32 BUSINESS PROFILE The ten-year pitch…
GBD talks to Neil Gray and Phil Craghill about 10 years of success for Golf Marketing Services, and their challenges and opportunities going forwards.
T
HERE are a lot of PR agencies in the sports industry. Tey can charge good sums to companies who need to put their brand or product story into the minds of the business customer or
the consumer. But with opportunity also comes vulnerability. Everything from
overly high expectations from the client or simply the arrival of a new marketing manager keen to make changes can cause many PRs to feel they are on a merry-go-round. Relationships can be short. It is surely impressive therefore that when Welwyn-based PR and
advertising agency, Golf Marketing Services (GMS), celebrated 10 years of business at the turn of the year, the team could show that the clients who started with GMS in the first few months of operation were all still on the books a decade on. During the 10-year period the order-book has grown and GMS now boasts a strong portfolio of some of the best brands in golf. Co-managing partner Neil Gray told GBD: “We are delighted that
every single client who showed faith in us at the start is still with us. We have worked really hard as a team for our clients and always brought fresh ideas and initiatives to help their cause. Out of this sense of common purpose comes trust and an understanding for us of the ethos and aims of the brands we represent. I’d personally like to thank every one of our clients for remaining loyal to us. We are fortunate to work with some exceptionally talented people.” Neil, and managing partner Phil Craghill, are talking in the Welwyn office Neil opened alongside Colin Callander in 2001.
communicate well and build relationships sincerely, from chatting about golf to the young magazine writer or making the formal presentation to the experienced CEO. Neil added: “Colin’s skill as a writer and his experience as an
editor also ensured that we would never be just another agency. His knowledge of the game and his ability to write at the perfect pitch on everything from a new golf accessory to major Tour player profiles has set us a benchmark for high standards, and helped define us as the agency to turn to on all things golf.” Phil said: “When we started, a number of decent agencies were helping golf clients, as well as other clients, but hardly any specialised in golf. Tis focus on ‘golf-only’ really helped us [hence the company name of course] in promoting our skills offering. “I also think it helped that we really enjoyed what we were doing.
Te whole team loves golf and we love following all the Tour golf, and playing. We have a strong understanding of our subject and I think we are a very energetic and enthusiastic team because fundamentally we enjoy our work as a team. I believe that every single working day in the last 10 years there has been something that has made me smile, often from our clients, the sport itself, or from the team. Enjoying your working relationships is absolutely vital for success.” Neil takes this point further. Te GMS team is known through
the trade for being very approachable and accessible to both its clients and journalists. With their extensive golf media backgrounds they empathise with the needs of writers, editors and broadcasters.
“Enjoying your working relationships is vital for success.”
During the first months the client book built up quickly, with PING, PING Collection, Golf Pride, Softspikes, and Aldila selecting GMS. Tis quick business accelerated the arrival of a third partner in Phil Craghill, fresh from his golf and rugby sales roles with IPC Magazines Ltd in London. Te trio’s common link was the magazine Golf Monthly. Colin had
been a respected editor of the title for twelve years; Neil had been the advertising sales manager for seven years before leaving to work for Te Times Corporate Golf Challenge and then Marketing Activity. Tough Phil Craghill took over from Neil in the post of advertising manager at Golf Monthly he never actually knew him at IPC towers. Tis was saved from being a ‘Sliding Doors’ moment because of the two men’s passion for rugby, and they would actually meet and talk business for the first time at a Twickenham match. Later they would discover that some years earlier Craghill had made a dramatic goal- line tackle of Gray in the last minute of a Rugby Sevens semi-final. “Tat revelation almost ruined everything, but I have nearly forgiven him for that now,” said Neil. Te fact that the trio were friends as well as colleagues (all
decent golfers and sports-lovers), were all proven professionals with experience and could offer separate and defined skills, all counted in the successful growth of a company in a competitive market-place. Colin Callander is a thoroughbred writer and editor; Neil and
Phil both have wide commercial experience with the former having a strong command of strategy and a keen instinct for what is right for the business, while the latter is well-known for his ability to
Everything from support with quick information for busy journalists, to simple things like returning calls and emails quickly, are work practices not bettered by any other firm in golf. Neil said: “We have always prided ourselves on attention to detail
and getting the basics right. It has also certainly helped that we understand how the media works through our combined experience. Colin, Phil and I usually know what will work best for the magazines, websites and TV that we deal with and thus we can form an important bridge between the client and the journalist or sales person concerned. I think that the effort we have taken as a team to understand both these requirements has been one of the reasons we have been able to form the strongest relationships with the media and our clients.” Neil added: “While we are always looking for new clients and
increasing the scope of our business, there are reasons why we have chosen to work with our existing ones. We care about the good things in golf and want to work with companies and brands that we respect, and that’s not just about product but very much about the people involved too. We also respect the editors and journalists and when we talk to them about the brands we represent we need them to trust us as professionals.” He added: “I am delighted that the principles we set out at the beginning for the agency have been adhered to.” Troughout the 10 years, GMS has been able to develop and maintain a compact and solid team in the Welwyn office. In the first big sea-change for the company, GMS brought in two enthusiastic 20-somethings in graduate Adam Roberts and James Lovett as account
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