endorsements

Tag Heuer Watches To Reconsider Relationship With Tiger Woods

I recently mentioned that Tag Heuer affirmed its commitment to Tiger Woods as a brand ambassador. They publicly stated that they would stick by the super star as a face of the brand despite and alleged transgressions. It now looks like they might have altered their position. This is the second time this month that Tag Heuer has had to "restate" an earlier announcement. The first was in regard to the origin on their new Caliber 1887 movement.

Now Tag Heuer seems to suggest that Tiger Woods may not be in their short term future goals.We have already seen Tag Heuer pull Tiger Wood based ads, but that makes sense in the immediate given the negative publicity of Tiger's current extramarital activities. Now it looks like Tag Heuer is seriously considering their future with the golf superstar. The main reason? Not likely the current scandal. Though it helps lubricate their decision - the main rationale behind Tag Heuer's likely separation from Mr. Woods is his announcement to leave the professional world of golf for some indeterminable amount of time. Tiger's main allure was his ability to draw a large audience when he played on the greens. Now that he will withdraw from the public eye, does he really have immediate value to the popular watch brand? Several months from now when Tiger Woods hasn't been in a golf tournament in months, he will just be another rich guy in a Nike baseball cap (unless they pull out too). The bigger picture is that because Tiger Woods is exiting the world of golf for a while, he is severely jeopardizing his main income stream - endorsements.

Via World Tempus.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: ambassador, endorsements, golf, Tag Heuer, TagHeuer, Tiger Woods, TigerWoods, watch

Tag Heuer Retains Tiger Woods As Brand Ambassador Despite Scandal

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Sports

It has not been an easy holiday season for mega super athlete Tiger Woods. After news got out about his possible extra-marital affairs and the resulting fiasco surrounding it, the squeaky clean celebrity now has a new angle to his personality. Still, I think he handled the media conference aspects of it much better than others have in the past.

Tiger is a very wealthy guy thanks to years of unprecedented sponsorship and endorsement deals. Suddenly advertisements with his iconic image have all but disappeared - especially on television. Sponsors are worried about possible negative associations with the star looming in the public at this time. Of course, none of this is a surprise.

Like most scandals, this will likely more or less blow over in a few weeks or months. Whatever ensues in Tiger's personal life, is his own business. From a sponsorship standpoint, things won't be quite the same, as some of the more conservative advertisers will likely shun Tiger, although he was once the boy-wonder of conservative image athletes.

One of Tiger's most popular sponsors is watch maker Tag Heuer - who has recently announced their dedication to sticking with the man who has likely been good for their business. Tag Heuer, while a Swiss watch maker, is French owned (by LVMH). While they may pause or delay advertisements in the immediate future, expect to see lots more Tag Heuer ads involving Tiger Woods, a baseball cap, a golf club, and a watch in the near future.

Via World Tempus (in French).

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: endorsements, golf, scandal, sponsorship, tag heuer, TagHeuer, Tiger Woods, TigerWoods, watch

Lancôme Selects Julia Roberts as "Global Ambassadress"

by Lisa Palladino (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Celebrity Shopping, Cosmetics and Fragrance

Main Entry: am·bas·sa·dress
Pronunciation: \am-ˈba-sə-drəs, əm-, im-\

Function: noun

Date: 1594

1 : a woman who is an ambassador
2 : the wife of an ambassador

Lancôme has bestowed the first definition on Julia Roberts in the ongoing epic "Another Day, Another Celebrity Endorsement." Cynicism aside, Lancôme has, through the years, had a bevy of beautiful women endorsing its products -- Isabella Rossellini, Kate Winslet, Anne Hathaway, and numerous models. Roberts is the newest, according to a WWD exclusive:

"By her remarkable personality and career, Julia Roberts is an emblematic woman of her time," said Youcef Nabi, president of Lancôme International. "Her exceptional talent, her radiance, and her strong commitments perfectly echo Lancôme's values. We are convinced she will embody the brand in the most sublime way possible."

Lancôme executives declined to share details on the relationship between Roberts and the brand, including the amount the actress is being paid to sell the products, the length of her contract, and specific duties, saying more would be revealed early next year.

Roberts, who is said to command salaries upward of $20 million for her acting projects, is in post-production on two films - Eat, Pray, Love, and Valentine's Day.

The WWD article goes on to say that "getting Roberts - or any other star of her caliber - to appear in U.S. advertising a decade ago would have been a longshot, although many stars consented to appear in product advertising outside the U.S. ... however, the celebrity culture has become ubiquitous, and the stigma once associated with selling products to middle America seems to have disappeared."

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Tags: celebrities, celebrity, endorsements, Julia Roberts, JuliaRoberts, Lancome, makeup

Victoria Beckham Gets Her Underwear Shot

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

David Beckham's huge semi-nude advertisements for Emporio Armani underwear caused whole crowds to swoon. Now his wife is getting in on the act. Victoria Beckham will pose in just her Emporio Armani Women's underwear for the brand's Spring/Summer 2009 campaign being shot by photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. In a press release Armani said of Mrs. Beckham, "Victoria is a style icon, a dynamic lady whose influence and recognition will add great excitement to the continued international growth of our Emporio Armani women's underwear business." She is certainly stylish, but I'd have preferred a woman with a little more curve to create the same kind of ooh-la-la reaction that David Beckham's ads got.

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Tags: ad campaigns, AdCampaigns, armani, endorsements, fashion, victoria beckham, VictoriaBeckham

Celebrity Endorsements Don't Influence Luxury Purchases

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Celebrity Shopping

In what will come as a shock to no one but marketing executives, luxury consumers say that celebrity endorsements don't make them more likely to make purchases. In fact, only 1% of consumers who participated in the survey run by the Luxury Institute in New York, while 13% say that they so dislike seeing over-hyped celebrities pitch products that it would prevent them from making the purchase at all.

The majority of consumers say that they aren't swayed either way, but there are a few notable exceptions where a high-profile endorsement can raise awareness of a product, trend or industry with good results. This is especially true if the celebrity in question has a good reputation in the eyes of consumers. These areas include fashion designers and clothing trends, watches and jewelry, cars, wealth management firms, private jets and philanthropies.

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Tags: celebrities, celebrity, endorsements, shopping