Betting on Tiger Woods: Hero Moto's pick of new brand amabassador makes no sense

A 2010 report in BBC stated that 5,00,000 citizens of India played golf. At whatever rate the popularity of golf has grown since then, it is difficult to imagine that the number has increased to even double that figure in the past 4 years.

So why would Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest manufacturer of two-wheelers, with cumulative manufacturing of over 50 million two-wheelers, invest Rs 250 crore to sign on Tiger Woods as a brand ambassador?

The answer, thanks to the abysmally low penetration of golf in India, cannot be that Hero wants to increase their India sales with this association - and Hero makes this clear.

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“Vice chairman of the company Pawan Munjal, who announced the deal in the US, was quoted in the deal as saying that the brand had made the investment for the future and was in keeping with the company’s desire to be present in 50 countries by 2020.”

Whatever the countries in this list of 50,Tiger Woods seems to make little sense, considering that the costliest bike in the Hero range sells for Rs. 1,02,000 ($1,600) and will be bought, wherever it is bought, as a commuting vehicle rather than a show piece or a high performance bike.

In effect, it will NOT be bought by the rich.

In the countries where golf is most popular (the USA and Europe) and has been democratized to some extent, Tiger Woods is hardly the most sought after brand ambassador, and brands have been deserting him. Functional bikes + reputation of Tiger Woods + the effect of the country of origin of Hero hardly seems to be a sensible formula in the US or in Europe.

So where will Hero use the association? In India, their home turf, golf is a no-no. The other regions where Indian manufacturers (coupled with the country of origin impact) have shown ambitions include African nations and the middle east, with South American nations gaining some traction.

The trouble is, in these regions, too, golf is a sport for the rich - and Tiger Woods will have limited impact except for golf players.

An American sports star on the wane with a reputation that has taken a beating, being used to hawk a low-priced, mass appeal Indian manufactured brand to markets where golf is an elitist sport is flummoxing.

A Rs 250 crore investment cannot have been made without a lot of thought - and one cannot see the thought.Perhaps Hero knows something about the precise date when acche din will arrive, something all of us are not privy to.