What will Tiger Drive now?

[Gxgolfer]

Broader role with GM

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19368367/

DETROIT - Tiger Woods will no longer be the primary pitchman for Buick because General Motors wants a broader role for the golf great, the automaker's top sales executive said.

Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president of North American sales, service and marketing, said GM will use Woods in corporate level marketing and in particular, with its OnStar marketing campaign.

"Tiger's a great asset," LaNeve said. "We can use him in lots of ways. Why shouldn't we use him in ways other than Buick?"
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LaNeve said the product strategy of how to best use Woods is to sell cars based on their own attributes, not on their ties to a particular celebrity.

"We don't want a celebrity at the core of any brand. We want the message on Buick to be about Buick," he said.

Woods has had a sponsorship agreement with Buick since 1999 and agreed to a new deal in 2004 believed to be worth more than $40 million over five years.

Buick has said the contract does not require Woods to play in specific PGA Tour events it sponsors but organizers are optimistic he will play in this year's Buick Open starting Thursday at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc.

Woods' schedule is uncertain now that he's a first-time father. His daughter, Sam Alexis Woods, was born on Monday.

[Charlie_Foxtrot]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19368367/

 

DETROIT - Tiger Woods will no longer be the primary pitchman for Buick because General Motors wants a broader role for the golf great, the automaker's top sales executive said.

 

Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president of North American sales, service and marketing, said GM will use Woods in corporate level marketing and in particular, with its OnStar marketing campaign.

 

"Tiger's a great asset," LaNeve said. "We can use him in lots of ways. Why shouldn't we use him in ways other than Buick?"

Story continues below �"advertisement

 

LaNeve said the product strategy of how to best use Woods is to sell cars based on their own attributes, not on their ties to a particular celebrity.

 

"We don't want a celebrity at the core of any brand. We want the message on Buick to be about Buick," he said.

 

Woods has had a sponsorship agreement with Buick since 1999 and agreed to a new deal in 2004 believed to be worth more than $40 million over five years.

 

Buick has said the contract does not require Woods to play in specific PGA Tour events it sponsors but organizers are optimistic he will play in this year's Buick Open starting Thursday at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc.

 

Woods' schedule is uncertain now that he's a first-time father. His daughter, Sam Alexis Woods, was born on Monday.

 

Escalade.

[steph1964]

I saw an ad already...for OnStar. It's a clever ad.

[Charlie_Foxtrot]

I saw an ad already...for OnStar. It's a clever ad.

 

There are a couple here:

 

http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp/onsta...?cmp=OST_banner

[idrive400yards]

You know, working in the car biz, and reading about how much GM is losing money every quarter, having to cut pensions, giving "buy out" programs to employees, closing production plants to cut costs, they go out and do this, spend 40mil for a sponsorship to the worlds best golfer(who actually DOESN'T need the money) to try to boost sales by using his likeness. As much as I like Tiger, I still wouldn't purchase a GM product, so GM why not give the money to your laid off/fired/forced into retirement employees who could ACTUALLY use it? It just doesn't make sence. Oh wait screw the little people and help the rich get richer, now it makes sence. I'll stick with Ford(at least I still have my job)

[HeadonaStick]

You know, working in the car biz, and reading about how much GM is losing money every quarter, having to cut pensions, giving "buy out" programs to employees, closing production plants to cut costs, they go out and do this, spend 40mil for a sponsorship to the worlds best golfer(who actually DOESN'T need the money) to try to boost sales by using his likeness. As much as I like Tiger, I still wouldn't purchase a GM product, so GM why not give the money to your laid off/fired/forced into retirement employees who could ACTUALLY use it? It just doesn't make sence. Oh wait screw the little people and help the rich get richer, now it makes sence. I'll stick with Ford(at least I still have my job)

The $40 million is a five year deal that started in 2004.

 

Money spent in advertising drives sales - surely you realize this. GM is banking that by spending the 40 million in advertising with a big name they will bring in 60 million - giving a 20 million dollar bonus that will keep GM in business so they don't have to lay off additional workers.

 

I am not a big GM fan (or American business practices in general) but I assure you their interest is not in helping Tiger get richer. I can also assure you that GM doesn't care if you or I purchase a GM product because of Tiger's endorsement; they are looking at bigger numbers. Sort of like how the casinos don't really care if you or I strike it rich - the odds are still in their favor.

[SadTrombone]

Money spent in advertising drives sales - surely you realize this. GM is banking that by spending the 40 million in advertising with a big name they will bring in 60 million - giving a 20 million dollar bonus that will keep GM in business so they don't have to lay off additional workers.

You mean "so when they 'lay off' (see "force to retire/fire") additional workers, their board of directors can still get their mega-bonus checks", don't you?

 

-mini

[vwgolfer]

This endorsement deal never made sense. Buicks are driven by old men.

[Rabidpenguin45]

I can see him rolling in an escalade.

[CRutherford]

Well, I'd about have to say most of what's going to be on the bag will be Cadillac. But I'm sure the other branches find a way there. Being a Ford driver myself, and knowing the kind of level we're talking here, I just find it hard to imagine a Chevy bowtie on the side of Tiger's bag.

[Charlie_Foxtrot]

This endorsement deal never made sense. Buicks are driven by old men.

 

 

Riiiiiiiiiiggggghhhhhtt.

 

 

And golf's image with the general public is a hip and cutting edge sport for the young.

 

I hear they are adding golf to the X-Games next year.

[vwgolfer]

This endorsement deal never made sense. Buicks are driven by old men.

 

 

Riiiiiiiiiiggggghhhhhtt.

 

 

And golf's image with the general public is a hip and cutting edge sport for the young.

 

I hear they are adding golf to the X-Games next year.

 

Tiger is more than a golfer. And if you are going to take advantage of his world wide appeal it seems stupid to me to have him promote a brand where the average age of your market is 62.

[HeadonaStick]

Money spent in advertising drives sales - surely you realize this. GM is banking that by spending the 40 million in advertising with a big name they will bring in 60 million - giving a 20 million dollar bonus that will keep GM in business so they don't have to lay off additional workers.

You mean "so when they 'lay off' (see "force to retire/fire") additional workers, their board of directors can still get their mega-bonus checks", don't you?

 

-mini

No, I mean exactly what I said.

 

At some point, the lay-offs will have to stop. Somebody has to build cars.

 

I also said I did not support general western (American) business practices - for a prime example look to Northwest Airlines. That said, the premise of my post still stands. Money spent on advertising is designed to drive additional sales. It is not designed to keep the rich, rich and the poor, poor. It is not money a company is hoping to throw away. And not spending that money hurts a company in the long term, even if it allows the company to keep workers in the short term. The fact is, if GM isn't selling cars they are not going to pay workers to sit on their hands regardless of how much money they may have at their disposal. General Motors hopes to see a return on the 40 million dollar investment in Tiger Woods and advertising, and a large return on the advertising means more cars sold and more jobs available.

 

Had GM not spent the money on this ad campaign, it is very unlikely that any laid off workers would have seen the money anyway. If there isn't a job for them to do, there isn't a job for them to do.

 

That is an oversimplification, but it gets the main ideas across.

[DRGJR72]

When I lived in South Florida and some of my boys went to Bay Hill to watch the tourney..tiger rolled into the tourneys in these two rides...

 

Day 1...Porsche

Day 2....Escalade...

 

That was in 03'...

 

I am guessing at his house in Jupiter Island he has several rides....some GM, some other rides......so only time will tell...But I can assure you that he did roll to Bay Hill in 03' in a Porsche on day 1.......

 

I am thinking he is going with the Escalade....big pimpin T DUB style.....

 

DG

[MrBlack]

You know, working in the car biz, and reading about how much GM is losing money every quarter, having to cut pensions, giving "buy out" programs to employees, closing production plants to cut costs, they go out and do this, spend 40mil for a sponsorship to the worlds best golfer(who actually DOESN'T need the money) to try to boost sales by using his likeness. As much as I like Tiger, I still wouldn't purchase a GM product, so GM why not give the money to your laid off/fired/forced into retirement employees who could ACTUALLY use it? It just doesn't make sence. Oh wait screw the little people and help the rich get richer, now it makes sence. I'll stick with Ford(at least I still have my job)

 

not to start something, but the employees are the reason GM is in such bad shape...more specifically, the UAW convincing people that they work in coal mines and need to be paid $75,000 a year AFTER they retire because they put in their 15 years with the company taking picture of the cars as they come off the line...it all comes down to the management's poor decisions, but that is the reason...

 

the layoffs are in response to the US population not wanting to pay $30,000 for a Cavalier, thus the jobs get shipped to a place where the Caviler can be made cheap enough to sell it for $15,000

 

if upper management isn't properly compensated, they will move on to a company that will properly compensate them...then even worse management would run things...in retrospect, this would have been good, as GM would have gone out of business 10 years ago

 

 

on Tiger...el tigre will be driving around old school Monte Carlo

 

[GehenHerzog]

Hummer... with a lift and 22" rims

[Superman]

Hovercraft...or maybe flying around becuse he is superman after all

[shook23]

You know, working in the car biz, and reading about how much GM is losing money every quarter, having to cut pensions, giving "buy out" programs to employees, closing production plants to cut costs, they go out and do this, spend 40mil for a sponsorship to the worlds best golfer(who actually DOESN'T need the money) to try to boost sales by using his likeness. As much as I like Tiger, I still wouldn't purchase a GM product, so GM why not give the money to your laid off/fired/forced into retirement employees who could ACTUALLY use it? It just doesn't make sence. Oh wait screw the little people and help the rich get richer, now it makes sence. I'll stick with Ford(at least I still have my job)

 

not to start something, but the employees are the reason GM is in such bad shape...more specifically, the UAW convincing people that they work in coal mines and need to be paid $75,000 a year AFTER they retire because they put in their 15 years with the company taking picture of the cars as they come off the line...it all comes down to the management's poor decisions, but that is the reason...

 

the layoffs are in response to the US population not wanting to pay $30,000 for a Cavalier, thus the jobs get shipped to a place where the Caviler can be made cheap enough to sell it for $15,000

 

if upper management isn't properly compensated, they will move on to a company that will properly compensate them...then even worse management would run things...in retrospect, this would have been good, as GM would have gone out of business 10 years ago

 

 

on Tiger...el tigre will be driving around old school Monte Carlo

 

 

 

Amen! Maybe if the UAW would allow for rates under $30/hr, GM could make cars at a bit more of a "nicer" price. I really hope that GM can turn things around and crank out some good cars at good prices. Whether using Tiger as an endorser can help or not, remains to be seen though.

[Josh T]

Buick Grand National.

[sync71]

I can see Tiger in a h2,escalade, or a vette all 3 of which he would have "pimped" out or in other words rims,paint, system, etc.

 

I do think that, that much money for one endorsement is ridiculous. We have a GM plant which is closing in 08, a ton of people are losing jobs and having to move away. I have quite a few friends that are going to be moving.

[FlyFish]

He'll be driving a Porsche. Why would he drive some crappy GM product?

[sandy]

You know, working in the car biz, and reading about how much GM is losing money every quarter, having to cut pensions, giving "buy out" programs to employees, closing production plants to cut costs, they go out and do this, spend 40mil for a sponsorship to the worlds best golfer(who actually DOESN'T need the money) to try to boost sales by using his likeness. As much as I like Tiger, I still wouldn't purchase a GM product, so GM why not give the money to your laid off/fired/forced into retirement employees who could ACTUALLY use it? It just doesn't make sence. Oh wait screw the little people and help the rich get richer, now it makes sence. I'll stick with Ford(at least I still have my job)

 

Although neither Ford or GM will ever be mistaken for Toyota as far as money in the bank you might want to check out which company is in worse shape. Ford "wins" hands down. GM by the way has one of the healthiest retirement pension funds (now run by Fidelity) around. Much easier to keep a well run pension fund healthy than it is to turn around a company. Ford on the other hand is in deep trouble on both accounts. Luckily they have some fairly nice recent releases--maybe too little too late. You can hardly compare the way people are treated by Ford and GM. I've worked for both companies. Ford was very brutal in letting people go, while GM tried to be nice guys (part of the reason for some of the problems they have today) when they had to seperate people. You really have very little understanding of the magnitude of the money we are talking here and Tiger's 40 mil would pay for nothing. GM's pension fund is in excess of 92 billion dollars and their yearly health benefits run 6.4 billion per year (5.4 billion by the way going to UAW workers). I'm sure that they feel they are getting their money's worth out of Tiger and 40 million----a business expense--I'm assuming you know how those are handled on tax forms. Also NO pensions have been cut. Mine continues to arrive on the first of the month. Get your facts right before you spout off.

[sandy]

He'll be driving a Porsche. Why would he drive some crappy GM product?

 

I never saw a Porsche when the GM products were delivered to him, but I guess you would know personally. He actually does drive the crappy GM products as you so eloquently put it due to your lack of vocabulary.

[vwgolfer]

MINI VAN

[belote]

Anyone who thinks that hes only driven buicks since signing an endorsement contract is quite naive. He has had access to all GM cars for free and has had many of their cars, Escalade, Hummer, Tahoe, Vette, etc. The only time he really drives around in a Buick is to/from airports and tournaments, and that's only because thats what the GM people bring him for the press to see.

Remember, you are talking about someone who is worth about 650 million, im sure hes got a few nicer rides than GM's sitting around Jupiter Island.

[HeadonaStick]

He'll be driving a Porsche. Why would he drive some crappy GM product?

 

I never saw a Porsche when the GM products were delivered to him, but I guess you would know personally. He actually does drive the crappy GM products as you so eloquently put it due to your lack of vocabulary.

While I am not sure I am ready to label GM products "crappy" Tiger did drive this while he was pitching GM - although I believe Tiger's was blue:

 

 

 

 

[TheCapedAvenger]

Amen Mr Black!

 

I always kind of imagined tiger in Kit from Night Rider myself.

[touch]

Kid number 1 is in.

Chevy Astro is the only choice suitable for him.

[oregongolf]

Denali?

 

GM badge and everything.

[sergizmo]

You know, working in the car biz, and reading about how much GM is losing money every quarter, having to cut pensions, giving "buy out" programs to employees, closing production plants to cut costs, they go out and do this, spend 40mil for a sponsorship to the worlds best golfer(who actually DOESN'T need the money) to try to boost sales by using his likeness. As much as I like Tiger, I still wouldn't purchase a GM product, so GM why not give the money to your laid off/fired/forced into retirement employees who could ACTUALLY use it? It just doesn't make sence. Oh wait screw the little people and help the rich get richer, now it makes sence. I'll stick with Ford(at least I still have my job)

 

I don't want to pile on here, but have a little bit more info for you. Toyota and Honda have spent hundreds of millions a year (especially Toyota, ridiculous amounts) on Formula 1 over the last few years, with virtually no success to show for it. I believe Toyota has two wind-tunnels dedicated to F1 full time. And this is nothing but advertising. So spending $40 million on the world's most popular and visible athlete seems like a wise investment in regards to advertising.