Golf Course Advertising

[Cowboy]

Hey fellow optiboarders,

Just plugging in to get some feed back on an idea that was presented to me from an advertising agengy.

Here it is in a nutshell; A 7' granite stone that entails the hole layout, yardage and hazards with name, logo, graphics, etc. of a company (sponsor). The cost is about $1500 for a three year standing. Also, the sponsors name will be listed in a newsletter for a total of 12 times (4xyear x3yrs). Above that, a suitable company could have rights to display or sell items through the pro shop (great sunglass mover!). Above that, I could permit discounts to the 40,000 golfers that pass through the course throuhout the season when they bring in their score card to the dispensary.

For me, however, it is an up-front chunk of change that is not guaranteed to cover cost of expense an there fore ROI is questionable.

Have any of you fellow members heard of, considered, or participated with such an advertising vehicle? If so, or even if not, what are your opinions?

Your responses are greatly appreciated.

:cheers:

Cowboy

[rbaker]

One of the major goals of an advertising program is to continuously place your name before the masses. This type of advertising will only expose you to a very limited number of people, those who belong to the club and their guests. You will be lucky to get a shot at 5% of the members. Do the math. This plan is also static and does not allow you to do any target marketing which can be very effective.

Save that $1500.00 for your own granite headstone.

Dick
www.aerovisiontech.com

[Lee Prewitt]

At first I was thinking no way! I have not done anything like this before so no real practical experience. However if your advertising will get into the Pro Shop with your sunglasses for a 3 year period that would be worth a serious consideration. Especially if you have exclusive space. Think of not only the plano but the Rx suns that you could generate. You would easily recover your cost.

[coda]

One of the major goals of an advertising program is to continuously place your name before the masses.

An extension of this however is getting your name infront of a desired demographic. Golfers tend to be older and financially better off than the median population (and more likely to have vision care benefits). This should make them a good target audience. This coupled with some exculsivity in the proshop makes this sound pretty good to me.

That said, this is an opportunity cost issue. Can you better spend your $1500 on some other marketing approach? Would you have spent the $1500 on advertising anyway?

[drk]

Make sure you have a SOLID method to track your advertising return, or it's money thrown to the wind.

If you don't have that, yet, invest there, first!

[PAkev]

Although it is construed as a 3 yr contract, the seasonal nature of the sport affords you about half that amount of actual exposure (ie. 6months per year) before the snow starts flying up there in NH.

Next, I would expect many of these folks may already have established relationships with someone as they probably have had previous eyewear purchasing experiences. Therefore, your advertising presence may be capture those that are indifferent about where to purchase eyewear or those that have not had a positive experience purchasing eyewear. From my experience, the later two can be some of the most difficult patients to work with.

There are probably more factors to consider but I am sure these two considerably diminish your target market.

I see the pro shop arena your only cash cow opportunity. Premium Plano Suns with sales incentives may provoke recommending your sunwear over other alternatives. Eyeglass cleaners, Cords, Bug Clips, etc. on consignment will keep the shop folks accountable for the product that leaves without being paid for.

[Chris Ryser]

Have any of you fellow members heard of, considered, or participated with such an advertising vehicle? If so, or even if not, what are your opinions?

I did once something along these lines...............name on race cars..........cost a lot and brought nothing.

[Jason Carruthers]

Cowboy, if you get zero ROI, would it still be worth it to you?

If not, I would advise against it. Studies suggest that you have a 50% chance of seeing half of one percent return if any at all.
Besides, as you stated, this idea was presented to you from an ad agency that wants to sell the space. You're better off choosing your own marketing strategically instead of just reacting to ad salespeople.