Nike gets boost in battle of equipment at Masters
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By Tom Spousta
USA Today
Even before Tiger Woods' slow-motion marketing coup resonated throughout Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., — as his ball teetered on the lip of the cup before falling in — another Masters victory of sorts was celebrated.
CBS
For the first time in the company's brief history of making clubs, more players had used Nike irons than any other brand in a PGA Tour event — and at a major, to boot. Kel Devlin, director of sports marketing for Nike Golf, was so moved he quickly changed his voicemail message. After the initial greeting, Devlin pauses to announce: "Nike Golf, the No. 1 iron at the Masters ... "
Nike got an unexpected marketing boost on television when Tiger Woods' chip shot on the 16th hole hung on the lip of the cup with the company's logo showing before dropping in for a birdie at the Masters.
Officially, Nike won the coveted Darrell Survey, an industry-recognized club count that allows Nike to spread the word in advertisements. How it was won, though, has competitors accusing Nike of guerrilla marketing for paying several past Masters champions $20,000 each to play its irons.
Charles Coody, Tommy Aaron, Sandy Lyle, Ray Floyd and Billy Casper — who shot 106 — all played under the swoosh at Augusta National. Those aging stars were enough for Nike to edge TaylorMade 17-15.
Not necessarily an uncommon practice, Nike's aggressive move was the latest salvo in the highly competitive, highly inventoried golf industry as companies battle for profits amid dwindling participation.
"As a spectator sport, golf is doing great," says Chris McGinley, Titleist's vice president of golf club marketing. "But it doesn't seem to be paying off as much around the industry. It's a market-share game now because the pieces of the pie keep shrinking."
Standard bearers
I
ndeed, the Big Four of Woods, Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els isn't the only rivalry. Off the course, Nike, Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist and others are squaring off in pro shops with an unusual number of prominent new products hitting the shelves in May and June.
Woods
• Callaway hopes to ride the buzz created by Mickelson and Annika Sorenstam, who each are off to blazing starts this season with the Fusion driver and HxTour 56 ball.
• Titleist has one of its biggest tee-to-green launches in company history, introducing two new drivers (905T and 905S), a line of fairway woods and Vokey wedges, four new putter models and an improved design of its brand-name balls.
• Nike officials are the first to say they couldn't have scripted a better campaign than Woods provided with his lip-hanging chip shot at the Masters. They're banking that the exposure the Platinum One ball already has gained will help them gain a bigger share of the lucrative ball market dominated by Titleist.
• TaylorMade, whose R 7 became one of the most popular drivers after it was released a year ago, has a new R 7 that just came out. Also, an R 5 driver and new fairway woods with movable weights have been spotted on the Tour and likely will be on the market this summer.
Non-stop competition
"Products are being launched around the clock. It just keeps getting more and more competitive every season," says Tom Olsavsky, director of product creation for TaylorMade. In what used to be a seasonal industry, the golfing public is now hit with new offerings year-round. Companies compete for a fragmented and shrinking market as fewer people play golf.
That helps keep prices in check for consumers but forces manufacturers to burn the midnight oil.
An example: TaylorMade passed Callaway last year in drivers with the introduction of the R 7, but still faces a dogfight this year against the Fusion.
Golf equipment technology can age quickly.
"The base of the game is not growing," says Larry Dorman, Callaway's senior vice president for public relations. "Everybody is battling for a share."
Now, all are looking for that bolt of business lightning that Woods provided Nike but rarely occurs.
"I don't want to call it the biggest stroke of good fortune in golf industry history, but it's close," Dorman says. "That's a pretty good launching pad for anyone to have."
