Timing, as they say, is everything, including when it comes to sports marketing
Blog entry: August 31, 2010, 1:10 pm | Author: JOEL HAMMOND
Earlier this month, I documented the growth of Bridgestone's golf arm, which I deemed good news for Akron and the annual World Golf Championships event at Firestone Country Club: With the company continuing to make inroads in the game, it'll need a premier event to which it can attach its brand. The Akron tournament provides that. The company's dream year continued on Sunday, when Matt Kuchar, their best-performing sponsoree (I made that up) won the Barclays Invitational, the first leg of the FedEx Cup, the PGA Tour's playoffs. Kuchar has been on an incredible run this season, now having registered 10 top-10 finishes in 22 starts, including a second- and third-place finish. He's No. 1 on the tour's money list, at $4.245 million in earnings, and tied for ninth in Akron. He got plenty of face time throughout the day and in the playoff, when he beat Scotland's Martin Laird on the first hole after an incredible approach shot.
Kuchar isn't the only Bridgestone wearer making waves: Well-known and very popular Fred Couples, who now mainly plays on the Champions Tour for those ages 50 and older, made waves at the Masters in April, finishing sixth and earning that much-coveted face time.
And he's stayed in the news all season — with Bridgestone gear on — for the unique shoes he wears. The New York Times described them — pictures included, and notice his hat — as “a sport hybrid shoe for on and off the golf course. (Couples') is the Golf Street model made by Ecco. Shaped differently than most golf shoes and a little lower to the ground, the Ecco Golf Street is not a flat-soled shoe but one with traction bars made of thermoplastic polyurethane that the company says should last longer than other materials, like rubber.”
Couples additionally has played well on the Champions Tour, and though that doesn't get much exposure nationally, it's still well-attended in event markets. Couples is second on that tour's money list, and has nine top-10 finishes in 11 starts.
More college football that I missed yesterday: Florida State's first game without Bobby Bowden at the helm apparently isn't being received very well.
Also:
I was a guest on the podcast of some college buddies; they have a Bengals-focused podcast, and I chatted about the Browns and the AFC North. Give 'er a listen. (I start at 6:00.)
The Arena Football League's Cleveland Gladiators will play an 18-game schedule next season, now that the league has added four more teams: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, San Jose and Kansas City. The latter three were in the former league, but were not included in the new one's inaugural season in 2010.
In other Gladiator news, general manager John Adams has moved back to Philadelphia to work for the Soul, and former communications chief Phil Tesar now is assistant and interim general manager, the latter title dropping off when the team hires someone full time.
If you're not following me on Twitter, what are you waiting for? And, I trust you're listening to Crain's new podcasts?
|
Subscribe
Print
E-mail