Andrew Stone: Tiger ad shows Nike at their brilliant best

Opinion

This is Nike at its brilliant best and here's why ...

Firstly, many years ago Nike made a big play in moving into golf. It not only invested in golfing clothing/equipment, it went out and got the best golfer in history.

Secondly, they formed a partnership that endured. They created many firsts and milked it along the way.

When news came out on the terrible things Tiger did as a father, husband, rolemodel, etc (and they were genuinely terrible) most other sponsors abandoned him as tarnished goods. Nike didn't. They stood by him as genuine friends do. They showed they are human as an organisation. They recognised humans do bad things ... and they probably realised that sometimes the most gifted, "perfect", sportspeople sometimes do the worst things.

Good on you Nike, because sticking by those you are close to in good times and bad is a quality worth recognising.

Perhaps, as well, they realised that showing him support (when others weren't) could be a real help in getting his life back on track.

So then comes the time when Tiger is about to play again ...what to do now?

Here's what they did.

They knew, as businesspeople, that Tiger doing well is good for golf, ratings and selling Nike.

They chose to do something (probably easier to sit back and see how it all goes).

They created something that has delivered millions and millions of dollars of extra exposure (possibly for a piece of film that cost less than $10k to make) ... the world is talking about it .

They recognised the conundrum Tiger faced ... to go out and play well, he has to be confident ... and some may criticise him for appearing to have put his terrible deeds behind him. So they provide the counter-balance to that.

They show him as humbled, told-off, human (rather like Bill Clinton looked after Hillary got to him post some of his similarly bad behaviour).

They said "we're still with you Tiger" ... as that is what true friends do.

They had subtle branding.

That is why this is Nike at their brilliant best.

* Andrew "Rocky" Stone is a former CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand.