The Pellucid Perspective - January 2012 - (Page 7)

MARKETING 101 Marketing 101, Pellucid-style By Jim Koppenhaver t’s that time of year when all the industry observers and pun- Other than that, current golf marketing is fine, thank you. dits write their obligatory column/web banner/blog/tweet/ The foundation of solid marketing can generally be mapped LinkedIn/Facebook piece on the year in passing and make to the customer lifecycle. Here is Pellucid’s take on the key areas predictions about the upcoming year. I’m no different and can’t your marketing plan, and spending allocation, need to address: resist the urge to do my best Janus impression. For those not up 1. Awareness – Do potential customers know your product or on their Roman mythology, Janus was the god of beginnings service exists and do they have a basic knowledge of your and transitions and was depicted as having two faces, one lookproduct positioning? ing forward and the other looking back. My retrospective on the 2. Trial – Have they tried your product recently? (Usually last significant happenings of 2011 was in the most recent Outside 12 months, but I could argue that golf might support a 24 the Ropes newsletter, which was distributed as a free sample last month trial window) week to a broad industry distribution list. If you’re reading this, 3. Repeat/retention – Did you get them to come back for a you should have gotten it but, for those who either didn’t get or 2nd visit after their first exposure? (Means that they had an ignored it, here’s a link to catch up: enjoyable experience and felt it a good value). http://www.pellucidcorp.com/newsletter/vol10no17.htm 4. Loyalty – Are you getting a dominant or your fair share of Stuart Lindsay and I are currently worktheir occasions and dollars? ing on the more comprehensive forward5. Advocacy – Are they telling others and looking view of the key issues which will Shaping my hypothesis advocating your facility’s positive experishape the industry in 2012 from our van- is the fact that there is ence on your behalf? tage point for the upcoming 2011 State of 6. Longevity – Have you kept them in the the Industry presentation at the PGA Mer- no macro growth in the franchise for as long as possible by successchandise Show in Orlando. As a prelude, industry, which means ful intervention prior to defection? in this month’s column I’ll outline why I Let’s briefly look at each of these indibelieve that more, better and more effective we’re in for yet another vidually. Awareness used to be TV/radio/ marketing will separate the winners from magazines/newspapers and directories (yelyear of increasing the losers in 2012. Shaping my hypothesis low pages, golf books in our world, etc.). The competition for is the fact that there is no macro growth in good news is that, unless you’re a relatively the industry, which means we’re in for yet new golf course, most existing facilities have share-of-golfer. another year of increasing competition for the benefit of having been real estate fixtures share-of-golfer. It’s somewhat amusing to in their local markets (within a reasonable think back on my early years in the indusdrive time) for a long enough period that try, when I mentioned that customer growth would come from most golfers are aware of their existence. In the majority of the competitors, not new golfers and the “sage industry veterans” local golfer surveys we do for clients, the awareness of the facilcounseled me that such talk was inappropriate in the collegial ity is in the 50-95% range of the golfers we survey, which means, golf industry. They’re not saying that any more (at least none of while some can benefit from reminder, broad-reach advertising, those who are still in the golf business). most don’t have the “I could have had a V8” challenge. The trick I’m going to take an uncharacteristic approach (for me) to here in broad reach advertising is figuring out where the highest the topic by trying to explain what marketing should be. My number of golfers are currently “hanging out” (the virtual “water esteemed colleague Stuart Lindsay would probably start this cooler” where golfers gather for information and to chat). The discussion off something like, “We stink at marketing.” After challenge is that awareness today happens mostly in the digital beating up on Andrew Wood in last month’s column, I’ve got world, so you’re wasting your money in any of the above obsolete to say that I agreed with several of his points in a recent email channels and that money today ought to be plowed into Search (wait, didn’t he send me an email 2 months ago saying “Email Engine Optimization (SEO) and web banner advertising (optiis dead!”?) titled The Real Reason Golf Doesn’t Grow, which mally golf-specific sites since we’re generally only looking for 9% summarized, “Golf Marketing in General, Sucks!” While it’s not of the population). quite as simple as the print ads, TV ads and club websites (who Trial has two components; how do you go out and proacthe heck is doing print and TV these days at facility level any- tively attract local golfers who haven’t tried your facility and how way?) which he characterized as “poor,” “lame” or “a joke,” we do you capture “hand raisers” looking for a place to play who simply don’t have ongoing dialogues with customers, don’t pay stumble onto your website? We’ve done some pre-emptive loattention to their behavior to trigger communications and don’t cal golfer e-mail acquisition efforts with clients and had mixed target the messages based on what we’ve gathered about them. results, but the basic premise is to rent geographically-relevant www.PellucidcorP.com I The Pellucid PersPecTive 7 http://www.pellucidcorp.com/newsletter/vol10no17.htm http://WWW.PELLUCIDCORP.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Pellucid Perspective - January 2012

The Pellucid Perspective - January 2012
Contents
Is the strategy change at GolfNow seismic or subtle?
2011 a target-rich environment for (most) management companies
Marketing 101, Pellucid-style
Great Life Golf growing, adds franchise option
Show time!
December weather impact: A Christmas present for the golf industry
Milwaukee, WI Core Business Statistical Area (CBSA)
Ahwatukee group acquires Foothills Golf Club
Golf not “linked-in” to reality?

The Pellucid Perspective - January 2012