Missed marketing opportunities at the US Open

My home course (Torrey Pines) was the host of the 2008 US Open. The event was first class and an unbelievable experience. I took the bus on opening day and it turned in to an hour and a half commute.  Obviously, it was a huge mistake – my friend Tim and I rode our beach cruisers for Saturday’s round and it was a 10 minute commute.

I was surprised that golf brands did not show videos during the 1/2 hour bus ride from Qualcomm stadium to the course. This was an ideal time to seduce the full buses of golf enthusiasts.  If half the people at the course took the bus (which was the only means of public transportation), there would have been over 200,000 impressions watching a video for an hour. Callaway could have republished some of the video from Callaway TV.

Instead, the bus driver used this prime real estate and posted signs encouraging everyone to tip.