Athletes behaving badly can make your brand scramble for a better spokesperson.

Tiger Woods’ indiscretions are further proof that professional athletes are rarely worth the risk as endorsers for your brand. Accenture and AT&T put their trust in Tiger Woods and they got burned. For Accenture, the damage is far greater that AT&T because they hung their entire brand image on the athlete. Accenture provides its clients with intelligent, thoughtful counsel to help them navigate through troubled times as well as help them leverage their success. They retain some of the brightest talent in business and have a reputation for thoroughness and insight. Their brand has had the tablecloth yanked out from underneath it but, despite a few glasses turned over, dinner is still standing. However, they will have to rebuild their branding from the ground up to disassociate themselves from someone that demonstrated attributes that are the complete opposite of theirs.

Accenture Rolled the Dice

Accenture will get through this because they are still solid at their core. Tiger’s indiscretions are not Accenture’s fault and the public understands that. The firm took the most conservative risk signing the most well-known, seemingly stable celebrity in the world. Two months ago, if you were to list the athletes with the cleanest image, Tiger Woods would have been at the top. After all, he changed the face of golf–it’s worth twice with him in it than without him. Only Michael Jordan has had a similar impact.

Athletes Are Different

The fact is, professional athletes, because of their talent, live under a different set of rules than regular working folks. It’s been that way all their lives. From the time they were playing Pop Warner ball, people treat you differently and give you undeserved privileges. That’s what makes them both an asset and liability. They do amazing things for amazing money and there are hundreds of people who depend on them for their livelihood. Where else can someone like Kobe Bryant who raped a woman in a hotel room still have a job? If Michael Vick were an accountant with Ernst & Young, how long do you think he’d last? What other accounting firm would want to pick up a convicted felon?

The Risk v. Reward

But advertisers will continue to sign star athletes because it’s easy and, let’s face it, many of them will take that risk for the opportunity to sniff a superstar’s jock for a few years. And there’s an upside: If you adopt a professional athlete to be associated with your brand, the best thing that can happen is they elevate their game or their team to be top of their profession taking your brand with them. You are riding some pretty nice coattails. And if they are charity-minded, your brand rides with them there as well.

Now the bad things:

* They get into trouble with the law whether it’s caught with illegal substances, DUI or something worse (Michael Vick)
* They get injured and are unable to play either at all or at the level they used to (Tracy McGrady)
* They exhibit bad behavior on the field (Terrell Owens).
* They fall short of their expectations (Former Houston Texans’ David Carr)

Professional Athletes Aren’t Worth it. Unless…

All of these examples either reflect badly on your brand or don’t deliver the equity-value you may have expected for your investment. Unless your are a sports equipment brand (Nike, Addidas, etc.) or associated with sports performance (Gatorade, Power-Aide, etc.) professional athletes are just not worth it.

We typically don’t recommend celebrity athlete endorsements to our clients because, as Tiger Woods proved, you really don’t know them and that flies in the face of wise investing: Never invest in anything you don’t know about.

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