It takes 20 years to build a reputation but five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you will do things differently. — Warren Buffet
Legendary boxer and former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson is a renowned personality, albeit with a variegated history in his life— some of it incredibly positive and some of it, well, not so positive. Records have it that, in his boxing career spanning 20 years, he fought 58 times with 50 wins! He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) in 2011.
Despite being at the pinnacle of his success, Mike Tyson earned nothing outside the ring, in terms of endorsements. His conviction on rape and a variety of unpleasant newsworthy incidents outside the ring meant that no company or organisation wished to risk damaging its brand name by associating with his name.
However, a couple of decades later, Mike Tyson has flourished as an accomplished entrepreneur. He has of late invested immensely in the legal cannabis through his premier Cannabis company in the United States. His name has become synonymous within the field of cannabis use, thanks to his marketing acumen of the crop.
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No wonder that, in November 2021, the Malawi Government requested the boxing icon to take up the role of Cannabis Ambassador, courtesy of the United States Cannabis Association in Malawi. The Ministry of Agriculture, which authored the letter, argued that the cannabis industry is complex and that Malawi might not be able to go it alone without collaborating with a celebrity like Mike Tyson.
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On face value, this could be lauded as a strategic move as the country would leverage on his fame to market Malawi cannabis abroad while attracting investors as well as creating opportunities for tourism. Use of brand ambassadors is among the many strategies used in the marketing arena when it comes to promoting a brand. For instance, commercial banks and telecommunication companies have used competitive sports personalities, popular musicians and other celebrities as brand ambassadors.
Therefore, the Malawi Government just did the right thing in identifying a cannabis brand ambassador considering that this industry is in its formative stages, such that it requires innovative marketing strategies. Malawi legalised the medicinal and industrial use of cannabis as a way of promoting and diversifying the economy after enactment of the Cannabis Regulation Act in August 2020. The country has, over the years, over-relied on tobacco, which rakes in about 13 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and 60 percent of foreign earnings.
However, the move to choose Mike Tyson as Cannabis Ambassador did not go down well with some quarters. They contended that the choice was not appropriate. Their argument was that although he paid his debt by serving a jail term after being convicted of rape, in the face of the nation he was beyond reformation and that the damage on his reputation is irredeemable.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Agriculture, through its spokesperson, dismissed the criticism, arguing that “Malawi as a nation believes that Mr Tyson is right and reformed person as he was released on parole”.
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Of course, both arguments hold currency depending on the side of the aisle one is sitting. Minimalists wouldn’t have any problem with Tyson’s chequered past. But moralists and those concerned about reputational association would pick a bone with government’s choice of him as ambassador, considering the impact this could have on the country’s reputation. Their argument is that regardless of how successful he might have been in the field of cannabis, there were still some negative reputation issues hanging on his head.
It is yet to be established whether the authorities are still pursuing this initiative of having the boxing icon as brand ambassador.
However, reputation experts argue that the individuals we associate with, including supplying companies that a brand deals with, or the clients or entities using the brand can enhance or damage reputation. This just shows how precious reputation is, for a product, service, individual, corporate entity or country. For instance, the huge endorsement of late Michael Jackson by Pepsi during the early 1980s vanished swiftly in the wake of the child abuse allegations that haunted him over the last 15 years of his life.
Football fans will also recall players in the English premier league- Manchester United’s youngster Mason Greenwood and Manchester City’s Benjamin Mendy- who recently got suspended from their clubs immediately after allegations of rape were raised against them. Despite the courts clearing both players of wrongdoing, the hangover of damage to their reputation has remained and will, probably, continue to haunt them for a long time to come.
But when all is said and done, it has to be noted that repairing a damaged reputation is a far more difficult undertaking than building and maintaining it. The kind of public backlash that was witnessed on the Mike Tyson scenario in Malawi could have been avoided if due diligence was undertaken beforehand. This is important when choosing a brand ambassador, especially those representing national interests.
