GOLFERS! – Are You Brand-Washed?

Why Are We Brand Loyal To Begin With?

– Why DO YOU buy the brands you buy?
– Why are we sometimes brand loyal to only one brand…even when another brand might be better and be more affordable?
– With as much equipment testing technology out now why do we often buy a brand that gives us inferior results?
– Do you buy a brand so you are perceived as a certain type player?
– Why do golfers want to play what Tiger plays, do they think it will make them play like him?

The Importance of Branding

Big golf companies spend millions and millions of dollars trying to create their “Brand”.  Creating a brand is by far the most important factor influencing an item’s success or failure in the marketplace…and creates a dramatic impact on how a companies products are viewed by the consumer.   It can make or break the success of a company…because it creates repeat buyer’s and free word of mouth advertising for the brand.  But remember one thing…this is all just marketing (most of the time).

How They Influence Our Buying Habits

These are all ideas created behind the scenes at impressively built round tables…you know the ones I am talking about…the ones with the speaker in the middle.  And all of it is based around the companies ability to influence the way you make a purchase.  We preach it all the time on MyGolfSpy…”To look through the smoke and break through the mirrors, when it comes to smoke and mirrors advertising.”  The way you purchase golf equipment should be based less on how a product is perceived and more on how a product performs.  So take a minute to think about it and think about if you have ever been persuaded to buy a golf club because of an ad or viral marketing video you have seen.  I would guess that most of us have at one time or another.

• Is A Scotty Cameron really better then a Bettinardi or an Odyssey better then a Ping?
• Does the new Taylormade driver actually out perform the Callaway?
• Is a Wilson wedge any worse then a Titleist Vokey?

Just think about all the ads you have seen over the years that have been in golf stores or magazines trying to influence your buying habits…remember 10-15 years ago when every single golf company was saying that there club went 15 yards farther then any other club?  I am sure you can think of other ads that have always stuck with you.  Well they did this for a reason…and that reason was because people bought more drivers if they included that in their ads.

The thing they didn’t tell you was that they were putting in a longer stock shaft…so yes on a testing machine that struck the balls perfectly…the balls did go farther…but for the average golfer he would now miss the sweet spot more often and he would actually be losing distance over the course of a round off the tee.  But they don’t care about that…they just want to create an image when you think about their company.

25 Yards Farther…Guaranteed!

Or what about all the drivers that Taylormade is putting out now…where every year you hear so much hype about how much better this club is then any other club they have ever made.  Then the videos you see spreading like wild fire about an iron they developed that goes 25 yards farther then all the other irons on the market.  Well once again they worked…it helped them sell more clubs then the other guys in that market.  But did the club really go 25 yards farther or was it a better club for you…one that would help you get the ball in the hole quicker.  The answer is almost always no.

But they did this for a reason…they want you to feel like you are making the right choice and a safe choice by choosing their product.  And if this didn’t worth they would not be doing it.  We almost forget to actually think before we buy.  We stop thinking logically about what we actually need compared to what they say we should have.  It creates an impulsive instinct within us to where all we can think about is getting THAT club instead of actually testing it first.  It is Marketing 101 and they know it makes us reach in our wallets before rationalizing the purchase.

Don’t Always Believe What They Are Telling You

This should not be the way we decide to purchase golf equipment.  No different then nature…the cream should rise to the top.  And there is no better time in the golf industry then now to be able to see which product actually does rise to the top and is the best product for our game.  And this is done by getting fit for your equipment and your game.  Find out the ACTUAL best results by testing the equipment yourself.  Almost every golf shop now has some type of launch monitor or fitting system that is better then any advertisements suggestion.  So try and stop paying as much attention to the advertising and marketing done by companies and try and start paying more attention to what you need to actually improve your game.  Because really…why would we be loyal to just one brand…are they paying you to play their clubs?

Start thinking about your bag differently…go through it and analyze every club in your bag.  Start thinking about where you are losing strokes and where you can improve with better fit equipment.  Then go out and over time if you are interested in making a purchase to improve your game…make logical decisions based on the individual club analysis you did.  Actually go get fit for a driver and then your irons.  And yes 40% of our shots in a round are with the putter…so it might be the best thing to get that fit first.  There are simple putter fittings that can be of some help or you can go with a Rolls-Royce type fitting with a guy like David Edel from Edel Golf.  Even the ball can now be fit to your game and can make a huge impact on your results and overall consistency when it comes to things like distance control and a consistent spin rate and putter feel.

If more golfers starter purchasing golf equipment this way you would start to see less advertising that was based purely on biased claims and more advertising based on how they as a company can better serve YOU the consumer.

Do you remember any ads that made an impact on the way golfers purchased equipment?  I would love to hear them…tell us what your favorite ad was!