GREG NORMAN is profiled by Joe Bargmann in ESQUIRE
under the header "Sixteen True Tales About Greg Norman."
Norman, on TIGER WOODS' impact on golf: "I was probably very
similar to him in a lot of ways when I was twenty-one. But
you don't know what's gonna happen in the next twenty years.
And I really don't see a threat from him. Just in the same
way JACK NICKLAUS didn't see any threat from Greg Norman.
Different times, different audience. That's the beauty of
golf -- fifty million people are into it; there's a lot of
audience to go around" (ESQUIRE, 4/98 issue).
HE'S NOT A GOLFER, HE'S A LIFESTYLE: Bargmann calls
Reebok CEO PAUL FIREMAN's move to sign Norman to a lifetime
endorsement deal -- but not put the Reebok logo on his line
of clothing -- "an unprecedented deal that looked nothing
like the traditional athlete-sponsor setup, giving Norman
not only his own label but greater independence." Fireman:
"I didn't want it to be about things that look promotional.
It's got to be about quality -- about building a brand under
Greg Norman, not just selling goods under Greg Norman." The
goal is for Norman's collection "to transcend golf, to move
beyond being a player, to become an icon, a symbol of
success or, at the very least, sincere aspiration." The
model is Rene Lacoste's "Le Crocodile." Bargmann: "Does it
matter that no one who wears an alligator shirt today
actually remembers Lacoste? Norman doesn't think so."
Norman's Great White Shark Enterprises, "has exploded" to
include a resort development, course design, turf farms,
golf events (the Shark Shootout), a licensing arm, and
Norman's endorsement deals with companies such as Cobra,
Chevrolet (he will drive the pace car at May's Indy 500),
Boeing and Bell Helicopter. BART COLLINS, Norman's manager:
"It's no longer about what deals we do for Greg. It's a
matter of what businesses we put him in. It's all about
building brand equity in our own product" (ESQUIRE, 4/98).
