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Golf Marketing
Posted By: bko23* on 6/9/2004 5:12 PM (CST) 250 Points
Our company is sponsoring a golf event and I have a very limited budget. I am looking for creative suggestions on how to market ourselves at this event. We are a mortgage company.

Posted by: Jett* Member Response
6/9/2004 5:17 PM (CST)
So are you the only sponsor? If you can clarify this, it will save me some time and allow for a more focused response.

Thank You!
 
Posted by: bko23* Author Response
6/9/2004 5:21 PM (CST)
No. We are sponsoring a hole at this golf event. I am looking for a very creative or even off the wall way to market ourselves at this event. There will be other competing sponsors as well. It is for a builders association and we are a mortgage company trying to create relationships with these builders.
 
Posted by: Jett* Member Response
6/9/2004 5:23 PM (CST)
And there are other mortgage companies sponsoring other holes? What hole do you have? This sounds like fun!
 
Posted by: bko23* Author Response
6/9/2004 5:33 PM (CST)
Yes! We either have hole 3 or 11, I will not know until the day of the event. It should be fun, but I want our company to be remembered if you know what I mean.
 
Posted by: Jett* Member Response
6/9/2004 5:49 PM (CST)
Get #3 if at all possible. You want to be one of the first to make an impression. By the 11th hole, it will be hot, people get tired, and are starting to get into "game mode" and may not be paying much attention to the sponsors. Plus, that means you can get out of the before everyone else if necessary.

A few ideas I have for you to make a lasting impression are centered around customized golf "stuff". Place your logo, tagline and web address on driver socks, golf towels, golf shirts (not too intrusive so they will actually wear it), sun visors, etc.

Suppliment your free gifts with some sort of refreshment; beer, Gator-ade, bottled water, red bull, coffee or all of the above.

These may not be totally off the wall, but I believe it will help them remember who you are and perhaps let you send out a vibe that you take care of your clients needs.

I have some excellent contacts for custom embroidery and some web links for other promotional goodies. Just send me an email (click on my name).

I will keep an eye on this question and think about it some more.
 
Posted by: SRyan ;] Member Response
6/9/2004 5:50 PM (CST)
BKO, did you put this question in the "email" category by mistake? No matter.

I've only been involved in a few goof tournies like this, and you can't show up without goodies to give away. You know, the lame items like koozies and keychains. But that's just what's expected, it won't cement you in the mind of the builders who are on the green!

You've got to have presence -- in numbers, visibility, and charm. Get a gang of your most outgoing people there, put them in bright shirts and hats with logo-screaming embroidery, and get them to chat up people (no sales pitching allowed) at the hole and at the clubhouse social moments. Maybe you should even tell them their goal is to find people they like (as opposed to getting people to like them). Friends do business with friends!

And if your hats and shirts are REALLY fantastic, the golfers will beg for them. Take some extra to hide in the beer cooler, and give them ONLY to your new best friends.

- Shelley
 
Posted by: Jett* Member Response
6/9/2004 5:58 PM (CST)
Hey great advice!

You definately do not want to just stand there passing out shirts like robots! Getting chummy with thm is a good thing.

You might want to bring a good mix of folks, even if they are not employees. Bring the cute girl, the handsome guy, the professional, the cheery one, the beer drinkers, the comedian, the golf fanatic, etc. Try to pick up on the different temperaments of the players and use your crew to match up in a "man-on-man" strategy.



 
Posted by: Pepper Blue Accepted Answer
6/9/2004 6:30 PM (CST)
Hi bko23,

All good advice.

First, golfers love and expect promo goodies at a tournament, so don't disregard this important tool.

I have a great company you can look at to supply your promo items, they do ALOT of golf tourneys and can give you excellent advice with regards to what and how much (keeping it affordable) - what is appropriate.

www.corporatechoicepromos.com

They have golf tournament promo packages ready to go at:

http://www.oodlesusa.com/showroom/1099

Or they can custom embroider anything else they have.

With regards to personalities, golf pros are always popular at an event - giving tips after teeing off, on the greens, around the bar afterwards - have a raffle for an hour golf lesson with the pro and you will be gold in the eyes of the attendees.

Now find a pro who is also a comedian - somebody like a Gary McCord for example - and you will be remembered for a long time.

Of course Gary McCord would be out of your expense range, but you can always find a great local pro with a good sense of humor who is affordable.

Remember, they will also be networking for possible clients to take lessons, so they are motivated to negotiate price.

I hope that helps, sounds like a lot of fun!
 
Posted by: SRyan ;] Member Response
6/10/2004 12:22 AM (CST)
BKO, my brain has been simmering some more about your question, and I decided to add another layer to my earlier response.

Okay... so let's say that your outgoing-est staffers have found their favorite builders at the third hole. Get on your cell phones and call the best internet digger at the office to find out what you can about those builders.

Now, dust off your senior guy/gal (CEO, whatever) and make sure s/he is committed to showing up at the tournament's award ceremony and bar-b-q schmash. Get him/her (let's call him Frank) to agree to this kind of introduction, and try NOT to make it sound TOO cheesy:

"George, this is our mortgage company's top dog, Frank. Frank, I'd like you to meet George from Bubba's Builders. His company is breaking a lot of ground in the hottest part of the city, Flamingo Acres. George made quite an impression on me at the third hole by knocking a whole family of squirrels out cold in the rough."

The point is that George didn't tell you a THING about his company -- your internet sleuth did that work and fed the intelligence back to you before the golfers arrived at hole 18. And George will be pleased to meet the boss, impressed that you remembered the dead squirrel, and proud that you know something relevant about his company. Hopefully Frank will carry on the conversation graciously and end it with "I hope you'll call BKO if there's anything we can help you do for your new homeowners. Or their squirrels."

Get it? Hope so.

- Shelley
 
Posted by: LittleWhacky Member Response
6/10/2004 8:49 AM (CST)
Hiya

I can put some golf jokes together for you - you could compile them into a branded booklet.

These things work quite well because they get passed around and shared, and also stay around for a good long time.

As the jokes would be about golf, not mortgages or building, there's no risk of inappropriate association with your company and brand.

Probably the greatest advantage is that a jokes booklet is different - a refreshing change from the umbrellas, polo shirts, balls/tees/towels/etc that your competitors will be giving away!

Let me know if you're interested, anyway (suze @ suzanstmaur.com) ... I've got some really good ones and can write some more if you need them.

SUZE
 
Posted by: Laurice* Member Response
6/10/2004 11:24 AM (CST)
Try sponsoring specific items that every attendee will eventually have their hands on... some things that came to mind:

Branded keyrings for the golf carts
Score cards: with golf jokes, these would be very cool!
Beer coolies... (those foam rubber things that keep your can cool)

Something entertaining and refreshing... and sure to leave a lasting impression:

Hire a femalel, dress her scantily in branded clothing and make arrangements for her to deliver free drinks, compliments of your company, to attendees during game play. If this is a co-ed game, consider hiring a male and female.

If you're concerned about budget in this area, stick with beer! It's affordable, and a 'staple food' for golfers ;).

Alternatively, you can have her hand out 'drink tickets' (branded) to attendees before the game that can be 'cashed in' for a drink.

LLA

 
Posted by: MetasynMan* Member Response
6/10/2004 2:17 PM (CST)
A company I used to work for sponsored a hole at a golf tournament a while back, and we had a pretty limited budget as well. We ended up deciding on this "golf tee & marker" package that looked like an oversized matchbook. It had our logo & web address on the packaging, as well as our logo on four golf tees and a ball marker inside the package, along with our USP printed on the inside flap.

A sponsor on another hole was also handing out logo-ed golf tees, but they were just in a big bucket where golfers grabbed a handful and stuck them in their pockets. With our promo, the golfers wondered what these little cardboard matchbook things were (the interrupt), and we got to strike up some conversations as they waited to tee off. The tees just got whacked away, but the marker proved useful to a few of the participants during the day. At the reception after the tournament, all of us were wearing our company polo shirts and ended up making quite a few contacts when the golfers noticed our shirts matched their new ball markers.

::MetasynMan::
 
Posted by: Media Junction* Member Response
6/19/2004 6:19 AM (CST)
You can always do a promo at the hole like longest drive or closest to the hole. Have someone from your staff mark the spot of the longest drive and make it colorful enough to see it from where they tee off-Golfers are competitive people, have a special prize for each level of winners, such as grand prize winner gets lunch catered to his office and served up by your mortgage team. Second prize winner gets......something of a lesser value, but consider it as another opportunity on a later date to spend time with that person one on one.

Have them fill out a short form or enter with a business card. Everybody is a winner, you hand out something like a calculator, since you work with finances that makes sense, have it screenprinted with your name and number. **I always believe in giving something that is too hard for someone to throw away, give them something that they will use, something nice.

You should be able to know approximately how many people will be attending.

Make it fun, and make sure your staff creates excitement around your hole- I agree with the others, be close to the first few holes if you can.

Another option would be a roulette wheel or dart type board filled with balloons, they throw a dart and pop a balloon and they win what is in the balloon. Make sure everyone is a winner with your company!

But what ever you do, make sure it is not time consuming for them-You dont want to create frustration from them. I would talk to the event coordinator and find out what others are doing or what they have done in the past that was successful.

And Definately Have Free Ice Cold Water At Your Hole! The other stuff could get pricey!

I hope this helps!
 


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