ENTER TO WIN! (Travis Mathew Shirt & Hat) Details Below
Your Loyalty Is About To Be Tested!
(Written By: GolfSpy_T) The golf manufacturers not only want you as a their customer, they want you to be exclusively their customer.
While chances are you don’t have the game to earn yourself a six or seven figure endorsement deal (and the bag full of clubs that come with it), rest assured there isn’t an OEM out there that wouldn’t love to have 14 of their clubs in your bag. What most aren’t quite ready to acknowledge, however, is that with just about every meaningful aspect of performance maxed out by the USGA, golf companies must develop fresh ideas to entice you to buy their latest and greatest.
Could New Apparel Trend Cross-Over To Equipment?
While there have been subtle hints to the direction the industry is headed, the most complete picture of things to come isn’t being painted by an equipment manufacturer, instead it’s the brainchild of one of the most popular brands in golf apparel. And while their new program is a first of sorts within the golf industry, we’re fairly certain it’s the first of many to come.
Over the last few years if you’ve been focused on the golf equipment manufacturers never ending promises of higher launch, lower spin, and of course 10 more yards, you may not have noticed a veritable explosion in the golf apparel industry. In a relatively short period of time, apparel lines from some of the biggest names in golf have been marginalized and smaller apparel-specific companies have carved a stylish swath through the industry and into the closets of an increasing number of golfers.
As their popularity has increased so have their offerings. While many once defined golf apparel as khaki pants and polo shirt, today’s golf apparel lineups often include belts, shoes, sweaters, caps, outwear, and of course polo shirts, and an assortment of trousers and shorts that leave khaki looking as mundane as a bowl of Quaker Oats.
Travis Mathew Launches The “Polo Club”
Since the company launched in 2008, arguably no apparel company has garnered more loyal fans than Travis Mathew. With the help of Bubba Watson, an aggressive Social Media strategy, and of course, an impressive apparel collection that the company describes as progressive; blending style, function, performance and innovation, Travis Mathew has quickly become one of the most popular brands on the golf apparel scene.
What you may not know is that the apparel side of the industry is every bit as competitive as the equipment side (I would argue that it’s actually more competetive), and there isn’t an apparel company in the business that wouldn’t love to become the exclusive supplier of your golf wardrobe. To gain a leg up on their competition, and no doubt instill some real brand loyalty in their customers; late last week Travis Mathew launched what the company is calling the Travis Mathew Polo Club. . From our perspective, what’s fascinating about this new offering is that the company has adopted some of the same marketing techniques being used by the big club manufacturers.
Cobra was perhaps the first to start the Limited Edition trend with the release of their White ZL driver. They followed it up this season with the Limited Edition Long Tom Raw driver. Though we may never know exactly how “limited” certain items are, the Limited Edition trend is one we expect nearly every OEM will eventually adopt. Whether or not any equipment maker will take it to the extent that Travis Mathew has and offer a selection of product exclusively to loyal club members remains to be seen, but if I were a betting man, I’d wager that it will happen.
Travis Mathew could very well be on the bleeding edge of the next big marketing trend, and this campaign could very well be used by others to determine the viability of their own similar programs.
TM “Polo Club” – DETAILS:
The Travis Mathew Polo Club is an exclusive membership-only program geared towards providing true TM fans with the newest product before anyone else.
Members of the TM Polo Club will:
- Receive one Polo per TM collection at a discounted rate of 20% off! (6 per year)
- Will receive product before it is available to the public through the Travis Mathew website.
- Can get limited edition TM products not available to the public!
- Will receive additional TM items per delivery!
Subscription Options:
- 6 payments of $69 charged with each Polo delivery- OR –
- 1 payment of $395 upon your subscription to the TM Polo Club
One other relatively significant footnote about the Travis Mathew Polo Club; when they reach 500 members, one lucky member will receive an all expense paid trip to Seal Beach (California), and a $1000 shopping spree at Travis Mathew headquarters.
Full details and sign up information visit TravisMathew.com
NOT AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC!
With an apparel company leading the way, there is no need for us to speculate that we could be on the verge of an outbreak of Limited Edition product from the OEMs. We’re already there. Cobra, Nike and even Miura have all released or are about to release “Limited Edition” products in 2011. What remains to be seen is whether or not the equipment manufacturers will spin up programs similar to the Travis Mathew Polo Club that will offer their members the option to purchase equipment before the general public, and perhaps even give those same members exclusive access to equipment that will never be available to non-members.
While we know that there are some of you out there that are extremely loyal to your favorite golf companies, we do wonder whether or not golfers are willing to back that loyalty with an upfront commitment, even if it means you have access to a new TaylorMade driver that your buddies just can’t get. It’s going to be interesting to see how the golf companies handle this moving forward. They’ll need to make their members feels special, without turning away (or turning off) those guys who don’t want to join. The Travis Mathew Polo Club strikes the right balance, how well it will translate to the larger equipment segment is something we’re going to be watching very closely.
ENTER TO WIN! (Travis Mathew Shirt & Hat)
We’d love to know what you think not only about the Travis Mathew Polo Club, golf specific apparel in general, and whether or not you’d join an exclusive members only program from your favorite equipment provider. Leave a comment below and let us know some or all of the following:
- Do you have a segment of your wardrobe that you wear only on the golf course?
- How much golf specific apparel do you buy annually – is it just a shirt or two, do you dress to the 9s (pants, belts, etc.), or do you basically wear your street clothes?
- When it comes to golf apparel, are you fiercely loyal to a single manufacturer or do you like to mix it up a bit?
- Will you join the Travis Mathew Polo Club, or would you join a similar program from another apparel company?
- If your favorite golf equipment manufacturer offered a similar program with access to limited edition, and member’s only gear would you pay an annual fee to join?
One commenter will be chosen at random to receive a T-Shirt and hat from Travis Mathew.
Meex
12 years ago
Look good feel good will help you play good !