Tiger Woods: A falling brand?

Tiger Woods: A falling brand?

Tiger Woods used to be one of the most profitable brands in the world. He has his own video games; he was sponsored by Tag Heuer, Gatorade, Accenture, Gillette and AT & T. He had a gorgeous wife, children and enough money to do silly things like buying himself and island and make himself president of the island. He was known as the world’s best golfer and a role model for young children who were dreaming of becoming as good as Tiger Woods. Nike took advantage of this in the “I am Tiger Woods” ad.

Watching the ad now, in light of this year’s scandals the ad has lost its credibility and makes Tiger Woods seem like a twat. Tiger Woods’ image as a successful, perfect guy and golf player has been shattered by the news about his infidelity. Gatorade, Accenture and AT & T dropped him. And more and more of his mistresses are coming out telling humiliating stories about his affairs. Nike dealt with this by having Tiger in an ad with a sad, regretful look on his face:

However, according to Forbes, the value of the Tiger brand is still strong. The value of the brand is exceeding the value of David Beckham, Kobe Bryant, Roger Federer, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Lebron James combined! Basically, Tiger Woods is hated on the internet (Just look at the comments on his videos on youtube), he is clearly not a role-model for children anymore and his friends do not like him any longer. But at the same time, Forbes says he is the most valuable athlete brand in the world! What is going on here? I think Tiger Woods has lost his credibility as “the good guy” and role-model. But the image of Tiger Woods as the best golf player in the world still stands, and that image is more powerful than the “good-guy” image.

What’s the moral of the story? Tiger Woods can still play golf even though he is a twat. And don’t cheat on Elin Nordegren.

Sources:

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=4887062

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10677839/tiger-woods-brand-still-tops-really.html

http://www.pyropath.com/sparks/09-12-03/tiger-woods-brand-equity-decline-now

Hamburger University

Did you know that McDonald’s has their own schools for training McDonald’s leaders? McDonald’s has six of these “Hamburger-schools” already and are now expanding with another one in China. Their goal is to educate 5000 McDonald’s leaders the next five years. When I read this news on e24.no I almost fell of my chair. It’s a fast-food chain! They cook burgers and sell them to people; do they really need a university to train their own people?

Apparently they do, their first training facility was opened up in 1961 and they have been running and expanding ever since. The official name of the Hamburger school is Hamburger University and they actually receive college credit recommendations from the American council of Education.

At the hamburger school future leaders are trained in McDonalds key values for running a McDonald’s: Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value. Perhaps the hamburger schools are the reason that all the McDonald’s restaurants are so successful?

Sources:

http://e24.no/utenriks/article3589128.ece

http://www.wsbtv.com/money/22996744/detail.html

Kvikk Lunsj sentimentality

Kvikk Lunsj sentimentality

I love being in America, but watching this commercial made me miss Norway a little bit:

Kvikk lunsj (“quick lunch”) is a chocolate that resembles Kit Kat but tastes so much better. Or does it?

Kvikk lunsj was modelled after Kit Kat, the British chocolate coated biscuit- bars. Personally, I think the major difference between a Kit Kat and a Kvikk lunsj is the sentimental value of a Kvikk lunsj bar. Kvikk lunsj has been marketed as the hiking chocolate for 60 years, and Norwegians love hiking. Easter is high season for Kvikk lunsj as Norwegian families pack their bags and head to the mountains to go hiking and cross-country skiing, with a Kvikk Lunsj in their backpack.

The commercial depicts the spirit of Easter, the true love for nature and how volunteers make all the hiking tracks possible around in the mountains. My favourite part of the commercial is when the man driving the maintenance car that makes the ski-tracks, turns around and looks at the tracks and they are shaped like (inverted) Kvikk Lunsj tracks. In the clip we see volunteers in the Norwegian Trekking association in action. They are building cabins and bridges, putting up signs and paint red T’s on rocks and trees of hiking tracks. The red T’s show where the hiking tracks go and are a sight for the sore eyes of a Norwegian missing home.

Kvikk lunsj, I do not know how you would do in a blind taste test against Kit Kat, but I know that our connection is much deeper than that. You are so much more than a chocolate bar to me. You are everything I like about Norway: hiking with my family, reaching the goal and take a break, simplicity and purity.