It would seem that David Beckham has changed jerseys again, moving on from Breitling and now flying the banner for Tudor.
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| Courtesy of Tudor |
Now in and of itself, big whoop! Brands have ambassadors, they pay them princely sums to wear and be photographed wearing their watches, and the world continues to go 'round.
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| Courtesy of Tudor |
But this is, in fact, something a bit different. Apart from their "bromance" with Hodinkee, Tudor has not exactly been out pressing the flesh and pouring coffee in an effort to gain big-name celebrity partners. And in all honesty, they didn't need to. There were plenty of bushy-bearded, ironic beer brand drinking, heritage fashion wearing guys (and gals) to buy their watches and spread the message from Williamsburg to the Mission District. But your typical hipster can only buy so many watches beyond the $2,500 price point. They need to save some cash for Pabst Blue Ribbon and American Spirit smokes ; )
And in fairness, Tudor actually was quite wise to partner as they did when they reentered North America a few years back. But life moves forward, and the last two editions of BaselWorld have not had the same urgency or excitement as years previous.
Having said all of those things, the one thing that Tudor did not do in the past (at least, let's say the past 10 years) was invest money in celebrity ambassador partnerships, to the best of my knowledge, not since they backed a young golf prodigy named Tiger Woods. IMPORTANT - I may, in fact, be wrong about this and will not feel the least bit hurt if someone out there is familiar with a celebrity partner that Tudor has had more recently.
What I'm getting at here is that when you've gone so long a certain way, and then suddenly decide to shift gears? Generally speaking it's not something you do because you feel that everything is okay. The old adage - if it ain't broke, don't fix it - has pretty much governed much of what Tudor and their parent brand Rolex have always done. So the fact that Tudor has David Beckham now as a paid "friend" of the brand is not such big news. The fact that they have ANY paid "chums" is.
Oh, and they've also signed on with the New Zealand All Blacks -
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| Courtesy of Tudor |
So we shall wait, and we shall see. Hopefully this will be the extent of it and we won't be receiving press releases about partnering with baseball, football, American Idol, X-Games and Mixed Martial Arts fighters.
Things, by their very nature, can and must change. And whether or not this new strategy is the right way forward for Tudor? Only time will tell. Let's hope it is strategic, and not a wholesale shift in marketing philosophy.
News broke with all the welcome of some ill-timed, post fondu flatulence that Tag Heuer has bailed out of their negotiations with (now) former brand ambassador Maria Sharapova. Ms. Sharapova was "touched" for a positive sample that bore Meldonium. For those readers out there who do not frequent pharmacies in former Soviet satellite nations, Meldonium is (per the Guardian's reporting) -
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used to treat ischaemia: a lack of blood flow to parts of the body, particularly in cases of angina or heart failure.
Now while I will be the first to chime in with "CHEATING IS BAD", let's really look at this in light of recent scandals as it does beg the question of just how far does a celebrity ambassador - or a company employee for that matter - have to have screwed up before the chord gets cut?
Tiger Woods - Golf superstar, devoted husband and father, serious challenger to Wilt Chamberlain's record - and no, I'm not referring to the 100 points he dropped on the Knicks back in 1962. Nike stood by him, and he is now a Rolex ambassador.
Tom Brady - Arguably one of the all-time greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, may or may not have colluded with confederates to alter the air pressure in footballs, easy on the eyes (or so I've been told) - didn't miss a beat and is now one of the faces of Tag Heuer.
George Hincapie - A super cyclist - there is no disputing that. After stonewalling and helping to ruin several other cyclists careers as a "loyal lieutenant", he is now reborn. Dipped in magic waters and lauded by a certain Geneva brand.
The more cynical out there might opine that as Ms. Sharapova's positive doping test ran parallel to a perceived decline in her tennis abilities and her age (i.e. marketability with "red-blooded men"), and this made it more of a financial decision than one of morality for Nike and Tag Heuer. If I am very honest, I don't really care if it did or it didn't. The day of the ambassador is slowly, thankfully sputtering to an end. And I think that perhaps this is for the best as it will encourage watch companies to make and promote watches.
But the Sharapova case is poignant because when it comes to the behavior of ambassadors there are mistakes, and well, mistakes.
If we are honest with ourselves, what is clear is that the world of sport is not the Olympian ideal that we once held it to be. The competition is tough, and it does not tolerate second place.
And while I hold Tommie Smith in extremely high regard for his stance at the 1968 Olympics, it bears mentioning that he was visibly displaying a piece of Puma footwear on the medal stand in Mexico City, not on his foot...
Ultimately it is not about sport for sport's sake. It is business. Sport is just a handy marketing delivery device.
And perhaps it is time that we accept the fact that athletes are indeed human, that their physical prowess does not magically endow them with the type of character that we sometimes automatically bestow upon them, and that it is certainly likely that just like everyone else - they sometimes cheat.
