IT IS DIFFICULT to think of a game as uncomplicated as golf: hit a ball into a hole with a stick. But simple rules do not an easy game make. Due to its international renown, the techniques of the game have been studied as a science. Even without the fast pace expected by a generation raised on MTV, golf’s popularity is unfaltering. And, while the Super Bowl and NBA Finals promote some of the most highly paid athletes in the world, the number one earner is still Tiger Woods, a golfer.
Nearly any suburban town with enough green space will have a green. On any pleasant day, the course will be filled with players from middle school until well past retirement. The game caters to almost anyone, and physical dominance is not a qualification.
Obviously, the game is not a trend or a fad. For promotional products professionals, the stability of golf is a welcome reprieve from the whirlwind of new items and styles in the electronics and apparel segments of the market. There is no reason to think a golf product added to a product line will not be useful even years from now. But this same stability can create a frightening vacuum in front of the distributor who asks, “What can I offer clients to keep them satisfied?” It is a problem to offer the latest and greatest when the game hasn’t changed in more than 400 years.
Tom Meissner, owner of Tempe, Arizona-based Sedona Golf, warns distributors to focus on functional golf products, not on cute or novel items. “There are so many gimmicks in the market,” he said. “I’ve been to too many golf tournaments where, as you’re walking out, almost all the gifts are sitting in the trash can in the parking lot because whoever was the buyer was not a golfer and they had no idea what they were getting for people. And it was something no one would ever use.” For the distributor who has never picked up a club, it may seem an impossible task to discern a useful product for serious golfers from one that will inevitably be dropped in the circular file. So why bother?
“Golf is one of those networking opportunities where you go out and get paired up with someone and spend four or five hours with them basically uninterrupted,” said Meissner. He feels a game of golf reveals volumes of information about a person, including his or her ethics and temperance. “It totally changes the relationship after you play golf with someone,” he said. “The next time you call them, you know you’re buddies.” The number of business people playing the game opens door upon door for promotions involving golf or golf-themed products.
Joe Svitak, corporate sales director at Tour Edge, Batavia, Ill., confirmed the assessment. “A lot of business is done on the golf course. A lot,” he said. Beyond the individuals, around the country, businesses, charities, chambers of commerce and religious organizations sponsor golf outings and events. “Any Fortune 500 company, they all have golf outings,” said Svitak. He went on to note construction and real estate companies often have golf events to open a new course on a housing development. Each event lends itself to a number of gifts and giveaway items. At the time of check-in, Svitak said, “you should usually get a nice gift.”
Tour Edge manufactures golf clubs, which are used on the professional circuit. As promotional products, Tour Edge embellishes golf clubs via standard laser engraving as well as a custom, proprietary process known as Power Gloss. The process uses digital images to embed a logo onto a section of the club. The use of digital images allows for full-color logos and graphics to be added to the Power Gloss embellishment.
“I do a lot of these outings and I’m there and I watch these people, their reaction to getting a club,” said Svitak. He excitedly pointed out that many people assume they must pay extra for the club and are pleasantly surprised to learn it is a gift. “When you receive a golf club, that logo will be around… it’s going in somebody’s golf bag,” he added.
This is exactly the kind of utility Meissner feels is essential. “It’s absolutely not worth your time or your money to go buy something everybody is going to throw away,” he said. With a poor product, “you’re sticking your reputation out there on something that everyone wants to throw in the garbage.” Sedona Golf’s product line includes golf clubs as well as golf bags, golf shoe bags and travel bags. “There’s only a core amount of product that people actually have and use,” said Meissner. “That’s kind of where we’ve tried to take our line. A product that’s actually useful and functional.”
As far as getting an item that will be used, Meissner had a few suggestions. “Spend a couple extra dollars on it and people will actually use it,” he said. “[Spend] two dollars more or three dollars more for a nice bag.” Meissner said, make the end-user say “wow” and they are likely to use the product for five or more years.
Svitak said part of the problem for distributors is assessing value. He finds that many potential clients pass him at trade shows commenting about high price points and an inability to make money on the products. Of this, Svitak said, “They’re wrong.” According to him, a typical golf outing consists of 144 players. That means 144 gifts, and if a gift generates enough buzz, distributors will surely be asked to supply the next event.
Even with the huge age demographic and national appeal, Svitak said there are not many distributors capitalizing on the market. “It seems like the distributors that are interested know about golf,” he said. This trend is understandable, agreed Meissner. “I think a lot of people are intimidated,” he said. “They’ll walk in, know that they’re totally using the wrong words and they just sound uneducated.”
Anyone can learn the lingo. Meissner uses his own business as an example: “There was only one other person in this office that plays golf but they’ve all learned it enough to be able to talk knowledgeably about it. Some of these people have never touched a golf club in their life, but they can talk it and they understand it.” He went on to explain that distributors should not be afraid to ask questions of their suppliers. After all, every sale a distributor makes will make money for the supplier, as well.
Svitak had similar thoughts. He mentioned when selling clubs, it is important to know the difference between the club styles and features. Still, Svitak stresses, when it comes to learning about the products, “it doesn’t take much.” And the rewards are well worth it. If a distributor still is lost, Meissner offered this easy solution: “Some feedback from a golfer somewhere would help.”
