Can a New Brand Be Successful?

I’d like to think that companies that have succeeded have looked at products in a new, and measurably better way. I’m thinking Tour Edge with fairway woods. Adams and their hybrids.

With big OEM R&D budgets I think it’s tougher than ever, but guess it’s possible. Would require some serious expertise on materials plus a dedicated, strong social media interaction.


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I'm not sure.
The amount of resources some of the big companies are pouring into R&D has got to be a massive disadvantage to the new guy.
A company like Hogan makes a great product and sells it at a great price yet they have struggled. Perhaps due to not owning the name but who knows.

I think they can be successful, just have to be able to take criticism and be adult about it. Way to easy for people to get butt hurt over things.

Financial backing is key. Any company coming into a well established ecosystem like golf has to be ready to loose their ass for about 3-5 years. Wrap that with a powerful marketing/social media team and you have a chance. Thats where the example of PXG really comes in and shines, they've done that. Now they specifically went after a certain demographic with their pricing model, which can lead to a more challenging growth path, but that's not to say it was wrong.

it depends on how deep the want to dive. Whether people like them or not, I'd say New Level has been successful in a short time. In under 2 years, they have gone from being mostly an online and fitter brand to being available at PGA Superstore. Their offerings have expanded from the original batch of 3 as well.

We saw some brands come and go, Ben Hogan was here, gone, and here again, and are now expanding into a full line brand instead of just irons/wedges. On the putter side we've seen Cure hang around for a bit now, and there seems to be a new boutique putter brand every other week.

So what does it take? I don't know. Social is a big aspect of it. I also think new companies can be made more popular based on some YouTubers that are out there, as well as sites like THP/WRX/MGS that can push content, written or watchable.

Can they be successful? Absolutely

Will it be easy or quickly? No way

Golf is probably one of the most brand inelastic spaces in all of consumer goods retailing. The first brand inelasticity in the golf space is brand loyalty. There are a lot of golfers who only use 1 brand. Getting them to switch is tough as you have to convince them you are better than their brand and have a full bag of clubs to offer them.

The second source of inelasticity is brand recognition. When a golfer is going to spend several hundred $'s on a product they do not want to take risks so they go with what they know. Spending $1500+ on a set of Titleist irons is much less risky than spending $1500+ on a set of PXG irons for the same reason buying a Rolex is less risky than buying a Brietling. The resale is much easier and the name has a value to it regardless of the quality or performance of the product.

The third source of inelasticity (and maybe the highest hurdle) is the retailers. They have to make a significant cash or debt investment in their inventory to keep stuff on the floor for sale. Giving significant $'s to a slow moving brand is less likely to happen. I know when I went into a PGASS to look at Tour Edge gear in Denver their stuff was the very last from front of the store to back and had a smaller space than all the other brands. They were in the same aisle as the one-off stuff and used clubs. That sends a message in and of itself to the consumer shopping at the store. That said many of the brands had no space or less space like Honma, New Level, Miura, etc.

I look at Cobra and how long it has taken them to remake their image after reaching near generic status in the early 2000's. They are finally perception wise on the same plane as Ping, Titleist, TM, and Callaway, but that has taken several consecutive years of not screwing up a product release and hitting all the right notes in marketing and social media. They have had little to no margin of error for a while and they basically batted 1000. That's what it would take for someone to make it, just basically make all the right calls in product quality, design, and performance and hit all the right notes in marketing and social media for a decade.

They'll have to spend a long, long time very slowly building their brand, probably longer than most companies are willing to spend. You're not going to have a novel concept, spend a bunch of money in the first 24 months and magically end up with worthwhile marketshare.

I think it can happen, but like I said, a golf OEM startup is going to spend a very long time defining success as "kept the lights on this month," "moved some units," "didn't shoot ourselves in the foot."

I think a new brand, or new life on a old brand can be successful.
Looking in from the outside, I'd like to believe the main thing is having a valuable product.

I don't know enough about the business (wish I did) to say that they can succeed. I will say that I hope they can. Brands like Hogan and Sub70 are really really good and their clubs perform. I just don't know if anyone can stick around long term with the big boys.

As long as they're here though I'm going to do my best to support them because I love having more choices when it comes to equipment.

I think they could yes as long as their product speaks for themselves and they have a strong social media presence...

Now, they also have to make sure to not get sucked into a marketing plan that leads to them overspending with hopes of competing with the big dogs....that would be the one thing that could sink them quickly...

Yes, anything is possible.

But realistically IMO, no. Not saying a start up company can’t make something good. Its the marketing aspect. Look at Wilson, they had a tv show on a driver and I have yet to see it in stores around me.