Everyone is weighing in on the Tiger Woods drama, most recently the public apology he made last Friday.  I must confess that I was right there in front of the TV.  Clearly it was well-scripted and he was in a safe environment with no press calling out questions.  I actually thought he did a good job and there is a small, very small part of me that feels sorry for him. There is no way he can get through this bad time in his life without the scrutiny of the press. 

Today I read this article on bnet.com, (http://industry.bnet.com/advertising/10005744/tiger-woods-speech-more-sales-pitch-than-apology/) and I was quickly brought back to my senses and to the real world of celebrities.  Early in their careers, they are only focused on getting in the press to increase their “brand” and marketability.  Then when they’ve made it, they want to slip back into obscurity, particularly if there is something they want to hide.  Guess what…it doesn’t work that way.  

It is no different than the brands agencies work to build.  You can be sure Toyota would love nothing more than to be fixing its cars without the public knowing there was even a problem.  But there too, it doesn’t work that way.

So I guess I don’t feel sorry for Tiger anymore…he asked for it!

Recently a colleague of mine shared this article from the WSJ - Making a Temporary Stint Stick

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703630404575053262794157350.html?mod=rss_careers

I think the points here are very valid: prove yourself, ask for the opportunity, become indispensible. There is one scenario I've seen, however, that wasn't covered in the article--the preconceived notion somewhere in the company that you aren't the person for the job regardless of all other factors.  It's not uncommon, especially for mid/senior marketing roles, for someone outside of the marketing department to have veto power over a hiring decision.  So even if you prove yourself, ask for the opportunity, become indispensible, this individual doesn’t have first hand experience working with you.  It’s very possible that having only seen your resume they will make a snap judgment that because six years ago you were in CPG and they are a technology firm and you could never make the leap. Sad but true--it happens.

So, along with all of the great suggestions in this article, you need to add “be a detective”. Find out the politics that surround the role, who are the influencers, who has veto power.  What are their hot buttons? How can you dispel any preconceived notions of why you aren’t "the one"?

This week, it’s only appropriate that I weigh in on the Super Bowl ads. To be honest, I was disappointed. There wasn’t one ad that really surfaced above the rest to be ‘my favorite’ or ‘the best Super Bowl ad’.  I have to wonder, what are clients trying to achieve with having spots in the Super Bowl?  This years Super Bowl was the most watched TV show ever – ever!  What do you want to tell 106 million people about your brand?

Comedic spots ruled of course, largely comprised of male humor and user-generated content.  The fact that male humor dominated isn’t surprising, but over the years the humor has gone from comic to sophomoric. Rather than celebrating the male, it makes him look, well, dumb. Maybe this year the Creative Briefs simply said: make it funny.  I personally just think everyone missed the mark.