Do we remember that EA (Electronic Arts) "Walk on Water" spot with Tiger Woods from 2009?
The ad went viral and generated 4,682,727 views (8/3/2010) within less than a year. How much it would cost to reach such a big number of potential customer via TV, print or even "classic" online media? From my computer I cannot tell how many of us forwarded or embedded this spot. Let's say at least cca. 10 million people at least saw the video from their free will in total. With this smart step, EA directly engaged with the influencers in a creative way to stop the chatter about possible issues, turned it on its head and immediately into his/her favour. EA not just saved millions of dollars, but gained credibility among potential customers. I do not want to repeat myself about social media importance. It is a smart way for golf courses to promote themselves during the golfing season and in off-season period.
Why do I highlight this issue is because while many Tiger Woods sponsors are abandoning Tiger Woods, but their ads with the golf player is still alive in social media. This will not stop until they remove these videos from YouTube or any other video sharing portals. And even they remove they cannot be sure that nobody will see his brand with Tiger Woods.
I think this is what these brands like Gatorade, Accenture, AT&T forget, that they cannot control everything especially not on the internet and within in it social media.