Callaway Golf Company

TaylorMade Golf is a subsidiary company of TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company. TaylorMade was founded by Gary Adams in 1979 as a small start-up company (TaylorMade, 2013). Adams had created a single new innovative design, the metalwood. This new metalwood sounded differently and most importantly performed differently. The new design shifted more of the weight to the perimeter, which provided more forgiveness on mishits. The center of gravity was also lowered, which made it easier to launch the ball in the air. Adams, being the son of a professional golfer, wanted his golf clubs to stay true to

• Consumers did not believe condition of the ball to have any consequence on their game. Also, they considered themselves visually strong enough to understand the condition of the ball. This consumer attitude posed a significant problem for PI as it challenges the basis of the concept itself.

Imagine the sun bursting through the trees for the first time of the new day, the smell of freshly cut grass still potent to your nose as you tee the ball up for a round of golf in the cool mist of a spring morning. "That is what brings you back every time, the smell of the air, the coolness of the whether and the beautiful surroundings that make every shot enjoyable." (Suess, PI) This is the game of golf in its finest and most exquisite time to many people and many people it has touched in its long history. Golf is a lifestyle and not just games to people that are avid in playing. The game of golf has a history that is rich in technological advances and personal accomplishments, which through time has shown to shape

Marsden sat down with his swing coach to set up his objectives for his golf career. He realized he had a lot of work to do to reach that goal of winning a Green Jacket. Marsden’s father Jeff, had bought him a membership at Mattaponi Springs, where he would spend countless hours on the range and around the greens. Dyson had a routine he would do every day; he would hit eight perfect shots with each club in his bag. The young man then would move on to the chipping surface, he hit fifty perfect shots that had to land within three feet of the pin. Whenever he had nothing to do, he would be on the range practicing, if he didn’t answer the phone and you needed him he was at the range working. He would put in dedication into his golf game twenty four seven.

This new concept became essential after a meticulous work in gathering information about general consumer’s needs. Marketing team has reached out to a younger generation though different channels of social media and social network such as Facebook, be it Twitter, MySpace and then internationally, High Five and Orchid (Video Case 9) to understand what type of technological breakthrough will satisfy potential customers’ need. Prince Sports, Inc Marketing team work directly with R&D team to combine and collaborate marketing knowledge and technological ability. Together these two teams have created an evolutionary O3 technology with a 24 percent faster swing speed than traditional frames. The explanation of why their technology works better than other brands is pretty simple: “The secret is in the holes”. Like all world-changing innovations, O3 technology is based on an ingeniously simple idea. By replacing traditional pin sized string holes with massive O-ports, Prince Sports created a class of racquets that move through the air faster for increase power and greater control. (Tennis Express, Online Store, http://www.tennisexpress.com).

The partners must do additional analysis prior to determining if they should invest in a new miniature golf venture in Golden City. Before establishing marketing objectives, advertising and promotional programs, plans for addressing demand fluctuations and considering alternate locations, they must determine if they can generate sufficient sales to fund operations. They have done market research which provides a good baseline for establishing the demand, course capacity and anticipated costs. Once they have analysed this data and established that the business is financially viable, they can address advertising, demand and location questions by developing a marketing strategy.

There are so many companies that boast that they have the best irons and longest driver in golf, but Titleist has associated themselves as the elite golf club manufacturer. Known mostly for golf balls, Titleist has come a long way with their exceptional feel and great looks to improve the games of every golfer. Titleist ran a print advertisement in the April 2010 Golf Digest magazine displaying advanced performance in their clubs. The tagline reads, “Improvements You Can Feel” (16-17). The Titleist AP1 & AP2 irons are the products being sold in this ad. When people think of golf, Nike or Callaway is normally what comes to mind, but Titleist is known for their performance in the clutch. The

Innovation is probably the most important driver of change in most industries, especially ones that are saturated. Dick’s continuous innovation has helped them be one of the leaders in the sporting goods industry for over a decade.

Golf ball manufacturers would be looking to achieve several key strategic goals, such as increased sales, increased market share and / or increased profitability, to adopt and implement PI’s technology. Accordingly, manufacturers are mainly concerned with the cost and implications on manufacturing, competitor reactions (and customer perception), the forecast growth in the new balls market, the share they could capture and the financial details of agreement.

The U.S. Golf Association (USGA) specified the characteristics of legal balls within tight parameters. These restrictions on size, weight, materials, texture, etc., seemingly left little room for product innovation. In fact, the USGA regulations specified not just what went into a ball, but how it could perform, stipulating to within 10-20 yards how far the ball could travel when hit by a certain type of club traveling at a certain speed, all verified under controlled conditions with robotic testing equipment. Nonetheless, new product introductions were rampant in the industry, with slight changes in surface coatings and dimple patterns, for example, being touted for their ability to add a handful of yards to a golfer’s shots, to give more accuracy, or to create greater control through faster spin on the ball. In addition, ball manufacturers spent millions of dollars on advertising campaigns for their balls. There were three basic types of balls, all conforming to the same general specifications. The oldest technology still in use was the three-piece ball, which consisted of a core, windings, and a cover; this ball was good for spin and overall control. The second, and most popular, type of ball was the twopiece ball, which eliminated the windings of the three-piece ball; this ball produced more distance. The newest technology was the “solid core, multi-layered ball,” which had taken the

Callaway Golf Company should change their focus and perception of marketing because their premium priced golf clubs do not match today’s hard economic struggles that average golfers are in as well as the changing golf culture that is threatening their sales.

Quinn & Thomas (2014) speak from personal experience as they address business golf when they say that the relation between business tactic and the game of golf is very strong although most people overlook it. Professional golfer, Cary Middlecoff, as cited by Quinn & Thomas (2014) expresses that many golfers cost themselves strokes by not playing to their strengths. If they do not pick the correct club for the particular shot, then it may ruin their game. This can be exemplified in the workplace as well when companies do not correctly utilize the resources available to them. It can prove to be

Troon believes that a quality golf experience is not just defined by the golf courses playing surfaces. They view that guest service and satisfaction, with an excellent food and beverage experience play a critical role in the success of a golf club, and thus strive towards providing these to its customers. To complement this belief, Troon recruits associates who are knowledgeable in both golf industry as well as the hospitality industry. (Troon Golf, 2014)

With the regulations set in place, what came with it was the arrival of the power game. We will examine four factors to this power debate that have golf under scrutiny. To begin, we take a look at the oversized titanium driver. From 1968 until 1995, the PGA tour average driving distance would increase by a foot a year. The titanium driver, introduced in 1995, has since increased this number to 6.84 feet per year. In 2001 and 2003 alone, they showed gains of 18.69 and 20.46 feet (Titleist). Light, strong titanium allows for bigger heads, which means greater forgiveness. This forgiveness allows for increased club speed with greater precision. Since the club-head is larger, if you did not hit the ball in the “sweet spot,” you can still obtain acceptable results.

The regulations that enforce rules on club head size and performance also increase the profitability to shaft manufacturers. The USGA allowed interchangeable shaft which mean that golfers can install different shafts into the driver head to have different launch characteristics. So the differentiation of golf club changes toward the compatibility with shafts. The skilled core golfers might have strong preference for a particular shaft and select golf club based on which club is compatible with their preferred shaft.