[imagesource: Genesis via USA TODAY Network]

By now, you’ve seen the images and videos of the site where Tiger Woods crashed on Tuesday morning.

Perhaps the most jarring images are of the state of the SUV he was driving, the Genesis GV80, which is the Hyundai-owned brand’s only SUV.

Whilst we don’t know the exact cause of the accident, as things stand, Tiger will face no charges, although authorities are still to examine the SUV’s black box, and obtain Tiger’s cellphone records, to see if he was distracted at the time of the crash.

The sporting world may have to come to terms with the end of a much-celebrated career, which will come as terrible news to those marketing golf, but if you’re marketing the Genesis GV80 you’re racking up the free PR.

For example, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva credited Tiger’s survival to his car’s 10 airbags and the fact he was wearing a seatbelt.

As long as the car isn’t found to be at fault for the crash, which seems unlikely given that it’s a known hotspot for accidents, with 10 having occurred between last January and now, the SUV model is being covered breathlessly by outlets around the world.

Forbes is running a piece titled ‘Inside Tiger Woods’ $50,000 SUV: The Safety Features Of The Genesis GV80—Including 10 Airbags’, which gushes about the safety features:

The GV80 has 10 airbags. It debuted with a front center airbag. Located between the driver’s seat and center console, it deploys in 0.3 seconds in the event of a side collision to help prevent the two front passengers from colliding with each other or with vehicle components…

The advanced driver-assistance systems on the GV80 and G80 employ cameras and sensors to detect obstructions or minimize the impact from collisions. The GV80 enhances these capabilities with machine learning to further assist the Smart Cruise Control (SSC) and Highway Driving Assist (HDA)…

Machine learning also augments the new Highway Driving Assist (HDA) system by adapting steering feel and responsiveness based on driver behavior.

There’s more, including an in-depth look at the state-of-the-art, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and the article finishes by saying Genesis has put “safety and build-quality at the forefront of its focus while developing a new luxury brand that may have helped save the life of Tiger Woods”.

The vehicle was actually lent to Woods by Genesis, because he was hosting last week’s Genesis Invitational tournament.

Here’s a post from four days ago:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Genesis USA (@genesis_usa)

The most recent Instagram post by Genesis USA features many comments like these:

Two of those three comments are praising the vehicle for saving Tiger’s life. The other is asking for a free car – hey, if you don’t shoot your shot, you’ll never know,

The vehicle’s safety features are the topic of countless articles – see here, here, and here, for example – and most of the coverage is overwhelmingly positive.

One of the world’s largest automotive sites, Autoblog, outlined why this degree of PR is so unexpected:

We’ve seen an uptick in traffic regarding the GV80 since the crash and specifically regarding its safety ratings. Although frequent visitors to Autoblog may be well aware of what it is, the Genesis brand and the GV80 especially haven’t exactly entered the public consciousness.

In that spirit, Genesis is the relatively new luxury brand offshoot from Hyundai.

Autoblog then goes on to review the SUV in great detail.

Obviously, if you’re Genesis right now, you’d much rather your press coverage wasn’t related to a star athlete’s crash.

That being said, the saying goes that ‘there’s no such thing as bad publicity’ (that’s bollocks, especially in the age of social media), and all of a sudden the world is talking about the safety features of your previously unheralded brand.

All those responsible for marketing the vehicle have to do is say the right things – “we wish Tiger a speedy recovery” and so on – and let the media machine do the rest.

It could come crashing down if the vehicle is found to be at fault in the crash, but for now, it’s working out rather well.

[source:forbes]