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Same brand, two stories


Differing performances for PING and TaylorMade across different markets might point to a different approach we could take


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hose who’ve been around the golf industry longer than I have, talk about cycles and ‘riding the wave’. They talk about brands that come and go. They hit the heights for a few years, can’t sustain it,


and slump back into the pack. In this scenario, the brand was a ‘fad’, and aſter some years of sales for everyone, it (the brand) becomes a commodity again. I was talking to a group of retailers in the UK, and they described the


path that TaylorMade had travelled. Their opinion was that sales were now flat, or struggling, and were likely to remain that way until the brand invents another ‘wow’ product. That was interesting because amongst our customers in South Africa,


we’re still seeing good growth in purchases from TaylorMade, and improving sell through. Quickly checking with 10 South African customers, YTD growth was between 20 and 30% in each case. That’s off of a healthy base. Our own equipment demand survey in the two territories bears out a similar trend. In the UK, loyalty amongst current TaylorMade consumers is dropping and interest amongst non-TaylorMade consumers is weakening; while in South Africa the loyalty remains high in current players and demand, amongst those who don’t play the brand, is strong. Conversely, our figures for PING are quite the opposite across the two


countries. In the UK, loyalty remains very high and demand is strong, while in South Africa, loyalty continues to weaken and demand is soſt (especially compared to the UK). Please note that these are figures drawn from online surveys from a specific


group of golfers and may not actually be representative of what is happening for the brands with their total sales in each of these markets. The brands may have mass-merchandise strategies in one market that are different to another.


This conflicting data has caused us to investigate further, and will


indeed lead to follow-up surveys to get a more detailed view from the consumer. But we have developed a viewpoint and I’d like to test it out on you to see if it resonates with you.


Tracking a TaylorMade success with


no discounting The launch of the TaylorMade SLDR Mini in South Africa is a great story


to tell. This launch was way beyond the expectations of everyone, including the local brand management. In fact, without exception, our customers sold their allocation in the first 7 days, and placed replenishment orders that emptied the South African warehouse. This was a problem, because the replenishment stock was oſten already pre- sold.


Our view on the reason for the success: a) On the green-grass there’s largely been an absence of discounting of TaylorMade metalwoods. While this has been because of the successful sell-through of existing stock, rather than a philosophical position on discounting, there is little doubt that this has contributed to the perceived value of the brand and its products being maintained with consumers.


b) In fact, there is a perception amongst the green-grass consumers that they’d better buy the product quickly before it’s sold out, rather than hang-on for any discounting that MIGHT happen.


c) Our retailers, and the brand’s field staff, have invested significantly over the last 24 months in ‘experience merchandising’ as opposed to ‘rack merchandising’. The SLDR Mini was a great opportunity to run events to measure “distance with more accuracy” off the range tee. The product was put in the hands of prospective buyers and they felt an emotional connection as a consequence of the experience.


d) The brand engagement with us was very high, ensuring that, ahead of the launch, we were able to create powerful content marketing that informed consumers of the benefits of shorter shaſt length with faster face technology. The consumer was keen to ‘experience’ the difference. Price wasn’t the interest. Experience and Result were.


e) The inventory and service behaviour of the brand has been so good that respect for the brand amongst the retailers was very high.


f) The inclination for the retailer to partner with the brand is very high on the green-grass because of how poorly other brands position themselves to that channel.


I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Brett Burgess and his TaylorMade team 26 SGBGOLF


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