Catching Up With IBM Sponsorship Marketing Exec John Kent
JOHN KENT is the Program Manager of Worldwide Sponsorship Marketing for IBM, and is leading on-site efforts for the company during this week's U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course. He took a few moments earlier this week to speak with SportsBusiness Journal Staff Writer Jon Show.
Handicap: 16 -- I’ve been as low as an 11 and up to an 18.
Favorite U.S. Open moment: PAYNE STEWART’s win in 1999.
Favorite restaurant in San Diego: Donovan’s Steakhouse.
Q: Any golfer you’re looking forward to seeing this week?
Kent: I want to see how TIGER does. But I like JUSTIN ROSE, ADAM SCOTT, VIJAY SINGH. I’d like to see SERGIO (GARCIA) successful; I don’t know if he has the mental strength, but he definitely has the game.
Q: Could you see IBM aligning with anyone out here?
Kent: That’s a tough one because we sort of moved away from that. We used to work with PHIL MICKELSON and he’s a good match for us, but it didn’t work out with us to carry him forward. But his kind of character was certainly something we were interested in aligning with.
Q: Any future Open sites that you’re looking forward to?
Kent: Pebble Beach (in 2010). I haven’t been there so I’m really looking forward to that. Part of the uniqueness of the U.S. Open is that it’s at a different spot every year.
Q: Is this your first U.S. Open?
Kent: This is my first one and the first one IBM has been a sponsor of.
Q: Any early lessons learned at your first Open?
Kent: No, I did do a Ryder Cup in 2002. It has similarities in the temporary structure that is set up, but the magnitude is much more than I thought. A lot of the hospitality and infrastructure that the USGA has to put in to pull this off is unbelievable.
Q: Do you think we’ll see a Shotlink-type application at a U.S. Open?
Kent: It’s certainly possible, but it’s about balancing the history and tradition with technology. Right now you have the devices that the scorers are carrying and that gives you some level of information. They track shots and ball position, to some degree, but it’s not laser spotted.
 |
IBM, USGA Exploring Social Networking
Opportunities To Reach Out To Golf Fans |
Q: Social networking is something IBM and the USGA are exploring. Why do you think it will work in golf when it hasn’t necessarily had a huge impact in some other sports?
Kent: We’re hopeful it will work in golf. In any sport you have passionate fans and you want to capitalize on that. Initially it may not be there in (traffic) numbers, but it will start with the passionate fan and move out from there. We’re optimistic that having some of the features on the Web site with the fan feedback, and the fact that you can carry the MyLeaderboard device around on the course, gives us a unique opportunity to connect the on-course fan with the remote fan, which is a unique way to establish a social network.
Q: You decided to end your longtime PGA Tour association last year around the same time that you began talking with the USGA. What led you away from the Tour and to the USGA?
Kent: We were coming to a natural end with the PGA Tour. It was a longstanding relationship and a solid one. But our needs were changing a little bit in terms of really wanting to work with a property like the USGA that we feel will resonate more with our small- and medium-business customers. And really wanting to have solutions that we can talk to our mid-market customers (about). It’s easy to talk to large enterprises and IBM seems to connect well there. We want to better communicate to the mid-market because that’s where the growth is, and the USGA gives us the opportunity to do that because they want to change the way they’re doing things and we’d like to be there to help them do that.
|
