In response to Tiger Woods dramatic fall from grace in recent weeks, Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer has dropped its brand ambassador from its marketing programs – at least temporarily.
Announcing the decision to drop the golfing super hero, TAG Heuer president and CEO Jean-Christophe Babin said the company will respect Woods’ desire of privacy by modifying his role in the coming months’ marketing programs.
“The partnership with Tiger Woods will continue but we will downscale the use of his image in certain markets for a period of time, depending on his decision about returning to professional golf,” he said.
He stressed that the company, which has enjoyed an “extremely professional and productive” relationship with Woods since 2002, would continue to actively support the Tiger Woods Foundation.
Meanwhile in Australia, Tag Heuer brand manager Bruce Grinter said Tiger Woods promotional material had been removed from retail stores as a part of the brand’s natural marketing cycle.
“We were using Tiger Woods promotional material in stores when the Australian Masters was on in Melbourne but we are now changing to our ‘Evolution’ campaign which celebrates our 150th Birthday – the removal of the Tiger Woods material at the same time as all the recent news surrounding Tiger is just coincidental.”
“We have many brand ambassadors (including Hollywood actor Brad Pitt, tennis player Maria Sharapova and F1 driver Lewis Hamilton) that we use at different times to promote Tag Heuer.”