poll – a massive factor in selecting teams for the National Championship game – to ignore.

2. Unlike Boise State who remains content to play in a weaker conference, TCU was sending a message that its current contractual conference obligation won’t dictate intent.

3. The Big East, coming off a down year, was desperate for a football team with TCU’s accomplishments. In return, TCU’s basketball program will join the NCAA’s premier conference in that sport.

4. Big East football teams play regularly on National TV, which is the golden ticket for top recruits.

Although Auburn and Oregon won their final games, TCU still played a limited hand flawlessly and at the very least, prevented an all-out disaster from occurring. TCU will have an opportunity to prove it belongs on a huge stage when they a play Wisconsin in tomorrow’s Rose Bowl – a team that regularly travels 60,000 fans to bowl games.

TCU will have many more opportunities come 2012.

Building Your Challenger Brand Against Goliath

Most people believe the principal "Challenger" to the McDonalds brand is Burger King.

And they are dead wrong. Burger King has tinkered with McDonald's formula, but is the company really that different? The true challenger is Carl's Jr., who pushed the envelope in branding, "freshened the product" and mocked its competition without forgetting how to make a great burger fast.

Unfortunately, entrepreneurs launching products that challenge market leaders today simply don't have the kind of open market space and time to incrementally grow like Carl's Jr did in the 1940s through 70's, when the company finally opened its official headquarters in Anaheim, CA.

However, Challenger Brands are succeeding everywhere because their business strategy was based on two crucial principles:

1. Question a statement as fact.
2. Take a different approach to the market leader without breaking the market rules.

My two favorite challenger brands of all-time are both airlines - JetBlue and Virgin America/Virgin Atlantic.

JetBlue and Virgin developed their business models by challenging a "given" in their market: "Who says all airline cabins must have the exact same limited functionality as planes in the 1970's?"

So they took a different approach, starting with equipping each seat with leather and personal TV's without forgetting how to fly the plane safely.

However, a novel idea is not enough to create long-term success because all Challenger Brands need a grounded branding strategy.

At Triumphant Communications, we think Challenger Branding requires 5 components and here is how JetBlue and Virgin mastered them:

1. Make a powerful statement about who you are - I can't think of more powerful contrasts in branding than these ads by Virgin:





2. Showcase the revolutionary attitude and behavior - If you have ever been on a JetBlue flight, you are constantly reminded of the "experience", which really means "difference". Having the captain coming out to the cabin in person to chat about the flight details, that's a revolution in behavior. When the flight attendants soothingly describe the details your upcoming JetBlue "Shut Eye" special, that's revolution in attitude. You won't hear that sort of sweet talk on Delta.

3. Create new aesthetics and define a new language - JetBlue officially refers to flying as "Jetting". Virgin's cabins have those cool soft neon lights complimented with the type of music you would hear at a posh Manhattan sushi bar. The idea is to make you feel like a rock star and not just another passenger.



4. Don't just evolve with society, embrace it! - You would be hard-pressed to find a more beautiful, modern airline hub than JetBlue's T5 at JFK - the only of any at the airport to have offered free wi-fi from Day One. Both airlines have eagerly harnessed social media to build customer loyalty and make major announcements. Other than travel deals and tailored engagement initiatives, Virgin America believes that Twitter and the Promoted Tweets program could potentially replace existing traditional marketing and advertising initiatives.

5. Set a standard for others to follow - The easy-to-use kiosks you now see at every airport check-in, including quick bag check lines, evolved from JetBlue and Virgin. And when leaving Houston-Bush last week, I noticed that select flights on Continental were, for the first time, offering DirectTV at every seat.




I worked with several Challenger Brands on the ground-floor level and I equate the emotions involved to golf. The process can be exhilarating and maddening at the same time, so the key is mental fortitude. A launch based on disputing the status quo will require extensive research. Relevance in the market will require a clear, coherent mission statement. And finally, prosperity will require you to stay ahead of "Goliath" through a commitment to the principles that made you different in the first place.

The Gap Logo Debacle: Why it's Like the Guy Who Can't Get a Date

No one will ever confuse me with a shopaholic, but it doesn’t mean I’m so oblivious not to quickly recognize what makes the Gap...well, the Gap. When you go into a Gap, you know what you're getting.

So while the pundits are dissecting the minutia of Gap’s ill-fated attempt to change its logo, I’m more focused on what the last week’s events mean in the bigger picture – namely, that the era of “Poof” PR is officially over.

Remember “back in the day” when a company could keep a secret and unveil something new and fresh with lots of fanfare and hype? With all the instant-information tools available to virtually anyone, those days are just nostalgia. And THAT is where the Gap screwed it up.

I equate death of “Poof” PR to the plight of a good friend of mine – we’ll call him “Kyle”. Kyle is a solid guy with good intentions and a great heart but has trouble getting dates. Recently, Kyle decided he was going “all in” with some changes...in clothing and cars. He went out and bought about $500 worth of new shirts, designer jeans and shoes. “Dress well”, he thought, “and the girls will love me.” In Kyle's mind, he was re-launching himself with a big coming out party that was all about “Poof!; Shazam!; and TaDa!”.

Problem is that Kyle’s grand unveiling was sort of a one-shot deal. There he stood in a corner looking great but talking with no one. And because his “Poof” didn’t go quite as well as he hoped, he was left wearing the same “new” clothes to the same “old” beach clubs time after time where they don’t fit in at all.

Granted, Kyle’s new look didn’t get slammed on Facebook like Gap, but there is one similarity between the two that is directly oppositional to social media – a failure to communicate.

In Gap’s case, they went "poof" then started conversing after-the-fact. Attempts to be cool by “crowdsourcing” logo ideas was nothing short of desperate. In Kyle’s case, he changed the look but didn’t bother becoming more conversational with the opposite sex.

And that’s what Social Media is all about...conversation.

It’s not about broadcasting or bragging, but instead a process of forming a dialogue that involves listening, answering questions, and ultimately building relationships. Yes, it’s lots of work, but your business has access to a 24/7 networking party that can actually take some of the fear out of yesterday’s anxiety over “Poof” moments.

Gap came to the party late yet finally listened, learned, changed it's mind about the logo, and in the long-run, will be well-positioned to enhance its brand over social media. My friend Kyle? He's saving thousands to buy a sports car for cruising.

What choice will your business make?

Prop Fouls, Shark Jumping, Hoaxes, and Man-Crushes: You’re Better than That!

Except for retired NFL players (who usually win), I would never advise any celebrity client of mine to appear on Dancing with the Stars. The whole show just wreaks of desperation and sends a weird message about who these “stars” really “are”.

Last week’s loser, David Hasselhoff sure qualifies as desperate (actually, he looked washed up) and clearly has no idea who he is. Then I saw this hilarious video:



He’s lucky it found its way primarily to Europe. But Hasselhoff’s other video, “Get Into My Car”, is offensive no matter where you live. In short, The Hoff pulls up in a “Kit” car look-alike (from Knight Rider), lures a young bombshell along for a ride, soon discovers he’s not going to score, hits the seat ejection button and out goes flying the poor girl into a pile of trash cans. While wrong on so many levels, The Hoff should be especially ashamed of himself for pulling a classic 80’s TV legend like “Kit” down with him. But that’s what desperate people searching for an identity do.

Then again, even people who aren’t desperate intentionally try strange things that end up as PR disasters and sometimes define entire careers. Just ask Casey Affleck. As Joaquin Phoenix’s producer in “I’m Still Here”, Affleck took a huge gamble on a movie both men knew was a hoax. Problem is that Joaquin Phoenix is an immensely talented actor who many say borderlines on genius. Short PR hit aside, Joaquin will be just fine in the end. Affleck, on the other hand, is not recognized in the same category, took a bath on the movie, looked ridiculous and is now flat broke.

While dumb ideas may be easy to recognize, it’s far more difficult to know if riding the “racehorse” that got you out of the gate is deteriorating into something that isn’t pretty. I think Geico’s formula in this regard is perhaps the most brilliant by incorporating several colorful “racehorses” - The Caveman, The Gecko, and Mike McGlone from The Brothers McMullen. These “pitch men” appear intermittently (yet predictably) have their own angles to keep Geico’s commercials fresh, but always stay on-message.

On the opposite end of this universe is John McCain circa 2008, who rode Joe the Plumber to the point where it got really old, looked really sad, and ended up flushing his entire campaign down the toilet. Man-crushes on a guy from a picnic in Ohio and Presidents don't mix.

“Mr. McCain, what’s your plan to reduce the national debt”?

“Joe the Plumber.”

“What’s your position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?”

“Joe the Plumber.”

Your business can avoid these types of problems, maintain relevancy and still be funny by remembering one of the Five Rules of Triumphant Communications – Just Be Good at Who You Are.

This type of balancing act has been mastered at the local level by Philadelphia jeweler Bernie Robbins, who has been wearing the same diamond in his beard for 30 years. Still looks great in commercials and Bernie didn’t “Jump the Shark” by adding an assortment of pieces to the shtick, or tattooing himself, or switching beard stones to hot pink.

He’s just darn good at being who he is.

5 Blog Ideas to Prevent "Wacky FM DJ" Syndrome

Nothing annoys me more than reading a company’s blog or social media posts that spew lots of worthless junk.

You’ve read them...”Whoopie! New pool table in the break room and we played doubles against the office on the 18th Floor!” “I’m a business destination blogging about a weekend WienerFest in Venice Beach.” “Yum! Have you tried our product lately?” “Happy Paper Hat Day!”

Insert honking horns, buzzers, crazy whistles and two free tickets to see the Hanson Reunion at Jingle Ball.

I call it the “Wacky FM DJ” syndrome.

The “Wacky FM DJ” syndrome evolves from a fear of being boring. True, blogs and Facebook posts that read like term papers are awful. However, talking about things that have little to do with selling your actual products, services or philosophy can leave consumers dazed and confused.

Here are 5 ideas to make your blog on-message, relevant, interesting AND useful:

1. Remember What You’re Selling and Keep it Fresh! I worked with an author whose 2008 book espoused “The Three P’s of Parenting.” Because books are like new cars and lose value the minute they hit the shelves, my 2009/2010 blogs went out of their way to relate one or more “P’s” to new trends and issues.

2. Rip from the Headlines. For the same client, I blogged why “Jon and Kate’s” latest drama was another in a long line of “Three P’s” violations. Injecting a unique brand philosophy into a controversial situation tends to get the attention of TV people. Within two weeks, my client was booked as an expert guest on ABC News’ “What Would You Do?” program.

3. Don’t Let a Good Pitch go to Waste! Instead of getting frustrated when your response to a media query meets dead silence, why not turn it into a blog? Think about it, if the subject already has the attention of one media outlet, there’s a good chance other media outlets and fellow bloggers who repost interesting viewpoints on Twitter and Facebook will like it too.

4. Be a Booth Blogger. I obtained a “Best of (Trade) Show” client product review on a lifestyle site with 14 million opt-in subscribers specifically because of aggressive yet tactical on-site booth blogging. Avoid useless stuff like “Gee, our sign looks great!” and "Come by and sample the product.” Instead, create posts about special promotions if the blog and social media are mentioned. Or perhaps share specific comments and questions heard at your exhibit.

5. Get “Trendy!” Earlier this month, the Beverly Hills 90210 anniversary became a huge trending topic on social media. Smart lifestyle retailers anticipated this and one colleague of mine was clever enough to personally blog about it to her loyal readers (Lori "MacBlogger") and post company Facebook tributes that seamlessly linked the “Lather” brand to the “celebration”.

Why "Mess" is a Great Goal in Crisis PR

I recently worked on a crisis PR assignment that had everything going against us. My client, a leading law firm based in Los Angeles, represented a restaurant-management company who subletted part of their building/restaurant lease to a trendy wine bar.

As typical with sublets, things were a tad nebulous. So when the agreement went sideways for numerous reasons, the restaurant-management company decided to padlock the door on the wine bar at 3am on the Thursday prior to July 4th weekend. They then cleaned out all the tables and equipment and put them in storage. That’s when all heck broke loose.

The wine bar called the police, claimed theft and held a press conference with the padlocks in the background for visuals. The wine bar also incited a near riot among loyal locals who loved the establishment. Of course, neither my law firm client nor I were in (preferrably ahead of) the loop on any of this.

Fast-forward to Sunday, July 4th at 5pm where I had just entered a party at a friend’s house. My cell phone rings with the law firm emergently reaching out and for good reason:

1. There was no PR plan in place for what was obviously going to be a dramatic situation
2. Shutting down a wine bar at 3am prior to a holiday weekend will not make many friends
3. TV cameras were on-site for two days prior to my involvement and had given the wine bar unchallenged coverage
4. The most influential local blog covering the area had already run two stories on the padlocking and neither were favorable to the restaurant-management company
5. While the wine bar was distributing misinformation-laden flyers door-to-door in the entire area, none of the claims were being refuted
6. The restaurant managers were highly emotional and had “rogue” tendencies. For example, they offered their law firm and me as “available” for on-camera interviews.

Working quickly and closely with the law firm, we made the following decisions that any company or individual could use in a similar situation:

1. No on-camera interviews – local TV media feasts on conflicts involving emotion and with an impending legal dispute, it would have idiotic to put any verbal responses into public record.
2. Reached out to every writer, reporter and producer who had covered the story and submitted a written response to each claim made by the wine bar.
3. Set up a lengthy interview between the area’s most influential local blog and the law firm. Of all the media outlets involved, the blogger was most likely to write an objective, long-form journalistic article on a complicated issue that affected loyal readers living closest to the conflict.

Within 24-hours, what could have been a total PR (and legal) disaster morphed its way into a “mess” – in fact, “mess” was the exact word the influential blogger used in the feature wrap-up column title.

“Mess” might not sound good at first glance, but when you are on crisis-defensive in the middle of a holiday weekend and days behind the opponent’s attack, getting the public to read about a bunch of attorneys espousing the minutia of contract law is nothing short of a miracle.

Sometimes cutting your losses in PR is just as good as an outright win.

BP vs. Apple: Great "Culture" Breeds Great PR

I’d love to say that every good media hit is the result of a PR genius, but I can’t. As BP has proven, the type of coverage a company receives or whether its products are revered by consumers is often beyond a publicist’s control.

It all starts with “culture.”

Let’s use baseball as an analogy - some teams have a winning culture and others have a losing one. Down 6-2 in the 9th inning last Sunday but with two men on, you just knew The New York Yankees were coming all the way back to win. And they did. But the Yankee culture doesn’t stop there. SportsCenter immediately followed the game and the first commercial aired featured “good-guy” Derek Jeter in a promo for the acclaimed TV series “Rescue Me".

With JayZ’s “Empire State of Mind” playing in the background, Yankee-Nation and its positive culture was in all its glory.

Conversely, consider the plight of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Already a lifeless laughingstock franchise, team executives recently incited enormous fan outrage after firing their giant Pierogi mascot racer. Why? He posted a critical comment to a friend on Facebook about the team’s umpteenth straight losing season. Last I checked post “Pierogi-Gate,” the Pirates were still losing more games.

Things like that are not coincidental – they reflect a culture.

Were you really shocked that BP’s CEO bolted his Washington, DC grilling for a yacht race the next day in England? Or that BP’s in-house magazine reported the oil spill was a blessing in disguise because Gulf region hotels were suddenly packed with thousands of clean-up workers? Or the infamous Freudian Slip about caring for the “small people”?

The best PR guru in the world couldn’t have saved BP because the company was way too entrenched in a “Culture of Arrogance.” It’s hard to change negative culture overnight. Go ask the Pittsburgh Pirates.

On the other side of the corporate culture universe is Apple. From its savvy, in-control CEO to the endless possibilities, competence and excitement felt when in one of their stores, Apple operates in a culture where it can do no wrong – even if the technology doesn’t work.

When the site to order iPhones crashed, Apple responded with a powerful curve ball and delivered a surprise percentage of phones to consumers a day early. All of a sudden, it was Christmas in June. And after reception problems erupted among new 4G customers and consumed blogs worldwide, it was leaked yesterday that Apple may give Verizon a shot at the iPhone come January. Ouch, AT&T. Coincidence? Those things never are. I think it’s a true stroke of brilliance from a “Culture of Brilliance.”

Ever notice how positive business cultures are copied? It happens all the time in the National Football League to The New England Patriots. Last week, it happened to Apple when Microsoft opened a copycat store right next door in San Diego’s Fashion Valley Mall.

So while a good publicist can be a huge help to your business, my job is a whole lot easier with a great corporate culture behind me.

Helping, by Yelping, Business Growth

Everyone has that friend who constantly recommends restaurants and bars that turn out to be absolutely awful. I have one in California, so that’s why I depend on the review site Yelp - www.yelp.com – before I dine anywhere unfamiliar.

On Yelp, you get honest reviews from a wide cross-section of people who dissect everything from price, product, atmosphere and service. And Yelp reviews always seem to organically find their way to the top of Google’s search engine rankings.

If you’re confident in your business, Yelp should become an integral part of your social media campaign.

I recently encouraged my favorite local café to do just that. Some background - Nestled in the heart of one of Southern California’s popular beach communities, this café has the best coffee in town, a simple yet delicious (and healthy) menu, an attractive outdoor patio, and free wifi. The customer base is extremely loyal yet small and its location is not parking-friendly. Even more challenging, the café is located within 2 blocks of a breakfast joint whose relationships with vacation property realtors create hour-long lines. On the other side is a sandwich shop opened by a popular alum from a local college - it enjoys tremendous word of mouth among the thousands of students who rent bungalows in town.

These dynamics led the family who runs my favorite café to lament that business was dangerously light.

Because the café continuously gets compliments from customers upon leaving, I wondered if writing a positive blurb on Yelp would help. That’s when I discovered numerous 5-star reviews from past customers. Turning endorsements on a social media platform such as Yelp into a marketing tool can be simple if you think logically and tactically. In the case of the café, that entails a two-pronged approach - first, they are asking every “regular” write a review and then incentivizing spillover customers who shun the one hour lines down the street to write reviews as well. For each new review, free coffees with their next meal. We are then adding a small tactical pitch designed just for Google - for Yelp reviews that specifically rate the free wi-fi, next meal is free.

If your business has mastered the four factors that drive positive (or negative) customer reviews, I encourage you to pick the most unique, Google search attractive items and develop a Yelp campaign around them. In the case of my local café, there is limited local competition offering free wifi (especially its two closest rivals down the street), and no one in town boasts electrical outlets outdoors. Encouraging reviews that use specific keywords on the cafe’s wifi is a prescription for search engine dominance and if all goes according to plan, a packed establishment for my friends all summer long.

Spirit Airlines: Over-thinking Can Destroy a Brand

CEO Ben Baldanza recently penned a well-organized, highly reasoned, financially sound op-ed in the USA Today to passionately defend Spirit Airlines’ new fee for carry-on bags.

He laid out a detailed economic model explaining why fees for carry-on bags can lower ticket prices, cut fees for checked baggage and reduce lines at security. In the end, Baldanza says, it’s a “win-win for everyone” – and if you give his rationale enough very deep thought, maybe those fees actually make some sense.

But that’s exactly the problem – thinking – or in the case of Spirit Airlines, over-thinking.

When the average family of four booked a flight from LaGuardia to Fort Lauderdale to see Grandma for Easter, I’ll bet PhD-level economic models on airfare weren’t on their mind. These are ultra-busy, middle-class consumers who typically spend an hour at most on Priceline finding the cheapest tickets, fastest route, and most convenient departures.

“Get us there, get us home, and don’t screw us with nasty surprises.”

People may grumble when ticket prices rise; they always grumble knowing there are all sorts of taxes and fees on every ticket; and they really grumbled when airlines started charging for checked baggage and blankets. But that “Sacred Line” wasn’t crossed until now.

In over-thinking a problem facing every carrier, Spirit Airlines simply did not consider how travelers view their carry-on luggage in very personal terms. Toothbrushes, travel purses, a book for the flight, snacks for the kids, and the trusty laptop are simply off limits to what many feel is blind corporate greed.

For an airline whose entire brand is built on being consumer budget-friendly, “taxing” those items is a violation of trust from which they likely will never recover.

As proof of this prediction, I received an email from Spirit’s $9 Fare Club just two days after the carry-on fees became public. “Fly for free!” - the email’s subject line proclaimed. But upon opening it appeared the ugly catch - “Just pay for the cost of fuel”.

I have no idea what jet fuel costs and don’t have the time to research it. But if Spirit’s already messing with my electric travel razor, I don’t want to know what that fuel is going to cost! And I probably wouldn’t trust their math anyway.

That’s how Spirit is calculating the exact “fees” for carry-ons too. “It will vary”, they say. No doubt there are high-level formula’s...perhaps even to the power of Pi!

They could be splitting atoms for all we know, but in the meantime, consumers now view Spirit Airlines as greedy, tricky and perhaps even outright dishonest. If Baldanza continues to “over-think” complex math instead of using basic common sense, that list of adjectives may soon include “stupid”.

And no one is going 35,000 feet in the air with a carrier that is perceived as stupid.

You're All Wrong! Tiger's PR Brilliant from Day One

Conveniently lost in the middle of last night’s health care vote was Tiger Woods’ first one-on-one interview with The Golf Channel and ESPN. He also he announced his Masters comeback on the opening day of the NCAA tournament.

Coincidences? Hardly, but don't try selling this strategy to his critics.

“He’s still hiding!” say the pundits. “He should have bared all right away!” “Why didn’t he go on Oprah?” "Get him a deal with Kleenex!" “His PR people should be banished to Antarctica!”

I couldn’t disagree more.

Tiger’s PR team has deftly handled a brutal situation with the most difficult of clients and here are four reasons why:

They “know” the client – Tiger Woods was never a media darling and when he did give a quote, anyone could visibly see he hated the whole process. The critics argue this means Tiger’s PR has been horrible for years. They're Wrong! This is an egotistical guy, filled with a sense ot entitlement, set in his ways, who also really hates reporters. That’s a personality issue – not PR. A smart publicist isn’t going to try to change a superstar’s personality, so those who were expecting a cry-fest on Oprah are delusional.

But they didn’t “know” exactly what he did – There is no way Tiger could have kept his trysts a secret this long if more than a few special “friends” knew about it. I don’t think the PR team knew most of what was going on and were legitimately concerned about what was on the horizon. I KNOW they didn’t read the steamy texts prior to his car accident. Unlike the “yo babe” meatball you’ll see on Saturday night at the Iguana Club, super-rich guys don’t brag about conquests – and in Vegas (Tiger’s favorite haunt), people are paid big bucks to keep stuff like that quiet. So when the Rachel Uchitel story came out, Tiger’s PR team figured it was the tip of the iceberg. Biting your lip is tough, but having 10 more women dispute a rapid-response, “bare-all” mea culpa would have been downright disastrous.

They avoided the circus and responded calmly – Tiger’s PR team was dealing with financially ambitious party girls, porn stars and a Perkins waitress – that’s not exactly a stable group of corporate people. Think I’m unfairly stereotyping? Well, so far, the porn star hired Gloria Allred and went on a media tour; Rachel Uchitel’s new agent got her a gig as an entertainment reporter; one mistress appeared on a reality show and at least one more is seeking one. Sometimes it’s best to let bad news with shock value take most of its course - especially when it's connected to questionable people. Yes, that kind of discipline is hard. Yes, it’s embarrassing. But in this case, I’d rather have an organized, disciplined response in place than be forced to change a client’s story half-way through a seedy circus. Or go tit-for-tat in the National Enquirer with a porn star. I'm sure the mistresses will do everything they can to keep themselves relevant, but meanwhile, Tiger's set a clear course. And getting back "on the course" will change the conversation soon enough.

Great behind the scenes moves probably saved the one sponsor that really matters – Tiger’s worth about $500 million, so losing a few endorsements is hardly going to wreck his life. And he didn’t lose sponsors because of bad PR – he lost them from bad behavior. The PR team recognized an impending blood bath and smartly got Tiger focused on quietly apologizing to the big dogs like Nike. After all, Nike is the sponsor that made him the most money of all. AT&T, who dropped Tiger, sells phones, not golf equipment and sports clothes like Nike does. Tiger will eventually start winning majors again, and Nike was no doubt reminded that their best-selling line of products will start selling big again too...if it hasn't already.

Stressed Out Being Nominated "Most Stressed Out"

In an attempt to promote their newest location, one of the West Coast’s most prestigious day spas recently ran a bizarre advertising campaign in which they asked people to nominate the most stressed out person in the region, who in-turn would receive free spa and massage services.

Putting the garage-shop quality of the ad’s production aside, this spa's campaign included pictures of actual “nominees” in their television ads...all women...on a major network’s local affiliate...during a weekend morning...in a market of about 2 million consumers.

Say the above out loud...sounds like a prescription for marketing disaster, doesn’t it?

Maybe I lived in Manhattan for too long and call me stupid, but I can’t think of one female I know who would want their picture “nominated” in this fashion and plastered all over network TV. It’s quite possible that most normally content women in America would suddenly turn stressed out just by being nominated as stressed out. And in New York, they might turn downright vengeful.

The moral of this story is “don’t overthink the room.”

If you are a high end business, structure your marketing, PR, and paid advertising in the same manner. It doesn’t matter if you have multiple competitors in the same region - or in this case – the same town. Never stray from developing an appropriate message that targets your specific demographic – if your business is well-run, the customers will come and likely tell their friends about it too!