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Fix This Golf Company

SuperStroke
1. Step up the R&D
2. Sign one more needle mover player from both the men's and women's tour
3. Drop your prices 15-20% below the top 3 companies offerings
4. Focus on "Lean Manufacturing" in the assembly plants (this will help afford the price drops)
4. Invest in more TV, print and internet advertising (radio is a waste of money since it's not visual enough for these products)
5. Social media blitz and keep that continuous. (once you become "cool" on that, you pretty much have it in the bag)
 
The SWOT analysis and reviewing past failures are definitely important.

That said, the two things I focus on are trying to actually get my products in the hands of internet golfers. I run something similar to the Bridgestone ball fitting, sponsor some events somewhere like THP, anything I can do to get people that spend time online talking about golf talking about my stuff.

Then from a social media angle I figure out how to play up the history / tradition / nostalgia of the company. Make sure at least one equipment line is as classic and retro as possible to appeal to traditionalists and folks with a sense of history (back when the company was a bigger name).

I think those two main initiatives will generate some positive buzz. At the end of the day getting your equipment into the hands of influencers is really important.
 
This kind of stuff is way over my head, but I'm interested to hear THPers with business experience give their opinions.
 
#Cookie said:
Guess I would ask how a company with all of that going for them has less than 1% in each category.

Sounds like there is more than meets the eyes as I'm only reading all positives....something has to be broken somewhere if they have smart people, solid marketing, and fantastic/innovative product.
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I was wondering if they have less than 1% in certain categories should they even still be in them?
 
I'd break down the sales figures into regions, sex, age. Look at price points. There has to be some correlation as to where sales are missing. Then make the 2 or 3 biggest misses the main marketing target.

IE: Regional advertising targeting the specific weak spots for that region.
IE: PXG as an example, New player in the house, limited PROs, A bit pricey. I would have them target where the golf nuts are. THP! an equipment tournament with lots of hype. Lets face it, they have a course available, lots of money, and THP has a good size user base to get the word out for them (this is cheap marketing really).

Things like Rusty Casino's photos, Wilson couldn't ask for anything more, I'm pretty sure their happy seeing the C200 jet setting around twitter

A combination of the above things would more than likely help any company
 
Marketing marketing marketing. Flood Social Media. Let people know about your products.
Have your "player who moves the needle" talk about your gear. If he gets interviewed after a round, make sure he mentions the Company.

Have a good active demo program (be it through reps at courses, or a demo program online where you can order stuff in to try it out for a time frame).
Actually have product in the stores for people to checkout. Up here there are always a couple OEM's that are MIA. If I can't see it/pick it up, I probably am not buying it.

My wife's restaurant has a simple rule "We want to be in the top 3 choices when someone wants to go out". If people don't remember you, then they can't consider you.
 
Inventory management
Marketing
External appeal with internal tech

Those all have to be working at a high level to get the sales up. Perhaps look at distribution channels as well.
 
I would get my product in as many stores as I can. Have people be able to try it out would be top priority. Than I would market as much as I can on social media and the Internet. If comes to, hire some respectable tour guys and some amateurs to be able to showcase my product and to get it out there
 
If they have solid R&D, I'd say market the heck out of that like other companies won't. If your R&D is that good, also put into place several strategies that let the clubs do the talking. Look at Bridgestone. They're not the market leader by any means but with solid R&D paired with a unique marketing approach they've really gotten themselves out there as a solid brand in the golf ball space.

If this turns out to be Cobra, I'd say keep raising the bar. They've made a lot of noise with their last 2 (3?) driver releases, but even with their name having once meant something huge they're going against companies with 10-12 solid offerings in recent memory. People will catch on, but it'll take a while to expand market share in golf equipment today.

I know you said it was off the table, but I would like to see them grab another needle mover. They have 1% of the top 100 golfers, can't help but think there's a correlation between that figure and the market share.
 
So I HAVE good, knowledgeable people under me, so I'm not going to have to go pick out someone else. So that's a good start.

It sounds like my staff have stalled in product though. I'm going to ask them to start thinking outside the box, which is cliché I know, but what they are doing NOW, is not moving the needle. I'm going to give them all the current driver models, and as sad as it sounds, I'm going to have them use some of this tech but make it better, make it our own. We need a product that moves, or this won't work. I'm going to start a massive marketing campaign that makes the customer and potential buyers a part of the product. I'd use a naming campaign, where the winner of the name used gets a company VIP tour and one of the first off the line. I'd do the same with our new iron line. We need to get our product to the people, and create excitement in the company again. I'd also create a campaign where we'd make, let's say 4 (2 guys) and (2 ladies) normal guys or gals, Brand Ambassadors of the Year. These 4 people would all get the FULL Tour experience. VIP Tour, full set, staff bags, hats, shirts, pants, shoes, and balls for a year, plus get to play in a Pro Am event with our Tour Staff Pro. They'd be featured in parts of our add campaigns, on all markets, TV, print, online. Each year, we'd have a new set of Brand Ambassadors. The cost for this wouldn't be a lot on a yearly basis, but excitement for a chance and those that get chosen would be pretty big! Who wouldn't want a chance at something like this?

It's a start, and it would help build the name and excitement for the company more so than it is now.
 
I would change the color spectrums used with hard equipment to exclude the colors worn by my key player. In other words, no more orange on my drivers and irons - it is a limiting factor for the largest number of golfers.
 
JB said:
Im going to preface this by saying that I am not saying that this is a specific company and its certainly not about their equipment or people there. Here are the facts.

Some of the top R&D people in the entire industry
One of very few players that actually moves the needle
R&D & Marketing people that are known entities, personable and great at content
An iconic name that once dominated golf
Fantastic and innovative golf equipment
Your sales are 1% of driver sales, slightly lower in irons and way less in wedges. We will take balls and putter out of the equation.

Okay so lets say you are made President this company and have 24 months to make sales happen. You are tasked with creating a multistep plan that will immediately take shape, but has a budget. Therefore, you cannot just say "sign a bunch of players" as contracts and money keep that limited.

So what do you do?
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Develop product lines that appeal to many different market segments not just the bold
Get rid of the crazy colors and become more standardized in design and color
Build a marketing program based on the domination of the game by the legend and start a marketing campaing with amateurs that are Driven
Get heavily involved with the online world, forums, promote reviews, have an agressive demo program
 
If it is Cobra, I don't think there is many easy answers. I am going to use them as an example for my answer however. I personally like a lot of what they have done. I think you stick with RF and mature as a company as he will do with his career. I think you do need some added tour presence and hopefully that R&D team (which is rock solid), can produce clubs that get some traction on tour and in the marketplace. Social media is certainly an area that could use improvement. This is an iconic brand that needs to market the rich history in a new and exiting way. They need to make the models names easier to understand for the average consumer. I would eliminate numbers in the nomenclature all together. Go back to King Cobra etc. and drop the F6 and plus stuff. They also need to find there way back into prominent locations in the retail space in box big box and green grass locations. It seems they have gone for a smaller more concentrated cross branded approach w/ Puma vs. having the larger displays. This is likely tied to sales but I think they need to figure out how to make themselves stand out in this environment. Lastly I would look at adding a putter and ball line in order to become a more complete brand.
 
I'd set up a meeting with the fine folks at THP and set up a swag event

edit: if it is Cobra, then been there, done that
 
Is hiring everyone from Callaway an option? If so, I'm doing that.
 
Stupid minor in marketing... enough to know what I should do.. but not enough to be any good at it
Miller Time said:
This kind of stuff is way over my head, but I'm interested to hear THPers with business experience give their opinions.
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adamw238 said:
Is hiring everyone from Callaway an option? If so, I'm doing that.
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What's funny is my thoughts were "Hire Harry Arnett" problems start to get solved quickly! Haha

I like a lot of what Howzat has to say, you have to really capitalize on that 1 needle mover you have on staff. If he is in fact such a needle mover then he needs to be out there everywhere, social media would be my 1 place where I'd look to utilize more and better than anyone else. Make some bold statements in the media, but then back up those claims with the equipment. Then if that doesn't work, I'd go back to trying to hire Harry.
 
For the marketing discussion, let me add this;

I was talking to everyone from Cobra at LIITA in Orlando and had a great discussion about marketing, particularly in the worldwide market. Marketing interests me a great deal and the conversations with actual experts is always amazing. Mike Yagley and I stood on the range for 20 minutes talking about symbolism around the world. Snakes, Pumas, all that carries different meanings in different parts of the world. Snakes are either revered, or considered bad luck. It is something that can definitely change the game in a certain market. Same with colors, numbers, and even foods. Don't give a pear to a house guest in China!!

Anyway, it was a great discussion, and if you have logos, flashy colors, etc in related to your brand, it's something you are going to have to work around.
 
People are thinking Cobra, but my first thought was to think Wilson Staff. Sounds like this can describe both companies, though I am not sure of market share for W/S products (taking balls/putters out of the equation as it were).

Distribution. Got to make the product available to the consumer. Also, I hit social media, electronic media (an effective website), print media, and television hard. I have a crack marketing department so I task them with a plan to hit those three areas economically but effectively. Get the product exposed, and then get it into people hands. Also, while I won't sign players, I can get celebrity endorsements to pitch my product in commercial spots.
 
This may be my personal bias, but it sounds like a process is broken.
1. What do we want our target share to be? Do we want to be an elite company, where only the people with real money come to buy. Are we trying to be a mainstream manufacturer? These are crucial questions, they define our strategy.

2.With the assumption that we are not looking to be XXIO or PXG or a similar company, we need to look at what our price point is. Are we hitting the same price point as our competition? Yes? Good. No? Why not? Are we too low? Too high? Correct that.

3. If our price point is good, why aren't people buying our clubs? To find that out we have to talk to players. NOT tour pros. This is grass roots marketing, twitter, facebook, THP (and the others). But more importantly we go to Dick's (or other local shops where our gear is) and we LISTEN to golfers, what are they buying? Why not our clubs? What would it take to get them to buy our clubs? No stupid surveys, people. Flesh and blood humans. Yup, it's expensive and it's not real scientific, but we're not selling to scientists. We take that info, then we address the issues. If it's something we can/have fixed then we address our marketing to those points. If it's an intangible we can't fix (no history or similar) we own it. "Yes, we're the new kid, but we're not going anywhere"



Strategy going forward is different. We're going to a 2x a year release cycle. Big sticks and short sticks. A few months apart. At or near the PGA show we release the big sticks, Drivers and fairway woods. We will tease our irons, but no real info. We focus on our drivers. Probably two models. Very very clear differentiation between our mid-high handicapper model, and our low-mid handicapper model. NO tour models. Our one pro gets the low h/c model, with his own tweaks. We don't hide that, and we don't sell it. He's a pro, you're not. You don't want that club. Same thing at the beginning of summer, new irons good player model, and everyone else (we word it better than that) We don't want any confusion, you walk into the pro shop KNOWING that one model is likely going to work better for you.

We don't cater to the tinkerers and the frequent club buyer (sorry Kang) they don't keep their clubs and they keep the used market flooded with cheap older stuff. Still going to happen some, but that's ok. Here's the thing. We get $0 from a used club sale. We need some people to hit used clubs, because that word of mouth advertising is important, and some people just can't/won't drop the money on new clubs and that's ok, but for the most part we want people buying new clubs.

We don't stock a lot of clubs in any one store. The goal for our clubs is that you will have at least a basic fitting, and then we build your clubs custom. We've got the parts in stock in our factory, but your clubs are built when we get the order. No walking into Dicks and walking out with a box of clubs. Plenty of shaft options. Our sellers that are legit custom fitters/builders get heads and components, because we know they're going to fit people. If they're assembling and selling without fitting, they don't get to carry our clubs anymore. Them's the rules Jack. We know people are impatient, and we address that in our advertising, and we try to ship within 24 hours of getting the order. Technology on the backend to expedite this, as soon as the order is processed the clubs start getting assembled. We ship quick, and build that into the price of our clubs.

We work with our partners to make it advantageous for them to sell our clubs. Spiffs to the stores and the employees if possible. It's amazing how many doohickies a salesman will sell if he's getting $5+ per doohickey.

We stick to these principles. People will know in January that we're going to release two new drivers. and in the summer we're going to release new irons. Like clockwork. Simple. We may keep last year's model on the shelves, but discounted at least some. If we can't discount it, we pull it.

Tour pros don't factor into this at all really. We advertise on tour, but not by pros. Typical signage, hospitality tents, swag, etc. We're not selling to tour pros. That's just a marketing expense. We're selling to everyday joes, and we make that clear. Maybe we run some ads with a 20+ handicapper trying to hit our tour pro's club, then showing the results with a club fit for Mr Joe Schmo vs Mr Tour Pro's club. Maybe we take that to driving ranges around the country. Get people out of the mentality that they need to be hitting the same club Rory hits. (Big surprise....they're not Rory) Make our company the personal company, "we make clubs for YOU Mr weekend warrior, Mr Slice, Mr Bogey Golf Is a Good Day"
 
Clearly this a marketing issue more than anything else. I'd scrap whatever they're doing and go in a new direction. I'd also drive a bigger presence in the big box stores, full fitting carts and launch events.
 
russtopher said:
First things first, a SWOT analysis to determine where we need to work the most to either promote our best products & people, or heavily revamp our weakest areas.

Major competitive analysis - why are we so low in equipment sales, especially if we have top R&D people? Our products should be much higher, why is that? What competitive products are moving instead of ours, and why? Where is our best market penetration, and how did we get there? Where is our worst, and what can we do it fix it with consumers?

Massive marketing push - social media rules, interactive websites, plenty of shareable contests to encourage engagement, new followers, and brand analysis.

Talks with & about tour pros - why aren't more interested in our gear? Is it viewed as inferior? Not a brand they would want to represent? It does go further than money, yes that's a big part of tour presence but pros also need to want to play our gear and be comfortable doing it. Why isn't that happening?

These are the main areas I'd start in, for the most part.
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I wonder how many people actually know what a SWOT analysis is?
 
This company sounds like it needs a change in the way it is perceived. To me this screams aggressive advertising and hiring some non-traditional people to achieve a social media onslaught. It's time to blow up twitter, periscope, facebook, and instgram with new and innovative ways to get your product out there while not giving the impression that the product is lower quality. Create a more interactive Web page that champions your equipment and how the advances work for your customers. Maybe enlist a "club clash type scenario and give it heavy media coverage if you are that confident in the product you are putting out
 
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