Has golf equipment marketing gone too far?
If you only use social media as a barometer, you might be inclined to say yes.
We’ve seen plenty of blue checkmark posts and other comments referencing the promised “10 more yards.” Yes, even MyGolfSpy did it.
But here’s the thing: After some investigation, exactly none of the major OEMs is promising 10 more yards with their new drivers. They aren’t even promising five more.
Yes, they’ll tell you their new drivers are long. This year they’re especially pounding the “straight and forgiving” drumbeat.
But no one is promising you 10 more yards. And they haven’t for quite a while.
However, it seems to be the go-to gripe among social media commenters and blue checkmark types, so we thought it might be interesting to ask why.
And no, the full depth of the irony isn’t lost on us.
Golf Equipment Marketing: For Every Action…
For reference, please take a peek at the TaylorMade, COBRA, PING and Titleist websites and look at what they’re saying about their new drivers.
You won’t find “10 more yards” anywhere.
Legal departments, you see, vet everything. That’s why any specific claims will always carry a disclaimer. It may be in the fine print, but it’s there.
Now, if you took a look at the Callaway website and saw this graphic, you’re likely thinking, “Hah, what about this!!!”
At first glance, the graphic appears to be showing distance gains thanks to the new AI-designed Smart Face. But the small print provides context. And it does require some understanding of what happens when you miss the center of the face.
Every OEM on the planet is trying to maximize distance on off-center strikes. More precisely, they’re trying to minimize distance loss. When they talk about “forgiveness,” that’s what they mean. So that “+11 yards” on the heel means if you clank one there with the new Paradym Ai Smoke Max, it’ll go maybe 211 yards instead of the 200 it would have gone with last year’s Paradym, at least according to robot testing.
And that “+7.4 yards” in the middle? It’s labeled “Face Average.” That’s the average of all 21 impact locations measured during testing. What Callaway is saying, in a somewhat bass-ackward way, is for those of us who hit it all over the face, we won’t lose as much yardage with the Ai-Smoke as we did with last year’s model.
Too cute by half? Probably. But it’s not the same as saying this year’s driver is 10 yards longer than last year’s.
…There’s an Equal and Opposite Reaction
More than $400 billion is spent globally every year on advertising. In golf, OEMs spend a portion of their fixed overhead on branding (think Tour player sponsorship) and advertising. They’re telling you their drivers are long and straight, their irons are sexy, their wedges spin and their putters get the ball in the damned hole.
You may tire of Jim Nantz telling you how great Titleist balls are, but it works. MyGolfSpy’s One Word Brand Perception Surveys provide some insight.
In 2022, Titleist was your overwhelming choice in the Performance, Integrity, Quality, Premium and Industry Leader categories. TaylorMade was tops for Innovation and Modern, while PING was No. 1 in Engineering and tied with Mizuno for Humble.
On the other hand, TaylorMade and PXG lapped the field in Hype. TaylorMade and Callaway were tops for Marketing (and all its negative connotations) while PXG ran away and hid in the Arrogant category.
But we also know that TaylorMade and Callaway will probably sell more drivers this year than everyone else put together. And we also know that PXG has gone from a high-priced niche to a mainstream player, no matter what you think of their ads.
Golf Equipment Marketing: The Medium is the Message
So no one is promising us 10 more yards. And, no, TaylorMade won’t be coming out with another driver in six weeks.
Hey, 2012 called. It wants its Hot Take back.
But are we tired of and growing more skeptical of golf marketing? It would seem so. But according to marketing experts, it’s not just golf. Industry studies say in today’s digital media world we’re being hit with anywhere from 5,000 to 12,000 marketing messages a day. Back in the ‘70s, when we had three networks, AM radio, weekly magazines and daily newspapers, that number was closer to 1,600.
When Marshall McLuhan said, “The medium is the message,” he was talking about TV. But it certainly applies to today’s digital world. New types of algorithm-driven marketing are bombarding us on all fronts. Isn’t it possible, since things like drivers, irons and balls matter to us, we’re reacting viscerally as opposed to thoughtfully?
The result, marketing psychology experts tell us, is mainstays such as independent thought, reading comprehension and, most importantly, critical analysis are going out the window. They’re replaced by hot takes and regurgitations of old semi-truisms.
So how can you navigate your way through the next few months? Can you go through the driver-buying process without going all Howard Beale at your local retailer?
Maybe the best advice we can give you is to slow down, relax and remember that it’s just golf equipment.
Golf is a game, friends. And games are supposed to be fun.
Trusty Rusty
2 years ago
Thank you John Barba for the mile high overview of advertising. And yes by the way its everywhere, every industry. Look at the current iphone you would swear it makes your tee time & toast and coffee every morning for new purchasers. What about cars? Now its the “idea” of a car and what it can do for you and how it make you feel. All to often the consumer equates over all distance of the driver as the best. We know better. And yet there are plenty of mid handicappers that will swear on their mothers grave that only forged irons with better “feel” are the only way to go…The truth is Y.E. Yang beat a chisled Tiger Woods in his prime with a bag full of game improvement irons straight up…… You wrote no sweeter words than “relax, its just golf equipement.