Tiger Woods and His PR Strategy: Why This Incident will Cost Him Millions

We all know that Tiger Woods is an incredibly powerful brand. You may also know that he has earned over a billion dollars in his career, and that he is wealthy beyond imagination. Wealth buys a lot of things that we're not supposed to be able to buy, like a carefully protected image, where every reporter with dirt on you is afraid to share it, and media outlets protect you out of fear of losing valuable corporate sponsors. Tiger has it all.

The problem for Tiger Woods, however, is that his PR team has failed him thus far. Tiger Woods lost $10 million dollars the minute his wife came out of the house with a golf club in her hands, and no one was able to explain it. Now, one can't say that she came out of the house with ill intent, but the truth is that this doesn't look good.

Here are some quick points that Team Tiger must consider when crafting their next move in this complicated situation:

1) Take a note from David Letterman: In America, the truth sets you free. Conversely, we remain slaves to that which is perceived to be deceitful. By being so stoic, Tiger Woods is doing himself no favors, and the public will ultimately get angry.

2) Tiger can conquer the world, but he can't control it: Tiger Woods can demand that the world allow him to have privacy in his personal affairs, but the truth is that Woods has earned over a billion dollars by asking for the public's attention. You can't turn your fame on and off like a faucet.

3) Making a deal with the devil: Tiger Woods was labeled to be squeaky clean and he gets paid as if he were squeaky clean. The big problem is that when the world finds out that you are only human, it's going to cost you. Tiger is not quite the endorsement steal that he used to be, but he was probably never as perfect as his sponsors pretended that he was. In some ways, this might be a liberating experience for Tiger Woods.

4) Sports can't quite conquer all: Tiger has earned roughly 10 percent of his billion dollar fortune playing golf. The rest has been earned with appearances, endorsements and other extra perks. So, the idea that Tiger can simply win on the golf course and make this all go away might be a bit flawed. The rules of financial gravity change when you are the greatest golfer that the world has ever seen.

5) Welcome to the real world Tiger Woods: Tiger Woods, a man accustomed to dominating his environment and kicking people out of his circle for misbehaving, may not have been cut out for marriage. He has been focused on his life-long goal of 18 major championships since he was five years old. The real world doesn't let you control every aspect of your existence, and Tiger must now face the reality that the closest person in his circle has helped him to embarrass himself. In the world of marriage, things are almost never as sheltered and perfect as Tiger might want them to be. That is the reality Woods must now face.

To watch a video clip of a segment we did on Woods on MSNBC, please click the image below:

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