Greg Norman recently appeared on SI’s “Golf.com Podcast” to discuss his eponymous company, noting in five or six years it will be a "totally different company than what it is today." Norman said, "I went through a lot of transitions in the last few years. I’ve gone from a marketing company into a B-to-B company and now I’m looking at getting into the technical side. When you start looking at where your company is and where it could be you have to keep your mind wide open." Norman said, "It was (Reebok Founder) Paul Fireman who really triggered my interest in building a brand." Norman said when he first began building his brand, he "was very much aware" of the fact he was a "global player.” He added, "I knew that would bode well for me going forward as I built out the business because you want to have a global presence." He said the future of the company is "not all about Greg Norman." Instead, it is "all about the brand but the brand is about Greg Norman.” He explained, "When Greg Norman is not here anymore, the logo and the brand are going to live on, so how we structure that today, how we execute on our game plan going forward is the most important thing."
CHARTING A COURSE: Norman’s favorite business he operates is his golf course design brand because it is an "economic indicator" of how the world economy is performing. Norman said getting a call to come into an area and build a golf course is "an indication that there’s a lot of money going (into) a region because to build a golf course resort development ... is hundreds of millions of dollars to get that development up and running." He added, "The money’s going somewhere so that’s where we become the economic indicator on where investments are going in the future" ("Golf.com Podcast," SI, 1/20).
