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This is off-topic from our normal Intrascopic Media fare, but I don’t have a personal blog, don’t think I’ll be writing enough to start one, and Carter agreed to let me post this here. So here goes…

The evening before Independence Day, Kathy and I set up a badminton net that she’d purchased the week before on a whim. As the net went up, I started remembering how much fun I’d had playing badminton with my friend, Aaron, back in high school. Now granted, the set Kathy bought was inexpensive. I wasn’t expecting it to last for weeks of the kind of competitive use that would likely ensue if we really got into it. But I was expecting to get enough use out of it to enjoy ourselves for a little while and to see if badminton was something we wanted to pursue.

We played for about 30 minutes…mainly a series of low-key volleys. In that short amount of time, the rubber tip popped off of at least six birdies – we had bought an extra pack of shuttlecocks from the same manufacturer, so we kept using new ones – and the shuttlecocks kept getting lodged in Kathy’s racquet strings. My racquet worked fine because it was a Prince Axis that I’d bought during high school, remarkable quality for its low, $13.xx price tag. Kathy switched racquets to one of the others that had come in the set, but the birdies got lodged in that one, too. It’s hard to get competitive when equipment failure accounts for almost half the play stoppages.

The set was branded with Spalding’s logo. Since I’d always thought of Spalding as one of the traditional American sporting goods companies, it felt like another tale in the wal-martization of America plague in which low cost, poor quality products are misrepresented as good value. So I e-mailed the manufacturer (Regent Sports Corp.) and Spalding with a strong complaint.

I still haven’t heard from Regent, but a vice president of marketing from Spalding, Dan Touhey, wrote me back the morning after I sent my e-mail (and I’d sent it on Independence Day). I am so impressed with Dan’s response that I’m copying it here:

Dear Daniel:

I am in receipt of your e-mail detailing the poor experience in using Spalding branded badminton equipment. First, I want you to know that we have forwarded your note to Regent so that corrective action can be taken for the set that caused these problems.

Second, I want to let you know that I appreciate your sentiments. For many years, Spalding embarked on an aggressive licensing program which allowed for external companies to create Spalding-branded products for virtually any category. There were few quality standards and little accountability. Since I assumed my role here 3 years ago, we have effectively replaced the previous mindset, returned to our quality positioning, and set high standards for anyone who produces Spalding equipment. In that time, we have cut our licensees by over 75%. Regent backyard games’ licensing contract expired in Dec. 2005 without renewal, for exactly the reasons you cite. The inventory on the market is residual inventory that is being cleaned out for good.

Spalding is an icon of the American sports landscape, and the existing management team is committed to restoring the company and all of its products to the highest possible standards. I hope you’ll see evidence of this in the market and will consider Spalding for your future sporting goods needs. Thank you again for taking the time to write to us, it only reinforces our decisions.

Sincerely,

Dan Touhey
Vice President, Marketing
Spalding
[Dan even included his direct telephone number which I am not posting here]

Like human greatness, corporate greatness is often reflected in how the entity deals with its own mistakes. Does it confront, admit, and correct its mistakes for the long-term? Or does it ignore, deny, and blame? Does it know that it’s greatness comes from its authenticity, transparency, and commitment to improve, or does it walk all over everyone else because it presumes its own greatness?

You know, that is a pretty good question to ask of nations as well. And not inappropriate for a couple days after Independence Day.

Cheers,

Daniel