Rachel C. Weingarten muses on Marketing, Manners and Modness

Yesterday was a fun day for me, because I was quoted in two major publications on two different yet similar subjects, both within the range of my expertise.

The first was TIME magazine on the subject of the winners and losers of retail’s biggest, blackest shopping day- Black Friday.  The second was in the Dallas Morning News about the latest celebrity scandal, Tiger Woods‘ mysterious car crash and subsequent veiled admissions of infidelity.

On the surface the stories are incredibly different- one discusses in great depth the early analysis and sales indicators for the retail sector for the holiday season, while the other peeks below the very carefully crafted personal brand of one of the world’s major sports stars.  On a closer glance though, the similarities are revealed and deal with the importance of careful brand management- be it personal or corporate.

Some lessons learned from Black Friday and Tiger Woods:

• Controlling the flow of information about your brand is crucial- keeping an ongoing dialogue going with your fans and those loyal to your brand even more so.
• Be more than just a one day a year wonder. If you or your brand aims to stay fresh in the consumer’s mind, make sure to give them more than a hoped for scandal or weak sales to talk about.  Woods’ quest for familial privacy is admirable, if unrealistic given his mass popularity and recently revealed less than pristine personal life.  Or as Tom Stemberg, former CEO and founder of Staples, and now managing partner of the Highland Consumer Fund, put it in the TIME article: “Black Friday sales are about as meaningful as Groundhog Day is to the weather forecast.”  Everything feels urgent in the moment, from holiday sales to a distasteful personal situation becoming public.  In the long run though- it’s about staying around for the long run, with grace, smart business practices and the ability to bounce back after public airing of your dirty laundry or weak sales.
• There’s always a wild card: Electronic sales were strong this year at big box retailers like Best Buy, but there were a host of market indicators including the demise of Circuit City, that make it tricky to predict what long term sales will be like.  Tiger Woods wasn’t quite on par with Howard Hughes in his quest for privacy (the name of Woods’ yacht), but his lack of public response to the rumor mill made him more of a target than if he’d created a strong statement almost immediately.  Woods could control his own actions, but could not control the reactions of his wife, the media or the women he’s said to have been involved with.

Brand management is about quality and consistency.  While it’s great to make a splash every now and again, it’s your long term brand strategy that will see you through duller days, sluggish sales and an awkward crisis made public.

Rachel, who gets the fact that one day a year, or one scandal a career isn’t the only time to connect with those that help maintain your success.
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