Callaway Golf Wants To Give You $100

#PowerToThePlayer

Written By: Tony Covey

The current product life cycle formula in golf is evolving. In its simplest form, the new model is starting to look something like this: Lots of new drivers + Lots of price drops = Lots of not so happy golf consumers and less loyal fans.  Feedback of late has been honest & harsh.  The truth…remember…can hurt.

MyGolfSpy is a place where all golfers can come to give and honest opinion and have their voice heard.  We call it #PowerToThePlayer.  We’re here for one reason:  To Empower You The Consumer.  And we feel the recent announcement by Callaway is in a direct response to that honest & harsh feedback you gave the Callaway brand.

Buying Your Loyalty Program

While you were trying to sneak out of work early on Wednesday, Callaway Golf quietly (by Callaway standards anyway) announced one of the more compelling consumer loyalty initiatives in recent memory. Actually, it’s probably inaccurate to use the phrase one of the. From my viewpoint, Callaway (for now anyway) is the only company taking any sort of measures at all suggestive of the fact that loyalty not only matters, but that it’s a two-way street.

The headline probably casts a wider net than it should. Callaway is only doing right by you if you’re one of the guys who bought a Big Bertha or Big Bertha Alpha before the 815 series launched, but that’s reasonable. Like I just said…two-way street. If you haven’t been loyal to Callaway (you didn’t buy a Big Bertha Driver), there’s no practical reason for the company to hand you $100.

Here’s the specifics of what Callaway is offering.

We’ve made noise (and plenty of it) about how rapid discounting and rapid releasing often leaves a rotten-cranberry-bitter taste in the mouth of the guy who spends $500 on a driver only to see it discounted shortly after the snow melts, or replaced entirely before the season is over.

For your part, many of you have vented your own frustrations at having your brand new equipment obsoleted before you’re idiot cousin can borrow it (and subsequently return it with a skymark). This new offer leads us to believe that Callaway might actually be listening.

As you may recall from our Big Bertha 815 Alpha Launch Article, one of the many questions that Callaway chose not to answer was this:

I suppose this is your answer, and quite frankly, I think it’s a pretty damn good one.

Golf clap for Callaway.

Loyalty really is a two-way street, and with a recent history of rapid discounts and the most accelerated release cycles we’ve ever seen, golf companies haven’t been particularly loyal to the consumer. Kudos to Callaway for stepping up and offering something for the guy who bought the previous generation product.

My translation of the Callaway message is this:

There are unfortunate market realities that are beyond Callaway’s control. Certainly rapid release cycles contribute, but it’s not completely on Callaway that the trade in value for Big Bertha and Big Bertha Alpha drivers are $71.41 and $82.27 respectively. It’s the kind of garbage number that repeatedly drives the consumer to eBay. The PGA (de)Value Guide is just one more example of futility from an industry that seems to enjoy shooting at its own feet.

What Callaway is effectively doing is fixing the Value Guide’s problem. Good on Callaway.

An extra $100 for your less than 1 year old driver isn’t the perfect offer, but it’s as good or better than you’ll do on eBay, and that makes it by far the best offer on the table right now.

The Devil is In the Details

As much as I’m a fan of what Callaway is offering (and I am), there are some pertinent details you should be aware of.

Among the things not specifically mentioned above is that Callaway’s offer ends 12/31/14. Frankly, I think it should run longer…perhaps for the entire lifespan of the 815 series.

Now is the time when I should make a joke about Callaway’s recent track record suggesting that the end of December probably covers the full lifespan of the 815 series anyway, but even if Callaway has so far chosen not to go on record with it, I believe the release schedule is where Callaway wants it to be. Moving forward, it should be 1 full year between releases…and if it’s not, it can always do more of this.

What this gives you is the opportunity for a very Bertha Christmas for yourself. That’s good.

What’s not so good is that to take advantage (and claim your $100 bucks) Callaway has stipulated that you must deprive yourself of the opportunity to even try competing products from TaylorMade, Nike, and Cobra. Let me spell it out for you. Callaway’s Bertha Trade-Up offer expires before R15, Vapor, and FLY-Z hit store shelves. That is unquestionably a solid business move, even if it gives off a touch of the jealous boyfriend vibe.

Like I said, it’s an imperfect offer, but if you’re already solidly a Callaway guy, it’s still the best offer on the table right now.

The Uncomfortable Reality Check

You’re not going to find anyone from big golf company to go on the record with:

“Golf in the USA is in decline, and restoration is not in its immediate future.”

Behind closed doors, however; most everyone in the industry understands that for all the Hacking and Growing stuff, much of what’s at the heart of golf’s decline extends beyond the industry’s reach. The golf industry can’t fix golf.

Acceptance of that reality drives another; Consumer loyalty is more important than ever. You don’t simply want the loyal consumer, you absolutely need him. Callaway appears to be the first in golf’s filthy fan era to accept that a few hardcore guys (the guys who can’t type 140 characters without including #TEAMCALLAWAY) aren’t enough to seriously move the needle. You need a following that’s both loyal and large.

While there will always be a few fans o’ the brand who’ll buy without giving it much of a thought…the rest of us need to be incentivized. Callaway apparently gets that. I believe its offer is a sign of things to come from inside golf industry. Trade-in/Trade-up programs will almost certainly replace the slash and burn model of recent years.

Discounts will still be had, but the best deals will be reserved, as they should be, for the consumer who is loyal to a given brand.