Bridgestone Golf CEO Dan Murphy shares what links tires to teeing up Tiger Woods – PART I

Bridgestone Golf CEO Dan Murphy shares what links tires to teeing up Tiger Woods – PART I

Murphy discusses successfully bridging the worlds of tires and golf balls into one premium branding experience.

Tiger Woods, Jason Day and Freddie Couples are just a few of the names linked to the quality and precision behind Bridgestone Golf – but the man behind the scenes who helped create and catapult the Bridgestone Golf brand to PGA grounds is Dan Murphy, the company’s current president and CEO.

Dan has a long history in the golf business and is a golf fanatic himself. However, it wasn’t until the early 2000s when he was recruited to help launch the Bridgestone Golf brand, and he quickly distinguished it for its golf ball fitting capabilities.

Since then, Bridgestone Golf has manufactured golf balls and accessories for everyone from PGA tour pros to weekend warriors teeing up with their buddies. Bridgestone Golf also serves as the premium lifestyle link to the Bridgestone Tire brand.

In this episode of Johnny g & Friends, presented by Firestone, Dan and Johnny g discuss:

  • Dan explains how he found himself with Bridgestone Golf (1:58);
  • What was Bridgestone’s marketing strategy to emerge from its underdog status as a golf ball maker in the early 2000s? (4:11);
  • Bridgestone Golf’s mandates for success (6:24);
  • Johnny g and Dan discuss the ad campaigns developed to promote both Bridgestone tires and Bridgestone golf balls (8:36);
  • How COVID changed golf (10:57);
  • The importance of Bridgestone Golf’s approach to golf ball fitting (14:04);
  • Touring the Bridgestone Golf test center (16:36);
  • Dan’s fondest memories at Bridgestone Golf (19:00);
  • Behind the curtain of when Bridgestone Golf signed the contract to manufacture Nike golf balls (22:31).

This is PART 1 of a two-part episode with Johnny g and Dan Murphy. To listen to PART 2, click here!

For more episodes of Johnny g & Friends, presented by Firestone, click here. 

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