Callaway Brand Survey – The Results

You Had Your Say

A few weeks ago we asked for your feedback on the Callaway Golf Brand. I thought this would be a particularly interesting survey given Callaway’s current position in the industry.

If you’re unsure of what I mean by that, it’s basically this:

Callaway was on top of the industry, and then they weren’t, and then they we struggling. They drove around in Lamborghinis and made commercials with guys hitting golf balls over fountains. While the equipment was always pretty good, perceptions of the brand we’re sinking faster than the golf balls that landed in said fountain. Then Callaway hired former Adams CEO Chip Brewer. Brewer brought in former TaylorMade marketing guy, Harry Arnett, and then basically everything changed.

Callaway is beginning year two of their #fiveyearwar, and as I’ve pointed out before, things appear to be progressing ahead of schedule?

But are they really?

Callaway no doubt has some numbers to back up whatever case they want to make about progress, but perceptions are often reality, so how YOU, the golfing consumer, view the Callaway brand will go a long way towards determining how successful their revitalization efforts will ultimately be.

Here’s What You Told Us

 

As it did for Titleist, positive perceptions of performance (31.44%) ranked very high for Callaway. Noteworthy is that “Marketing” (18.71%) received the second highest percentage of votes. Given that we’ve framed the context as a positive differentiation this may not be such a bad thing.

If our readers are telling us that Callaway is extremely effective at marketing its products, we can certainly view that as a good thing for the revitalized brand. If however, the suggestion is that our readers believe Callaway is more about marketing than things like quality and innovation, well…that’s probably less positive.

Given the recurrence of Performance (51.75%) and Quality (44.94%) we can assume that our readers generally have a favorable opinion of Callaway Golf. Our expectation is that we’ll see similar results for most of the companies for which we collect survey data.

The more telling numbers are perhaps found in the more negative words. Once again “Marketing” ranked fairly high (33.21%), and perhaps “Hype” (14.23%) is a bit higher than you’d probably want to see for your brand.

On a more positive note, for the most negative associations in our survey (“Illegitimate”, “Junk”, “Poser”, and “Irrelevant”), only “Gimmick” (6.02%) broke the 5% barrier. This is hardly surprising given we’re talking about the company who just announced the Gravity Core-enabled Big Bertha Alpha (The FLPR).

While I’m not one who believes it’s gimmick technology, we are keenly aware that some of you view anything and everything that strays from the traditional as a gimmick.

Quite honestly, I’m not even sure I believe you guys. 30.74% told us that you have a Callaway driver in your bag. That seems insanely high to me. High numbers of fairway woods (27.98%) and Irons (23.29%) were also reported. Are you guys pulling my leg?

All told, just a tick under 60% of you told us that you have at least one Callaway club in the bag. While every manufacturer wants that number to be closer to 100%, I think most would be comfortable with 60%.

Perhaps noteworthy (yeah…I’m just looking for an excuse to say something else), numbers for hybrids (16.20%), and especially putters (18.91%) were comparably lower. I suppose it’s entirely possible that some who responded may not realize that their Odyssey putter is made by Callaway.

In my estimation, this may be the single most important question in our survey (at least where Callaway) is concerned. 58.57% of respondents report that their opinion of the brand has improved either significantly or slightly within the last 3 years.

If I were a betting man, I’d wager that the majority of that significantly positive shift has occurred in the last year. Any way you look at it, it most definitely qualifies as a positive trend.

It would be interesting to know the reasons why a relatively small percentage (16.51%) of you view the Callaway brand less favorably than they did just a few years ago.

 

Once again your responses suggest a generally favorable opinion of Callaway (we love all the golf companies, right)? It is interesting, although certainly not surprising that nearly 80% (77.65%) told us that you believe Callaway’s products target a wide range of golfers. Contrast that with our Titleist survey in which nearly 50% of you said that Titleist products target only a narrow range of golfers.

Clearly Callaway is doing a better job reaching a broader audience (although in Titleist’s case, your perceptions are likely the result of a targeted strategy).

Once again, positive sentiments greatly outweighed the negative, as none of the bad stuff (products mass-produced and cheaply made, engineering below average, and does not respect the game) cracked the 20% barrier.

As with Titleist, only a relatively small number of you (10.22%) believe that Callaway emphasizes custom fitting. It’s a tough sell for anyone who competes in what is largely an off-the-record marketplace, but I think the manufacturer who can finally get the custom fitting message to resonate with the consumer has the best opportunity for growth.

I can assure you that the above is a question that every manufacturer is concerned about. Obviously the upside here is that 50.82% of you view Callaway as an industry leader. The negative flipside of the equation is that nearly 1/3 (32.18%) of you view Callaway as a follower in the industry.

My point of view is that, for the last several years, Callaway has been generally reactive, and a step or two behind TaylorMade. Certainly things have changed fairly dramatically over the course of this season. While I’m not quite sure we can call them the industry leader just yet, they are, without question, taking the necessary steps to get there.

If you’re looking for a problem with these surveys it right here. As we ask you about individual golf companies, what we’re finding is that everything is average to slightly better than average. We’ll get all of that sorted out in due time.

The real plus for Callaway here is the majority perception that their metalwoods are at least slightly better than those of their competitors. The fact that 38.09% of you view their irons as slightly better than the competition is also a positive.

If there’s any cause for concern (and if there is, it’s only slight) it’s that over 15% of you view Callaway wedges as slightly worse than their competitor’s wedges. That’s a bit surprising given Roger Cleveland’s role in their design, but again…we’re really only talking about 15%.

There are two ways to look at this slide. For everything other than value, the majority listed Callaway as “Above Average”…and by fairly significant margins. That’s pretty good.

The only potential negative for Callaway is that fewer than 20% see them as the industry leader in Innovation, Performance, or Quality.

One interpretation is that while most of you think Callaway is pretty good across the board, they’re not really the best in any given area.

This is another telling result given the inarguable necessity for Callaway to change course, and speed at which Chip Brewer has made it happen. Sure we can split hairs between slowly and rapidly, but 72.31% of you believe the overall health of the Callaway brand is improving. I’d be inclined to agree with you.

Less than 10% view the brand as failing. A year and a half ago I would have said you were right, but today I’m not sure there’s a valid case that to be made for the argument that Callaway worse off than it was 2 years ago, and well… if you’re in better shape now than you were not that long ago…that’s improvement.

 

Of course we know Callaway products are above average. Everybody’s products are above average (that’s what happens when you survey a single brand at a time). Given that knowledge, and the fact that the majority of those who don’t think Callaway products are Above Average view them as simply Average, it’s not a huge leap to assume that most of you really do think Callaway products are average.

Got that?

Fewer than 10% of you rated Callaway products as the best in golf. While I’m sure Callaway would like that number to be higher, 10% is still more than double the total of Below Average and Worst in Golf combined.

It’s not a first round TKO, but overall the results, I believe, should be viewed positively.

Keep in mind, we ask this question only to those respondents that indicate they follow some golf companies on Social Media. Of those guys, 53.88% follow Callaway.

Honestly, I’m not yet sure what a healthy number is here. I think 53.88% is good. I also know that Callaway’s Social Media following isn’t as big as some others, so there’s definitely room for improvement.

There are two things I’d like to discuss about this particular result. Firstly, more than 89% of you believe that Callaway is Much More, or Slightly More engaged with its followers than the other golf companies. 89% is huge. And not for anything…just one guy’s opinion here, I think you guys pretty much nailed it.

Callaway does a better job of engaging with its followers than anybody else in golf. It’s nearly fact.

What I don’t understand (my 2nd point of discussion) is the just under 9% of you who think Callaway is being out-engaged. By who? Seriously? Who? I just don’t see it.

I get that others deliver their messages differently, and those delivery messages may resonate with you, but engagement is damn near quantifiable, and as I said, I don’t see it.

Who? Seriously, who?

Let’s call this the 3rd of the responses that I think Callaway should be taking a close look at. Ok…so almost 40% (again, only guys who follow golf companies on Social Media) say that Callaway’s Social Media efforts have not influenced perceptions of the brand. I’m not sure I buy that, but ok, let’s accept that at face value and move on.

The more important number here is the 57.74% of you who reported that Callaway’s Social Media efforts have improved your perception of the brand. The fact that 23.16% of you claim the influence has been significant is even more telling.

One of the keys to the success of the new Callaway Golf lies in its ability to talk to the consumer 1 on 1. It’s a grass roots, me to you sort of thing. While obviously you can’t reach everybody that way, our numbers suggest that the approach is having an impact.

I don’t believe Social Media is working for everyone in golf, but I’m almost certain it’s working for Callaway.

Do we always know what influences us to buy something? Certainly, when it comes to golf equipment, there are a lot of factors in play, not the least of which is performance. Some of us buy almost exclusive based on what the launch monitor tells us – and that’s probably not a bad way to go. Other buy on sound, feel, looks…whatever. Like I said, there are a lot of factors, but how do we decide what goes into the hitting bay with us?

Is it really possible that Social Media has absolutely zero influence over the buy decisions of 51.39% of you? Possible? Sure. Likely? Hmm…less sure.

That said, when slightly and significantly are combined, 44.68% of you said you are more likely to purchase Callaway products because of their Social Media efforts.

Give yourself a pat on the back, Hashtag.

3 of you think Callaway has the least effective Social Media in all of golf. The rest of you, well, your opinions are slightly more favorable (except for the 18.82% of you who don’t actually have an opinion on the subject).

20.95% of you believe Callaway has the most effective Social Media in all of golf, and truth be told, you can add me to the list. At the very least, the 53.85% of say Callaway’s efforts are above average are thinking logically.

The below average guys (5.89%)…given the number of golf companies…hell, let’s limit it to club manufacturers, give me at least 5 others that are doing a better job overall on Social Media than Callaway. If you can’t make a compelling argument for at least 5 other companies, you can’t make a compelling argument that Callaway is below average in this respect.

Perceptions are what they are, and a I get that, but objectively, I just don’t see how anyone can rate Callaway below average on the Social Media front.

What Do You Think?

You’ve read my thoughts, but what do these results tell you about the Callaway Golf brand? Is Callaway improving, separating from the pack, or destined to be just another logo on an overcrowded pro shop shelf?