Luke Vu's Blog

Meet my buddy, Ace.

He’s a ten year old Labrador/German shepherd that thinks he’s still a puppy. Notice that Labradors have their ears folded down while German shepherds tend to have theirs pointed straight up. Now look at Ace’s ears. That right… right in between!

The pet business is big business as owners will usually go to great length in providing their dogs or cats with the best food and products. In line with what we learned in class about social factors and family buying decisions, I thought it would relevant to write about how my buying decisions are affected by my dog’s needs and wants or at least what I perceived them to be. In applying our concept we see that Ace is the initiator, user, and potentially influencer. I, on the other hand, am the decider, buyer, but also potentially influencer. So who exactly is the influencer? According to this great commercial, our four-legged friend is.

Welcome to my blog everyone!

For my very first blog I’ll start things off by talking about my favorite sport: Golf! Yes I said sport, not hobby.

Golf is the most challenging sport I ever encountered. If you’re a perfectionist you will both love and hate this game. It will bring you such joy at times and drive you crazy for most of the rest. Since golf is not a game of perfection, it is a perpetual painful love affair. While, many times, you contemplated of throwing your clubs into the lake, the birdie on 17th is enough to bring you back for more. It never fails.

It is indeed a sport. I walk (carry) my bag for an entire round that averages around four hours. Walking is very calming as you stroll down the fairway and absorb the scenery. It’s awesome. It is found that one can burn about 2,000 calories per round by carrying their clubs. It’s a great dose of exercise, both for the mind and body.

How does all this has anything to do with marketing? A lot.

Golf is one of the fastest growing sports industries in North America. Canada’s 5.95 million golfers spend $7.25 billion a year on greens fees and memberships, $2.25 billion on golf equipment and $1.73 billion on apparel. Simply walk into a pro shop and you will see that branding is huge in the game. Technology only comes second, and price last. Golf equipment companies spend millions of dollars trying to persuade you that their products will make you a better golfer… or at the very least a better looking one. The main brands include Taylor Made, Callaway, Titleist, Nike, and Ping.

Golf is a game of feel and companies have cleverly utilize this point in their marketing campaign. If a club feels good in your hands, it will induce confidence to your game. Brand endorsement by pros is one of the marketing strategy employed to reinforce this behavior and sadly it works. When you feel compelled to buy that new driver, every single year, although you know deep down that it won’t really make you a better golfer…  that to me, my friends, is marketing at its finest.