Callaway Launches New Driver! – {Tweet To Unleash}

A New Wrinkle In Product Launches!

Callaway is unveiling a new product today in a way that has never been done before in the golf industry.  Yeah I know, golf industry product launches are not just starting to look more and more like a page straight out of Steve Job’s playbook, they’re almost direct copies.  And while they might be behind the times a little, at least they took a page from a pretty successful manuscript.

It started with Taylormade, then PING got in on the action and this year Nike took it to the next level.  But Callaway is doing something different.  Where the previous golf giants blew their wad in a 30-60 minute live video feed and relied on the consumers to continue the buzz building for the days and weeks to come.  Callaway is having consumers actually interact, participate and even control the launch of their newest driver release.

So…what’s the difference and why is this way any better to launch a new product?  Well this is the first time this has been done so we will have to wait and see, but it is a piece of the product launch puzzle I suspect will be added to other golf companies arsenal from here on out.

HOW IT WORKS

Callaway is tapping in to the power of Twitter to reach golfers everywhere. The campaign, which can bee seen here: http://www.callawaygolf.com/TweettoUnleash, is called  Tweet to Unleash and breaks ranks with traditional golf product introductions by allowing golfers to more fully participate — and even control — the product introduction.

Tweet to Unleash features a concealed image of Callaway’s newest driver. The driver image and a series of eight videos featuring Dr. Alan Hocknell, SVP of Callaway R&D, will be dynamically unveiled based on the volume of Twitter conversation surrounding the hashtag #LongestDriverInGolf. Fans who tweet with the hashtag will be automatically entered to win one of 10 drivers Callaway is giving away during the campaign. Winners will receive the 2013 driver well before it is available at retail in January.

This concept from Callaway is aimed squarely at conversing with the most passionate golfers, and it marks an innovative approach that lets fans play a part in a major product introduction.

Your Thoughts?

What do you think of these new launch strategies golf companies are employing?  Do you think it is a good thing for golfers?  Think it will continue or do you think this will just be a fad?  You have seen us cover quite a few of these for the upcoming 2013 product lines…so which launch strategy do you think has been the best so far?  If you were the CEO of a golf company what would be your launch plan?

#LongestDriverInGolf