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Golf is one of the world’s most lucrative sports markets, with the industry collecting around $62bn US in 2000. Almost all PGA tour events have prize cheques in excess of $2m with some events such as the season-ending FedEx Cup playoffs giving a prize of $10m to the winner. How much of that revenue relates to marketing you may ask? I would argue that the majority of this is applicable to marketing.

Taylormade, the second largest manufacturer of golf clubs in the US, has run several successful marketing campaigns that have resulted in them owning the title ‘#1 Driver in Golf’. This however, is a self-proclaimed title. It depends on how you define ‘#1 Driver in Golf’. Is it the number you sell per year, is it the number of tour players who are using your driver, is the best for price, is the the most technically sound driver… The list could go on. Many other golf brands use the same types of marketing to convince consumers that their product is the best on the market. For example Titleist, another leading golf brand, claims that they produce the ‘#1 Ball in Golf’.

By doing this the golf firms are convincing consumers that they have an inferior product. This is a cool strategy as they are trying to create a monopoly for themselves within a subset of the golf market. As with any highly competitive industry it is important to try to establish a competitive advantage. You could argue that Taylormade has done this by being the forerunner in the technology-side of club design. They were the first to install moveable weights in the driver head to produce different launch angles. This is an example of a strategy that Taylormade has employed, by committing to creating a competitive advantage in club technology.