Let’s face it: product introductions in golf are formulaic, predictable and stale. The term white noise certainly applies.
For larger companies, the formula usually features a big whoop-dee-doo introducing the product’s features and benefits, and then the media reports on it. Small to middling companies send out press releases and samples to the media, and then the media reports on it.
Frankly, it’s gotten pretty boring and, even worse, incredibly passive. It’s trickle down marketing – flood media outlets with your story and hope the story reaches the intended target without too much distortion. Rabid golfers are okay with this since we’ll hunt down every droplet of information like it’s our job. We’re weird like that.
For the vast majority of golfers, those who don’t live and die with each and every product cycle, that info trickle often dries up long before it ever reaches them. If the product isn’t at Dick’s, Golf Galaxy or GolfSmith, it doesn’t exist.
That’s why tonight’s debut episode of Wilson Staff’s Driver vs. Driver (Golf Channel, 10 PM EST) is so compelling. For the first time in a long time, product introduction, as well as the whole product development process, is going directly to you in a unique and potentially game-changing manner.
Crowd Sourced Innovation
The hook to Driver vs. Driver is crowdsourcing. Wilson asked the general public to propose ideas for the next great driver for a chance to win $500,000. Hundreds of applicants, ranging from amateur inventors and engineering students to industrial designers, building contractors, golf pros and crackpots entered, with 11 finalists ultimately chosen.
It’s kinda like Survivor meets Shark Tank.
“In my 20-year career at Wilson, this is the biggest product endeavor we’ve ever taken on,” says Wilson Golf president and Driver vs. Driver judge Tim Clarke. “And that’s for any of our brands and any of our sports.”
The program will run through November 22nd, with teams being eliminated along the way. You’ll see the entire product development process, with contestants working with Wilson’s R&D staff to refine their ideas and develop playable prototypes. The winning design will be announced in the final episode, and the winning driver will be on the shelves three days later, on Black Friday.
Clarke says Wilson has always been open to outside ideas in all sports. Wide-body tennis racket construction, for example, was an outside idea and propelled Wilson from the Number 3 tennis brand worldwide to a dominant Number 1 position.
“Golf companies are historically closed,” says Clarke. “There’s this feeling in golf that everything has to come from within. We’re a little bit different because we’re not a golf-only brand. We see a lot of different technologies and ideas form our 100 plus engineers working on golf, tennis, baseball and our other sports.”
Naysayers Gonna NaySay
In July of 2015, David Dawsey of Golf-Patents.com wrote that you’d have to be an idiot to enter Driver vs. Driver. I’m not paraphrasing – that’s the title of his blog post.
“Be prepared to be disgusted and embarrassed for the companies involved in this contest,” writes Dawsey, “which is too bad, because they took a really cool concept and got so over-the-top greed that it is ruined.”
Dawsey’s main beef is with the legalese in the Terms and Conditions of the application process. The biggest beefs included the fact that, at the time, there was no guarantee the program would ever air and that the $500,000 first prize was contingent on the program being on TV, that if you are selected as one of the contestants you’d be selling your intellectual property to Wilson for $100, and finally, if your idea infringes on any existing patents, it’s your butt that’s in the legal frying pan, not Wilson’s.
“My answer to that is very simple,” says Clarke. “If you have a legitimate driver idea you have an opportunity to make a half million dollars. No golf companies actually buy ideas. Yes, because of legalities, you turn your design rights over to Wilson Golf, but we had to do that because there’s only going to be one winner. But since there are only 11 teams, your odds once you get that far are pretty good.”
Dawsey’s primary concern – that Wilson would profit even if the show never aired – was never in play since the program had already been pitched to, and approved by, The Golf Channel. And as you’ll see as the show unfolds, the contestant’s initial ideas will be further developed in conjunction with Wilson’s R&D staff, and the winning product, since it will be available for sale at the end of November, will have to be patented before heading out the door.
So perhaps only an idiot would apply to be a contestant, but only an irretrievably stupid company would manufacture, market and ship a product to retail without what they would consider a solid patent.
The real world tells us there are no guarantees, but Wilson Golf, Wilson Sporting Goods and Amer Sports (Wilson’s parent company) do not seem the type to expose themselves, either legally or from a PR standpoint, by not doing their homework.
Pros and Cons
When Wilson came up with the idea of Driver vs. Driver, there was one clear 500-pound gorilla in the room.
“No doubt that one of the possible negatives was the competition, or consumers, saying Wilson doesn’t have the engineering power or bandwidth to do its own work,” says Clarke. “That’s clearly not the case. We’ve been making world class products, we’ve had drivers make the HotList. We’ve had enough recent success that we could overcome that hurdle.”
On the plus side, Clarke says the program will give viewers an inside look at the R&D process. You’ll get an education as to why a driver may cost $499, and you’ll see all the renditions, tooling, tweaks, shaft evaluations and Tour player testing that goes into the final product.
“The ideas submitted were fantastic,” says Clarke. “Kevin Streelman will (reportedly) play the winning design on Tour next year (Streelman was one of the testers during the program). To handle some of the doubters out there who don’t like different ideas, the fact that it’s going to be Tour-validated is pretty darned exciting.”
Get Your Popcorn Ready
You’ll get to meet the 11 finalists in tonight’s premier episode. There’s a mix of teams and individuals among the finalists; five will present their ideas tonight, and two of them will be sent home. The remaining six finalists will present next week.
The judges include Clarke, former USGA technical director Frank Thomas and former Chicago Bear Brian Urlacher. Clarke is the voice of sales and marketing, while Thomas is the technology and USGA conformity specialist.
Urlacher is an interesting choice. He plays over 250 rounds of golf annually (he’s retired, after all) and he’s the voice of the consumer, concerned with both the tech story (is it believable) and the appearance (would I play this?). Driver vs. Driver plays up Wilson’s Chicago roots, and Urlacher certainly fills out the profile.
We’ve already screened the premier episode and, like any good reality show, it grabs you by letting you get to know the contestants and with a wee bit of drama as two contestants get sent home. The program promises to delve deep into the research, design and production process, which should be fascinating to watch unfold.
As for the driver you can buy on Black Friday?
“The whole concept of the show was to design a world class product and bring innovation that the industry has yet to see or put to market,” says Clarke. “That was the ultimate goal, and I will say, with confidence, that that has been accomplished.”
JB
8 years ago
The idea behind this is great…bottom line. Wilson is looking outside the industry of “experts” to come up with a fresh new idea on driver designs. Golf is too inbreed when it comes to equipment. Everything looks the same, performs the same, and basically is the same. Taking in outside ideas to actually create a concept is great. Someone outside of golf has an opportunity to really offer something of substance and impact. It is a welcomed sigh of relief.