The "Masters" of reputation management

Calling all golf fans!  Guess what starts today?  I'll give you a hint, green jackets, pristine greens and four days of some of the best golf you'll ever see. While I will be glued to my TV for the next few days, I will see hundreds of ads.  Each of them trying to persuade me to purchase some new golf product, except one- ExxonMobile.

Every year one ExxonMobile's ad sticks out of the golf channel noise, by focusing on a cause rather than their corporation.  Last night Matt Gobush gave our class a sneak peak at their ad that starts today.  I loved how ExxonMobile focused on the individual students and teachers and the cause, not the corporation issues.

With 5 to 10 million people tuning in to watch the Masters, this was the perfect way to reach a broad audience with minimal advertising.  I found it interesting that ExxonMobile used their advertising platform to promote a cause that they support rather than promoting the corporation.  According to Gobush, the advertising at the Masters is a "reputation play, not a call to action."

When asked why the corporation approached their advertising this way he said it was two-fold: 1)"Reputation is the foundation of advocacy." and 2)"People think of them(ExxonMobile) as oil and gas."  When focusing on a reputation play rather than asking the audience to do something, individuals instantly began to think positively about them.  This is INGENIOUS!!  I can't think of any other corporation that currently does this in the current market.  Needless to say, I feel as if ExxonMobile hit a hole-in-one with its reputation strategy.  (Insert golf clap here)