Yesterday I was in a golf shop looking at putters. I’ve bought my share of putters and I can’t say that any of them made me a better putter. It’s a club they call the flat stick, because really that’s all it is. It’s a flat surface on the end of a metal rod with a handle used to roll the ball in, by or past the hole.

The golf shop I visited had probably a hundred different putters priced between $100 and $450. Given that I’d have to improve to stink at putting I tested a number of them. Perhaps I could buy a game. Putters come in all designs. There’s one that looks like it’s demon spawn complete with fangs and horns.

The secret about branding a putter is that you believe one will make you a better putter than the other. If Phil Michelson won the masters with an Odyssey White Hot XG Blade Putter, maybe I can sink a couple more a round if I too use the Odyssey White Hot XG Blade Putter. So U put my money down, buy the putter and go to the golf course. If hit the first couple of putts I think what a great putter you’ve purchased. If I miss, it’s my fault.

The fact of the matter is that the brand of putter makes me believe it’s good. The pro who wins with it makes me believe that some of that will rub off on me. The more pros that use it the more confidence I have that it’s a putter that will cut strokes off my game. I’m totally hooked and ignore the fact the Michelson probably practices putting two hours a day and has for the last twenty-five years. I even want desperately to believe it.

I only stop believing in the putter when I realize that it didn’t work, but Tiger Woods wins the next big tournament with a Nike. The Nike is $100 more than the Odyssey. I should have spent more the first time.

That’s what great branding does.

We thought it would be interesting to talk to a few golfers about Tiger Woods and his current situation…especially as it relates to a lucrative Nike contract. So we went to the Longview Golf Centre with a camera and a list of questions. This video is what a few golfers said about the situation. We’d love to hear your thoughts.

What would you do if you were the Marketing Director of Nike Golf?

John Deere Credit Golf & Turf Division came to us with an opportunity to get our creative juices flowing. Their goal for us to achieve was pretty basic; increase JDC’s recognition among golf course superintendents and engage the sales channel in the process. We couldn’t have had more fun with this golden nugget.

All it took was some publicity-hungry superintendents who like to show off their handiwork.

We knew from personal experience that golf course supers loved to hear, “man that course ate my lunch.” We knew they loved to make our pastime beautifully brutal. So the “18 Most Beautifully Brutal Golf Holes” contest was born.

We received hundreds of entries and a lot of media attention for John Deere Credit. Winners of the contest were featured in a beautiful calendar, posters and trade show displays. And all entries were featured on JDC’s website.

The only unfortunate thing is that we can’t play all of those Beautifully Brutal courses.