老虎伍兹麻烦缠身 广告商选择观望

老虎伍兹身穿耐克服装在于乔治亚州举行的2008年高尔夫大师赛上

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.

眼见老虎伍兹(Tiger Woods)车祸事件余波蔓延、围绕他婚外情的传言甚嚣尘上，大多和这位高尔夫明星有着广告合作关系的赞助商彷佛心有灵犀般地采取了体育广告营销宝典中的同一招：等待并评估这桩丑闻的长期影响，同时，考虑当广告合约需要续签时让其自然失效。

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.

赛百味(Subway)的首席市场营销长托尼·佩斯(Tony Pace)说，当这样的危机事件发生时，广告商不能做出“膝跳反射”一样的下意识反应，因为在这样一个分分秒秒都有即时事件爆发的世界里，你不可能知道故事的全部真相。今年早些时候，奥运会游泳冠军、菲尔普斯(Michael Phelps)吸食大麻的相片曝光，这个隶属于Doctor's Associates的三明治连锁企业必须决定是否与之继续合作。最终，赛百味决定继续向菲尔普斯提供赞助。

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.

从橄榄球四分卫迈克尔·维克(Michael Vick)因参与非法斗狗而服刑、到纽约洋基队棒球明星亚历克斯·罗德里格斯(Alex Rodriguez)的类固醇禁药丑闻，围绕明星运动员而起争议从来不是什么新鲜事。尽管如此，邀明星助阵仍是营销人员重要的推广手段之一。

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.

对这些运动员而言，获得赞助是一笔大生意。知情人士透露，仅伍兹一人每年的赞助商合约就能达到约1亿美元。

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.'

广告商也采取了一些保护措施。大型的广告赞助协议通常包括“道德条款”，给赞助商们留出了后路。不过，体育业营销高管说，这些公司通常会选择坚持不放手。大多数赞助商，包括赛百味、Visa卡以及斯沃琪集团(Swatch Group)都决定继续与菲尔普斯合作；家乐氏(Kellogg Co.)是一个例外，该公司以“菲尔普斯的行为不符合公司形像”为由与他终止了合约。

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，来自耐克(Nike)、宝洁公司(Procter & Gamble)旗下的吉列(Gillette)、电玩厂家电子艺界(Electronic Arts)、百事公司(PepsiCo)旗下的运动型饮料佳得乐(Gatorade)以及激光视力较正手术提供商TLC Vision的代表均表示公司和伍兹的合作关系没有发生改变。（百事称近期放弃一款以伍兹命名的佳得乐饮料的决定与他的丑闻事件无关。）飞机租赁公司NetJets周一表示将继续支持伍兹。

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.

美国电话电报公司(AT&T)和球星卡零售商Upper Deck拒绝发表评论。记者未能联系到咨询公司埃森哲(Accenture)以及酩悦轩尼诗-路易威登集团(LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton，简称LVMH)旗下的豪雅表(Tag Heuer)发表评论。

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.

体育界营销高管说，私底下，这些广告商可能会追踪了解这一丑闻事件对销售和消费者认知情况的影响。品牌研究机构Millward Brand周二发布的一份研究报告显示，消费者对伍兹的所作所为感到失望，而且围绕着他有许多负面评价。这家隶属于传播业巨头WPP集团的公司指出，要挽回损失需要花些时间。

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.

不过，芝加哥体育及娱乐营销公司Engage Marketing的创始人兼总裁埃德勒(Kevin Adler)说，现在评估此事对伍兹声誉的长期损害以及对相关品牌的影响程度还为时过早。他说，如果伍兹能在赛场上拥有出色表现，那么很有可能重塑他的品牌形像。

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

记者未能联系到伍兹的代言人就此发表评论。