In order to push back on the notion that members are all retired and finished with their careers, AARP seized upon the opportunity to change the conversation and garner earned media. Read more in the deck.

1. I I . In order to push back on the notion that members are all retired and finished
with their careers, AARP seized upon the opportunity to change the
conversation and garner earned media to extend the life of the story. As
Twitter is the place for real-time conversations on recent events with
influencers, AARP chose to tweet an incisive, witty retort that
highlights the tenets of the brand. An intentionally edgy tone would
attract the attention of the sports media.
I . Asked by a reporter on Tuesday about the possibility of retiring due his
deteriorating play, Tiger Woods replied, “I don't have any AARP card
yet, so I'm a ways from that.” This quip lead most coverage of the
otherwise uneventful pre-tournament press conference.
B A C K G R O U N D
BACKGRO UND
ST RATEGY
1
AARP SOCIAL
TIGER WOODS TWEET
REPORT
July 17, 2015
S T R AT E G Y
I I I . Once tweeted, AARP promoted the tweet to sports influencer accounts on
Twitter. Within the hour, Kyle Porter – golf writer for CBS Sports with more
than 8,900 followers – had tweeted it out.
E X E C U T I O N

2. I . Once the journalists in the sports world saw the tweet, publishers such as
TMZ, Fox Sports, ESPN and Yahoo Sports almost immediately ran pieces on
the AARP response. The coverage extended into broadcast coverage from
ESPN’s Sportscenter, FOX Sports, and the CNN morning show.
RESULTS
R E S U LT S
2
AARP SOCIAL
TIGER WOODS TWEET
REPORT
T W E E T S P E R H O U R
0
250
500
750
1000
July 14
Initial Comment AARP Response
July 16July 15 July 17
I I . In addition to over 26 top-tier media placements, the initial tweet earned
more than 3,500 retweets and 2,400 favorites in its first 24 hours.
I I I . Beyond the original tweet, more than 3,800 additional tweets were
generated by individuals in the conversation around AARP and Tiger Woods.
I V. The response to the AARP tweet far exceeded the reach of the original
story, extending its reach an additional 3 days and significantly changing
the conversation over the original mention by Tiger.
V. The audience on Twitter reached an estimated 49,249,290 and the
combined audiences of top-tier earned media exceeded 73,934,659, which
television placements alone creating $147,432 in estimated publicity
value.

3. EARNED
MEDIA
T O P T I E R E A R N E D M E D I A O U T L E T S
3
AARP SOCIAL
TIGER WOODS TWEET
REPORT
Outlet
Audience
Boston
Herald 709,000
BroBible 372,000
Bleacher
Report 6,720,000
CBS
Sports 3,330,000
Chicago
Sun
Times 1,120,000
Detroit
News 523,000
ESPN 17,780,000
ESPN
South
Jersey N/A
Fox
Sports 2,110,000
Golf
Digest 5,000,000
Mashable 4,800,000
HarRord
Courant 591,000
Kansas
City
Star 590,000
MSN 7,780,000
NY
Daily
News 3,790,000
NY
Post 3,150,000
Sports
Illustrated 5,700,000
USA
Today 5,000,000
Washington
Post 5,300,000
12-­‐TV,
New
York 950,400
WFOR-­‐TV
Miami 950,000
WFXT-­‐Boston 950,400
ESPN
-­‐
Sports
Center 589,096
CNN
-­‐
Early
Start 294,300
ESPN
-­‐
Olbermann 635,463
TOTAL 73,934,659

4. TA M M Y G O R D O N
V I C E P R E S I D E N T
T G O R D O N @ A A R P. O R G
A N D R E W B AT E S
A N A LY T I C S A D V I S O R
A B AT E S @ A A R P. O R G
LE ARNINGS &
QUESTIONS
C O N TA C T
4
AARP SOCIAL
TIGER WOODS TWEET
REPORT
I . Changing the conversation around aging requires that while we acknowledge
AARP can be subject to humor, we are also capable making some bold
statements that demonstrate the viability of the aging. Moving forward, AARP
must wisely choose the times where this tactic is appropriate and beneficial.
O P P O R T U N I T I E S
I I . While a softer response would have caused less controversy, the boldness,
timing, and incisiveness of our comment garnered earned media and changed
the conversation. By being somewhat polemic in the defense of our brand,
AARP retook the narrative and changed perceptions.
I I I . We will continue to identify opportunities to turn a negative or snarky
comment about our brand into a conversation that allows us to portray
ourselves from a position of strength rather than ridicule.