Pat and Dave ,
Thanks for your responses , you both offer great viewpoints . I think of
golf as the pinnacle of the sporting world in terms of personal integrity,
and when deception takes place weekly on the PGA Tour regarding club brand
use ,I equate that to the golfers who play in invitationals and shoot 83 on
day one , then 71 on day 2 just to win a dang putter!!
Ray
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 10:03 AM
Subject: Re: Re: ShopTalk: brands under wraps
> Dave,
> I agree with your points, but need to add a couple of points to your
case.....
>
> In Vijay's specific situation (and as an aside for basically every tour
golfer -not sure if this applies to tennis or other sports), the driver he
uses is one that's not available to any 'common' player via their retail
golf supplier. He plays a tour only prototype TM driver (of course fitted
to him with respect to loft, lie, face angle, and shaft) that will never by
sold to the public. So, the deception goes even further in that the typical
player cannot even obtain the equipment he uses, irrespective of the name
stamped on it. In fact, the typical player can only get the closest match
to his driver by seeing an excellent clubfitter that builds or modifies a
driver to fit that player specifically - the brand stamp on the sole is not
a revelant part of this equation (obviously the brand isn't the big issue
with the tour player either)unless the clubhead itself is garbage. It's
really funny to see the 'what's in the bag' sections in Golf Digest where
the picture of the pl!
> ayer's bag is included - they only show players that use clubs that are
either commercially available or ones that look similar enough to those
commercially available to decieve the reader.
>
> Right now, all of the TM tour staff uses metals that have a .335 hosel
bore. TM does NOT sell a .335 hosel bore driver or fairway metal (retro
tour spoon is an exception) to the public. The Titleist players are using a
prototype 983E or 983K driver (Els using the 983E I believe) that is also
not available - it might be released later this year. And, of course, all
are custom fitted to each player. If your wallet is fat enough, there are
sources for these real tour clubs - the cost is typically 3-5x higher than
the commercially available OEMs. (a Titleist 983E is selling for ~$1400
now)
>
> The bottom line is that these guys pick a club (usually from a selection
only available to them) that visually gives them the most confidence, and
have it fitted to their swing - EXACTLY what the custom clubmaker should be
doing. Whether the clubmaker uses an OEM or non-OEM clubhead to start the
process, the custom fitting part of the equation is where the difference
should be marketed to the public. IMO, the tour pros will with few
exceptions always use clubs made by OEMs since the tour specific products
they provide are without a doubt significantly better for their games.
These same clubs would be mediocre to terrible performers for the typical
player, but you are very correct in discussing the 'mass appeal to use what
the pro's use'. Nike Golf would be long gone without this marketing
reality, as their commercially availble clubs are nothing to rave about.
Tiger, Duval, etc. ARE the reason that Nike is in the OEM clubmaking
business, even though the the ONLY similar!
> ity between the pro's equipment and the clubs in the store is the swoosh.
>
> Anyway, my point is that the deception runs much deeper than you've
described since the pro's don't use the clubs these OEMs sell in stores
anyway.....
>
> Off Rant,
> Pat K.
>
> >
> > From: Dave Tutelman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Date: 2003/01/28 Tue AM 09:02:01 EST
> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Subject: Re: ShopTalk: brands under wraps
> >
> > At 09:51 PM 1/27/03 -0500, Ray Pruitt wrote:
> > > as you know I am busy running a shop and don't usually talk a lot.
> > > However, running a high quality OEM shop is a big job. I noticed (not
for
> > > the first time) , on national tv coverage , a player using one brand
of
> > > driver, but covering it with a competitors brand of head cover.
> > > I have seen this at a TOUR event before, and I for one am tired of
> > > seeing this practice. Anyone else out there have the same opinion, ?
and
> > > what do we the consumer and business people do about it?
> > > Oh, by the way , the player was Vijay ,and he used a Taylor Made ,
with
> > > a Cleveland headcover.
> > >
> > >Ray
> >
> > Personally, I could not do this myself. Endorsing something you don't
> > believe in defies integrity. That said...
> >
> > I find it hard to work up any indignation specifically in the case of
> > athletes endorsing one brand while using another. Tennis players have
been
> > doing this for years. And I have no doubt that tour golfers do too. But
the
> > fact that "everybody does it" is not what fails to tick me off. It's
that
> > the whole OEM endorsement-based sales pitch is just so dishonest that I
> > don't see this as a breach that particularly sticks out.
> >
> > The endorsement idea -- the notion of paying a visible celebrity athlete
to
> > use your product -- appeals only to the weakest or most ego-dominated
minds
> > anyway. How could it be logical that because Vijay Singh plays Cleveland
> > (or Taylor Made, or whatever) and wins, that I can improve my game by
> > playing that brand. ("Be like Mike." "Gotta be the shoes." "I am Tiger
> > Woods".) As clubfitters, we all know how ridiculous that is. Yet for
some
> > reason, this notion:
> > (a) Sells lots of golf clubs.
> > (b) Raises the cost of those golf clubs, because of endorsement costs.
> > (c) Raises the price of those golf clubs, because of both increased
costs
> > and [illogically] increased demand.
> >
> > So I don't have a lot of sympathy for any consumer that is "fooled" by
the
> > headcover switch. They were fatally fooled by the whole premise before
the
> > switch ever happened.
> >
> > Cheers!
> > DaveT
> >
> >
> >
>
>
