Pellucid Perspective - March 2013 - (Page 5)

GOLF COURSE MARKETING A need for technology restraint in golf “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” By Jim Koppenhaver the guys who’ve been telling us that the industry was a technology laggard and we needed to dramatically pick up the pace? What gives?” In short, yes, we’ve been saying that both the quality of technology available to the average operator in the golf industry and the adoption and use of that which is available is generally pretty underwhelming. Te genesis for this issue, however, is the increasing trend that I see in my Inbox of technology’s “dark side,” the fact that some applications are cheap and easily distributed widely, which makes them ripe for either ignorance or abuse. For those readers who attended our 2012 State of the In- A dustry presentation in Orlando this year, you’ll remember that we had some fun with this topic as the transition between Jim’s quantitative analysis of the passing year and Stuart’s more qualitative treatment of the major trends and potholes ahead. We used the below graphic to outline what I believe is one of the cardinal rules of technology: “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” nyone who has followed Pellucid and Edgehill Golf Advisors over any part of the last decade is probably scratching their head after reading the headline. “Aren’t these tions.” OK, now instead of just saying it, they’ve actually proven it to us……or not. Fast forward to March, as Chicago sits beneath the remnants of the only two significant snowfalls we’ve had all year, one in late February, and the other in the opening of March. While working on the content for this month’s Perspective, the distinctive email Inbox “bing” sounded and, among my latest treasure trove of SPAM about FEMA purchasing 500,000 coffins, the latest Dr. Oz secret and the fact that my credit score had changed once again today, was the below invitation from GolfNow: Now the Pellucid World HQ is a home office with a wonder- ful view of the backyard surroundings replete with birdfeeders, a garden and a small expanse of yard which gives me an ideal perspective on whether I can be enticed to venture forth on any given day to play golf due to the siren songs of Golfnow or the other providers who grace my Inbox. On the next page was my view of the golf environment on the day I received this email: As you can see from the dog paths we’ve shoveled, we’ve What you can see faintly in the background is that this was an email I received on Monday, January 26th, customized to Chicago for the day’s “Hot Deals” (the irony in that is even funnier). What makes this even more schadenfreude (pleasure derived from the misfortune of others) is the fact that we had extensive discussions with the GolfNow folks over 2 years ago about the use of our weather knowledge in some of their products and they assured us at the conclusion of unsuccessful talks that, “Believe us, we already understand weather and its applica- WWW.PELLUCIDCORP.COM got between 10-12” of snow on the ground here for our “Hot Deals” and I can’t even find the dog poop in the snow, let alone a golf ball. Deciding to have some fun with this, I emailed a couple of the GolfNow guys we’ve come to know over the years as well as associates Harvey Silverman and Stuart Lindsay, just for yuks. As he is wont and capable of doing, Harvey wrote me a fictional note back hypothesizing how the GolfNow folks (this using the voice of the Legal Department) might defend this disconnect in marketing strategy and execution: THE PELLUCID PERSPECTIVE 5 http://WWW.PELLUCIDCORP.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pellucid Perspective - March 2013

Pellucid Perspective - March 2013
Contents
3rd party management barriers falling at private clubs?
A need for technology restraint in golf
Course lures golf ’s missing generation
Picking the ‘low-hanging fruit’
February weather golf impact: No surprise...down
Portland golf has slight edge on Nike neighbor
Court approves sale of Paulson-owned resorts to Government of Singapore fund
Readers respond to ‘part-time golf ’
Casey at the bat

Pellucid Perspective - March 2013