老虎伍茲麻煩纏身 廣告商選擇觀望

老虎伍茲身穿耐克服裝在于喬治亞州舉行的2008年高爾夫大師賽上

As the din over Tiger Woods's car accident and alleged extramarital affairs grows louder, most of the golfer's corporate sponsors appear to be taking a page from the sports-marketing playbook: Wait to gauge any long-term fallout from the scandal and consider letting contracts lapse when they come up for renewal.

眼見老虎伍茲(Tiger Woods)車禍?zhǔn)录嗖?、圍繞他婚外情的傳言甚囂塵上，大多和這位高爾夫明星有著廣告合作關(guān)系的贊助商彷佛心有靈犀般地采取了體育廣告營(yíng)銷寶典中的同一招：等待并評(píng)估這樁丑聞的長(zhǎng)期影響，同時(shí)，考慮當(dāng)廣告合約需要續(xù)簽時(shí)讓其自然失效。

Advertisers can't make 'knee-jerk' decisions when crises like these hit, because 'it's hard in the world of 24 hours of instant information to know you have the complete story,' says Tony Pace, chief marketing officer for the Subway sandwich chain, part of Doctor's Associates. Earlier this year, Subway had to decide whether to stick with Michael Phelps after a photo surfaced of the Olympian smoking marijuana. Ultimately Subway continued its sponsorship of the swimmer.

賽百味(Subway)的首席市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷長(zhǎng)托尼·佩斯(Tony Pace)說，當(dāng)這樣的危機(jī)事件發(fā)生時(shí)，廣告商不能做出“膝跳反射”一樣的下意識(shí)反應(yīng)，因?yàn)樵谶@樣一個(gè)分分秒秒都有即時(shí)事件爆發(fā)的世界里，你不可能知道故事的全部真相。今年早些時(shí)候，奧運(yùn)會(huì)游泳冠軍、菲爾普斯(Michael Phelps)吸食大麻的相片曝光，這個(gè)隸屬于Doctor's Associates的三明治連鎖企業(yè)必須決定是否與之繼續(xù)合作。最終，賽百味決定繼續(xù)向菲爾普斯提供贊助。

Controversies surrounding major athletes aren't unusual, from quarterback Michael Vick's conviction on dogfighting charges to the steroid scandals involving baseball stars like Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees. But celebrity endorsements remain an important promotional tool for marketers.

從橄欖球四分衛(wèi)邁克爾·維克(Michael Vick)因參與非法斗狗而服刑、到紐約洋基隊(duì)棒球明星亞歷克斯·羅德里格斯(Alex Rodriguez)的類固醇禁藥丑聞，圍繞明星運(yùn)動(dòng)員而起爭(zhēng)議從來不是什么新鮮事。盡管如此，邀明星助陣仍是營(yíng)銷人員重要的推廣手段之一。

For athletes, they are a big business. Mr. Woods alone rakes in roughly 0 million a year on his endorsement deals, according to people familiar with them.

對(duì)這些運(yùn)動(dòng)員而言，獲得贊助是一筆大生意。知情人士透露，僅伍茲一人每年的贊助商合約就能達(dá)到約1億美元。

Advertisers do have some protections. Major endorsement pacts typically include a 'morality clause,' that gives the sponsor a way out. Still, companies often hang on, sports-marketing executives say. Most sponsors, including Subway, Visa and Swatch Group, stood by Mr. Phelps. Kellogg was an exception, severing its ties with him for behavior 'not consistent with Kellogg's image.'

廣告商也采取了一些保護(hù)措施。大型的廣告贊助協(xié)議通常包括“道德條款”，給贊助商們留出了后路。不過，體育業(yè)營(yíng)銷高管說，這些公司通常會(huì)選擇堅(jiān)持不放手。大多數(shù)贊助商，包括賽百味、Visa卡以及斯沃琪集團(tuán)(Swatch Group)都決定繼續(xù)與菲爾普斯合作；家樂氏(Kellogg Co.)是一個(gè)例外，該公司以“菲爾普斯的行為不符合公司形像”為由與他終止了合約。

Wednesday, representatives of Nike, Procter & Gamble's Gillette, videogame maker Electronic Arts, PepsiCo's Gatorade sports drink and laser-eye surgery chain TLC Vision said their relationships with Mr. Woods hadn't changed. (Pepsi said its recent decision to drop a Gatorade product named for Mr. Wood's wasn't related to the scandal.) Jet-rental company NetJets said Monday that it continued to support Mr. Woods.

周三，來自耐克(Nike)、寶潔公司(Procter & Gamble)旗下的吉列(Gillette)、電玩廠家電子藝界(Electronic Arts)、百事公司(PepsiCo)旗下的運(yùn)動(dòng)型飲料佳得樂(Gatorade)以及激光視力較正手術(shù)提供商TLC Vision的代表均表示公司和伍茲的合作關(guān)系沒有發(fā)生改變。（百事稱近期放棄一款以伍茲命名的佳得樂飲料的決定與他的丑聞事件無關(guān)。）飛機(jī)租賃公司NetJets周一表示將繼續(xù)支持伍茲。

AT&T and sports-collectible retailer Upper Deck declined to comment. Consulting-firm Accenture and watch maker Tag Heuer, an LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton unit, couldn't be reached for comment.

美國(guó)電話電報(bào)公司(AT&T)和球星卡零售商Upper Deck拒絕發(fā)表評(píng)論。記者未能聯(lián)系到咨詢公司埃森哲(Accenture)以及酩悅軒尼詩(shī)-路易威登集團(tuán)(LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton，簡(jiǎn)稱LVMH)旗下的豪雅表(Tag Heuer)發(fā)表評(píng)論。

Behind the scenes, these advertisers are likely to be tracking how sales and consumer perceptions are being affected by the scandal, sports-marketing executives say. Consumers are disappointed by Mr. Woods's alleged behavior, and the golfer is generating a good deal of negative buzz, according to a study released Tuesday by Millward Brand, a brand-research agency owned by ad company WPP. It will take some time to undo the damage, the agency said.

體育界營(yíng)銷高管說，私底下，這些廣告商可能會(huì)追蹤了解這一丑聞事件對(duì)銷售和消費(fèi)者認(rèn)知情況的影響。品牌研究機(jī)構(gòu)Millward Brand周二發(fā)布的一份研究報(bào)告顯示，消費(fèi)者對(duì)伍茲的所作所為感到失望，而且圍繞著他有許多負(fù)面評(píng)價(jià)。這家隸屬于傳播業(yè)巨頭WPP集團(tuán)的公司指出，要挽回?fù)p失需要花些時(shí)間。

But it is 'grossly premature' to asses the extent of any long-term damage to Mr. Woods's reputation and the impact on a given brand, says Kevin Adler, founder and president of Engage Marketing, a Chicago sports and entertainment marketing firm. 'Superior performance on the field of play has the very real potential to re-establish Tiger's brand,' he said.

不過，芝加哥體育及娛樂營(yíng)銷公司Engage Marketing的創(chuàng)始人兼總裁埃德勒(Kevin Adler)說，現(xiàn)在評(píng)估此事對(duì)伍茲聲譽(yù)的長(zhǎng)期損害以及對(duì)相關(guān)品牌的影響程度還為時(shí)過早。他說，如果伍茲能在賽場(chǎng)上擁有出色表現(xiàn)，那么很有可能重塑他的品牌形像。

Representatives for Mr. Woods couldn't be reached for comment.

記者未能聯(lián)系到伍茲的代言人就此發(fā)表評(píng)論。