Shot Scope, the Edinburgh, Scotland-based golf technology company, is preparing to take the next step in its corporate development.
It’s a pretty big step and it’s a global one.
Flush with over US$8.5 million in recent Series B funding, Shot Scope is launching a broad branding campaign it’s calling “My Game. My Story.” While the campaign is global, the main objective is to grow the company’s reach in North America.
“Shot Scope’s core mission is to help golfers improve and enjoy the game we love,” said company founder and CEO David Hunter in a prepared statement. “We’re thrilled to reach more and more golfers across North America as we grow our community and continue to spread the message that by knowing your game, you have a path to playing better and scoring better.”
(Shot Scope is the official on-course data partner of MyGolfSpy.)
What is Shot Scope’s new branding campaign?
Golfers like to think it’s only about the product but we know in our hearts it’s not. Branding shapes how we perceive a company beyond its logo, slogans or products. A good branding campaign impacts your buying decisions. A great one gets you, as they say, right in the feels.
The Shot Scope “My Game. My Story” is going for the feels.
The campaign is featured around a series of mini-documentary videos plus a web-based “This is Our Game” commercial. The mini-docs feature Shot Scope ambassadors/social media personalities such as 17-year-old Gabriela DeGasperis, known online as Gabby Golf Girl. The video series also documents the golf journeys of Frank Fasano who, with his cousin Mike, founded the website Golficity, as well as the father-son duo of Andy and Riley Banks from the UK. Father Andy started an Instagram page to chronicle their golf together when Riley was five. Riley is now 14 and his 0.9 handicap is officially lower than his dad’s.
Also included is Iris Wong, another social media personality who started playing golf during the 2020 lockdown. In the subsequent four years, she went from beginner to club champion. Two “traditional” media personalities are also featured. Rich Beem, the 2002 PGA Championship winner, and former Australian Tour pro Wayne “Radar” Riley are broadcasters for Sky Golf and Shot Scope ambassadors.
The videos are all three to five minutes long. You can watch them on Shot Scope’s YouTube page and various social media outlets.
Why is Shot Scope doing this?
Well, why do you think?
Shot Scope has been very aggressive in raising capital. Series B fundraising is considered the third round of investment following Seed Funding and Series A funding. Series B comes from private equity investors and venture capitalists and usually happens once companies have accomplished business milestones that put them well past the startup stage.
Since then, we’ve seen Shot Scope invest in U.S.-based infrastructure to support its retail and DTC distribution. Shot Scope has also upgraded its mobile app and website dashboard.
Shot Scope’s first shot-tracking product was launched in 2016. The company says it has nearly a quarter of a million shot-tracking users worldwide with more than 500 million shots collected. Shot Scope has also expanded into value-oriented laser rangefinders and simple GPS watches.
Shot Scope’s new branding campaign: More than just “selling stuff”
It doesn’t take a Wharton Business School degree to figure out that the short-term goal is to sell more stuff. The trick is to make that growth solid and sustainable. That’s where the branding campaign comes in. Shot Scope intends to showcase its core value and show how golfers have used Shot Scope products to improve and enjoy the game more.
Hunter, an engineer by training, is a self-proclaimed stats geek who started playing golf at 22. He began tracking his shots with a pencil and paper and would eventually apply modern technology to the process. That ultimately led to Shot Scope’s first shot tracking device, the V1.
Hunter’s leadership team includes several accomplished golfers. Chief Commercial Officer Gavin Dear is a former Walker Cup player who was once the 10th-ranked amateur in the world. Marketing Manager Jennifer Saxton is a plus-5 handicap and has ranked as high as 113th globally among women amateurs. In 2022, she won the prestigious St. Rule tournament at St Andrews and has represented Scotland in international competitions. Global Head of Sales Scott Robertson spent 13 years as a PGA professional instructor.
Why does it matter to you?
Shot tracking is one thing. Unless you have a usable data and analytics package, however, all that shot-tracking winds up as nothing more than a scrapbook of your golfing adventures. While you have plenty of options for shot tracking, the data and analytics game is a two-horse race between Shot Scope and Arccos. This new branding campaign isn’t necessarily about competing head-to-head with Arccos; it appears to be more about reaching golfers who don’t use any kind of stat tracking.
In the parlance of American football, it’s called “running to daylight.”
“Our philosophy is simple,” says Hunter. “Golfers want to improve. By providing golfers with the right tools and insights on their game, they can easily drop strokes.”
For more information on the new branding initiative, you can visit the Shot Scope website.
Pat
3 weeks ago
I just started using ShotScope’s X5 Watch and club sensors this year after becoming disappointed with how costly Arccos has become. I was a little skeptical at first, because after using Arccos for 5 years, I figured that this could not be as good of a platform. So far I am a believer. I don’t need some of the extra fluff that comes with Arccos caddy (virtual caddie is the big one), and with no annual subscription cost wise it will save me over $350 the next 3 years (I was able to buy the watch and sensors on sale for $249). I figure the watch will last 3 years, then I upgrade to the latest and greatest. I’m impressed so far. With the new marketing campaign, I can see them growing.