Devoted to online marketing, viral marketing, and web marketing

The TV viewing numbers skyrocket when Tiger Woods is a factor in the results of the U.S. Open golf tournament. That made me think of the impact of branding on marketing efforts overall.

What Tiger Woods does for the U.S. and world golfing brand, is generate a lot of interest from those not usually considered fans of the game.

The question becomes if it is a good thing for a brand for that to happen.

Two things are happening here. First, the game of golf is a brand, while Tiger Woods is a brand within that brand; and also outside of golf as well.

So when golf as a brand connects itself to the Tiger Woods brand, there can be positive and negative results, depending on how well Tiger does in the tournaments he plays in.

The numbers show that when Tiger is still in the running for the U.S. Open title, viewership soars, when he's not, it limps back to the flat numbers it has experienced over the last 20 years.

What this means, is there are circumstances where we can get windfalls as marketers, that can't be counted on steadily. That's what Tiger Woods is to golf and the U.S. Open.

The implication is there are two types of people interacting with the game; those who are the niche base of the business, and those who are interested when Tiger has the potential to win the tournament. These are two different fan bases, and golf benefits in the short term when Tiger as a brand enhances there brand temporarily.

Any business must learn the difference between these types of branding forces, as the niche base will be what they can count on, while the general consumer interacting with our product or service may be doing it for a different reason than we expect.

Those not doing it because they're fans, can't be counted on to propel our business forward. To not understand that could bring devastating consequences if we don't comprehend the forces that are temporary and those that are long term.

So the pros of Tiger Woods the brand for golf, is when he has the potential to win a tournament, he can be counted on to draw big numbers, when he's not, golf as a brand reverts to its core consumer base.

All of this has an impact on the coverage; TV network and golf in general. For Tiger Woods, his fan base remains with him no matter how he does, so it doesn't affect him as much as the rest of those counting on him to stay in the hunt long enough to make a difference all the way around.