Pending TaylorMade Announcement

[bladehunter]

I think the announcement is merging with another company.

 

 

If not now. Soon.

[rukahs]

Merging with Red Bull.

 

 

[bladehunter]

Red balls. Not Red Bull

 

 

[gvogel]

So more TM falsehoods. We aren't getting speed. And this isn't big news.

 

Lol. You truly hate Taylor Made don't you BH?

 

Yea. It's weird. I have a 3 wood that they made that's so good it needs no explanation. No hype. No nothing. So I keep it.

 

But I hate to even try other clubs they make. The childish games they play are just crazy. Last years attorneys contacting members here over m3 pics kind of sealed it. You know as well as I do that their employees leaked those pics. How else would they get out that early ? And they have the nerve to threaten people who are spending money on their crap ? For putting on a free version of the same hype marketing campaign they put on themselves. Yea. Kind of hard to forget.

 

This year they promise hotter faces. Nobody seen that speed yet.

 

I don't think they make junk. I just think they take advantage of the ignorant public. When they could sell as much or more with straight talk , relying on quality

 

I understand. I just try not to believe much of any of the industry's companies marketing. I've just been in the industry too long for any of it to faze me. I see the marketing tactics and tricks and "embellishments they all do...I have the reps visiting me basically telling me how they are trying to spin each year's new launches to a mostly ignorant customer base. Callaway does it, TaylorMade does it, Titleist, etc. About the only companies that I see that don't truly go over the top with marketing exaggerations are the Japanese-based companies (Bridgestone, Mizuno, Srixon), and PING, for the most part. The Japanese-based companies don't seem to understand marketing in the USA, and as a result, don't know how to sell mostly superior products and their sales suffer because of it, and PING is still basically a family-run company of engineers who don't know how to "market"...or creatively embellish. I like those companies (Japanese based and PING) and sell and support them, but of the big marketing companies, I actually now would much rather deal with TaylorMade than Callaway over the past few years. As far as the side of the companies that we account holders have to deal with, I've found TaylorMade has really gotten their act together in recent years. And this is coming from a course GM/proshop operator who, because of the company itself, boycotted TaylorMade for over 10 years. I despised them. Now, they are one of my favorite companies to deal with, of the traditional US big 3, at least.

 

I think that Ping does a great job of marketing, because when they come out and say something, it is believable. Brilliant.

[MattyO1984]

The funniest part to me is that they didn't make nearly as big of a deal about signing Tiger.

 

Who?

[mukster]

After reading that statement for the third time, I can’t actually imagine what person would fit the absurd grandiosity of the description given.

 

Did Jesus quietly return to earth and take up golf and TM manage to get him on their staff?? Have the end times officially started?

 

So it is Fleetwood after all

[josh21120]

I feel light up the industry has to be a reference to Rickie and there new truvis ball.

 

Rickie is a colourful character who dresses in bright clothing. There new ball is also the same....

 

Rickie is one of most likable and marketable players around. His “under-achievement “ on the course doesn’t seem to impact this fact. Titleist has been the golf ball leader as long as I can remember. It is their financial

bread and butter, and no one has come close to knocking them off. IF Taylormade could gain a chunk of the Pro V1 market, it would be huge. Bigger than signing another player to a club deal.

[manxytag]

I know who it is, it's Crossfield

[Bingo1976]

I feel light up the industry has to be a reference to Rickie and there new truvis ball.

 

Rickie is a colourful character who dresses in bright clothing. There new ball is also the same....

 

Rickie is one of most likable and marketable players around. His “under-achievement “ on the course doesn’t seem to impact this fact. Titleist has been the golf ball leader as long as I can remember. It is their financial

bread and butter, and no one has come close to knocking them off. IF Taylormade could gain a chunk of the Pro V1 market, it would be huge. Bigger than signing another player to a club deal.

 

Nobody is switching golf balls because of Rickie Fowler. He shifts stupid clothes to 20 somethings, but no one cares what ball he uses.

[GoGoErky]

I feel light up the industry has to be a reference to Rickie and there new truvis ball.

 

Rickie is a colourful character who dresses in bright clothing. There new ball is also the same....

 

Rickie is one of most likable and marketable players around. His “under-achievement “ on the course doesn’t seem to impact this fact. Titleist has been the golf ball leader as long as I can remember. It is their financial

bread and butter, and no one has come close to knocking them off. IF Taylormade could gain a chunk of the Pro V1 market, it would be huge. Bigger than signing another player to a club deal.

 

Nobody is switching golf balls because of Rickie Fowler. He shifts stupid clothes to 20 somethings, but no one cares what ball he uses.

 

It’s more than 20 year lads that buy Puma because of Rickie and even if it’s just the 20 year olds and younger who have played prov or another titleist ball decide to switch because of Rickie that will help put a dent in the market share. Then when their buddies see the success they are having decide to switch even better for TM.

 

It will take awhile for anyone to catch titleist but if they can eat into Callaway’s share at number two that’s significant

[Tiptx1122]

They won the lawsuit against pxg!

I know TM won round 1 but if the lawsuit is over then maybe they signed Bob Parson LOL!

[the bishop]

I feel light up the industry has to be a reference to Rickie and there new truvis ball.

 

Rickie is a colourful character who dresses in bright clothing. There new ball is also the same....

 

Rickie is one of most likable and marketable players around. His "under-achievement " on the course doesn't seem to impact this fact. Titleist has been the golf ball leader as long as I can remember. It is their financial

bread and butter, and no one has come close to knocking them off. IF Taylormade could gain a chunk of the Pro V1 market, it would be huge. Bigger than signing another player to a club deal.

 

Nobody is switching golf balls because of Rickie Fowler. He shifts stupid clothes to 20 somethings, but no one cares what ball he uses.

 

It's more than 20 year lads that buy Puma because of Rickie and even if it's just the 20 year olds and younger who have played prov or another titleist ball decide to switch because of Rickie that will help put a dent in the market share. Then when their buddies see the success they are having decide to switch even better for TM.

 

It will take awhile for anyone to catch titleist but if they can eat into Callaway's share at number two that's significant

I saw a septuagenarian on a course one time who had gone the full Rickie on Puma gear. It was.......something.

[PostandGhost]

After reading that statement for the third time, I can’t actually imagine what person would fit the absurd grandiosity of the description given.

 

If you knew David Abeles, you would say this is the most mundane statement he's ever made. He could be talking about the electrician that just fixed the fart fan/light combo in the bathroom.

[mukster]

https://www.golfchannel.com/news/tommy-fleetwood-testing-taylormade-tw-irons-abu-dhabi

[Rich Douglas]

It is not Rickie, it is the other Cobra guy, Bryson. He will get a full deal as part of the upcoming "Leave the Tinkering to Taylormade" campaign. In return for an unprecedented amount of $$$, he will be required to play a standard club-set, and to otherwise play, act, dress and talk like a normal golfer when televised or interviewed.

 

That isn't going to happen. We've seen too many cases where players' games were completely thrown off because they signed contracts and tried to use ill-advised clubs. Payne Stewart was almost wiped out by playing cast clubs and Surlyn balls from Top Flite. Greg Norman took a beating with the Top Flite Tour Edition. Bubba Watson and the Vice ball. And these were small changes.

 

For BD to switch to VL clubs, he'd have to change his whole approach to the game. He could still be a one-planer, but using VL clubs would be a shock to the system--the same reason accomplished professionals don't want to switch to SL clubs. Tinkering around the edges can throw a top pro off his game. A fundamental change can be ruinous. (Remember the Stack-and-Tilt guys? Of course you don't.)

[J13]

I spoke to some people and Fowler is moving to the TM ball and glove, 100% confirmed. I'm assuming this is their announcement which is pretty sad because nobody will care. Ricky doesn't sell anything for anyone other than Puma clothing and shoes.

[GoGoErky]

I spoke to some people and Fowler is moving to the TM ball and glove, 100% confirmed. I'm assuming this is their announcement which is pretty sad because nobody will care. Ricky doesn't sell anything for anyone other than Puma clothing and shoes.

 

And that is a lot of Puma clothing and shoes. Titleist doesn’t really market him for their ball and glove. If TM uses him in marketing the chances imo of the ones who but Puma because of him now buy balls and gloves. That adds value to signing him and helps Tm be more if a ball company.

[TK3309]

So more TM falsehoods. We aren't getting speed. And this isn't big news.

 

Lol. You truly hate Taylor Made don't you BH?

 

Yea. It's weird. I have a 3 wood that they made that's so good it needs no explanation. No hype. No nothing. So I keep it.

 

But I hate to even try other clubs they make. The childish games they play are just crazy. Last years attorneys contacting members here over m3 pics kind of sealed it. You know as well as I do that their employees leaked those pics. How else would they get out that early ? And they have the nerve to threaten people who are spending money on their crap ? For putting on a free version of the same hype marketing campaign they put on themselves. Yea. Kind of hard to forget.

 

This year they promise hotter faces. Nobody seen that speed yet.

 

I don't think they make junk. I just think they take advantage of the ignorant public. When they could sell as much or more with straight talk , relying on quality

 

I gained a lot of speed with the M5. :wave:

[J13]

I spoke to some people and Fowler is moving to the TM ball and glove, 100% confirmed. I'm assuming this is their announcement which is pretty sad because nobody will care. Ricky doesn't sell anything for anyone other than Puma clothing and shoes.

 

And that is a lot of Puma clothing and shoes. Titleist doesn't really market him for their ball and glove. If TM uses him in marketing the chances imo of the ones who but Puma because of him now buy balls and gloves. That adds value to signing him and helps Tm be more if a ball company.

 

He does sell a lot of clothes and shoes no doubt.

[chris975d]

I feel light up the industry has to be a reference to Rickie and there new truvis ball. Rickie is a colourful character who dresses in bright clothing. There new ball is also the same....

Rickie is one of most likable and marketable players around. His “under-achievement “ on the course doesn’t seem to impact this fact. Titleist has been the golf ball leader as long as I can remember. It is their financial bread and butter, and no one has come close to knocking them off. IF Taylormade could gain a chunk of the Pro V1 market, it would be huge. Bigger than signing another player to a club deal.

 

Whether GolfWRXer's realize it or not, Rickie is one of the most marketable golfers out there, despite his lack of top level success. He basically carries Cobra and Puma by himself, and neither of them sell in any numbers to rival the leaders in their respective categories. But without him, they REALLY wouldn't sell anything.

 

Again, GolfWRXers are NOT the usual intended target audience of most all manufacturers' marketing, but, as someone in the golf industry for what feels like a long time now, I can tell you that the reason companies market the way they do is because it works for them. If not, they quite simply wouldn't do it. These are multimillion dollar companies...they know what they are doing for the most part. In talking with industry people for over 20 years now as part of said industry, the most two successful areas of "marketing" that come up year in, year out are overall Tour presence, and your local golf course staff/head professional. These are the areas that any successful golf company (talking about the US market here) focuses on.

 

With overall Tour presence, what I'm referring to is not necessarily one top/elite name endorsing your clubs/balls, as that almost never works. But rather a stable/sizable group of top Tour players using your equipment. Say for instance TaylorMade now with what sometimes seems like the majority of the top 10 golfers in the world, or Titelist with like 75-80% of any Tour event's field using a ProV1. That's what the average consumer notices. Not that Tiger is using such and such (as clearly shown with Nike's failure, and Bridgestone losing sizable marketshare SINCE signing Tiger), but with the fact that Tiger, DJ, JD, Rahm, Rory all play TaylorMade. Or...take Titleist. They don't focus on any one superstar, and never try to keep a superstar when they make their break away from Titleist chasing money, but instead focus on keeping as many names as they can, period. It's this same concept that drove the "pay for play" era and chase after overall Tour usage. And it's why the companies that don't do this, despite making arguably better equipment...see Mizuno, Srixon in the past for example...simply don't sell in any kind of numbers to even sniff the top of any category they sell in.

 

The other area of "marketing" or focus for companies is,as I said, local course staff/head pros. The average golfer has shown time and time again that that's one of their biggest sources for recommendation on equipment, and quite simply the only outlet for most golfers to buy and try said equipment. It's why all companies target having someone at any local course and being "on staff" with them, giving that person free golf clubs/apparel/balls/gloves to talk up the brand. This works and always has worked, and the companies that focus on this and green grass accounts...we are seeing in the industry that golfers are moving away from big box stores and back to green grass accounts more, at least from my experience and that's backed up by what the companies are telling me...are doing well. We as course operators get bombarded with companies more or less begging to get us/our employees "on staff". A company that has done this for decades is Titleist. Their dominance in the golf ball market is a decades old plan that has been pulled off quite well. They have, going back literally decades, always made a push to capture the local course staffs/head pros, younger/youth golfers, etc, knowing that it would carry through to sales at said retail outlets, and that those youth would grow up more than likely being Titleist lifelong customers. And, the plan worked and still works, although is being eaten into by other companies attempting similar things. I see more and more fellow course operators moving away from carrying Titleist as their primary ball, or at least offering other Tour level balls in their shops. Some have even moved away from stocking Titleist at all, as I have for the past 6 months or so. 10, 15 years ago or more that would have never been seen.

 

With the Rickie signing, TM may very well be attempting to make him the "face" of TP5. TaylorMade seems to be getting on the right track internally (marketing aside...all marketing is hype and spin) from what I see, and is doing many things right, again, from my experience on this side of the business. Callaway is...kind of showing signs of going the way TM did back when they dug themselves a big hole and set the industry back a bit (discussion for another thread). But, Rickie IS a marketable presence that definitely relates to the younger golfers. Young golfers obviously show that they are influenced by him more than any other big name, or we wouldn't be seeing so many brightly dressed youth on our courses...as well as poorly dressed middle agers trying to look like Rickie. I'd say he's the most copied golfer out right now, from what I see at the daily fee course level. IF, and it's a big IF TaylorMade builds a whole campaign around Rickie and his use of the TP5/TP5 PIX (it's no coincidence the first pattern release is orange), it could be the start of chipping into the premium golf ball market even more.

[toc]

I spoke to some people and Fowler is moving to the TM ball and glove, 100% confirmed. I'm assuming this is their announcement which is pretty sad because nobody will care. Ricky doesn't sell anything for anyone other than Puma clothing and shoes.

 

And that is a lot of Puma clothing and shoes. Titleist doesn't really market him for their ball and glove. If TM uses him in marketing the chances imo of the ones who but Puma because of him now buy balls and gloves. That adds value to signing him and helps Tm be more if a ball company.

 

He does sell a lot of clothes and shoes no doubt.

 

Maybe they're hoping he finally breaks through in a major and does it shortly after switching to a TM glove. Eh, I guess the ball could be thrown in there as well.

[80sFredriksson]

I spoke to some people and Fowler is moving to the TM ball and glove, 100% confirmed. I'm assuming this is their announcement which is pretty sad because nobody will care. Ricky doesn't sell anything for anyone other than Puma clothing and shoes.

 

And that is a lot of Puma clothing and shoes. Titleist doesn't really market him for their ball and glove. If TM uses him in marketing the chances imo of the ones who but Puma because of him now buy balls and gloves. That adds value to signing him and helps Tm be more if a ball company.

 

He does sell a lot of clothes and shoes no doubt.

 

He does because the kids like the guy and want to look like him but I dont see how this transfers over to selling a lot more balls, ridicilous statement if this is it

[hendog39]

I’m going with Keopka with a ball and woods deal

[CasualLie]

Kind of weird...so next time Rickie is on the TV closeup putting, it's the Scotty putter hitting a TM ball while wearing Puma shoes/pants/shirt, with the TM glove hanging out the pocket. Bad Feng Shui. ;)

 

Just win a major already Rickie, would love to see it. It's four solid rounds to win; not 3 rounds with a disappearing act on Sat or Sun.

 

I liked Puma range pre-Rickie. Once everything went orange, they lost me, except for the shoes. The shoes are not too bad. Not that expensive so I don't care about tossing them after a few months.

[Spongerob]

My impeccable contact says it's Club Pro Guy. If not then Kaitlyn Jenner.

[Lancj1]

Tommy F

[bladehunter]

So more TM falsehoods. We aren't getting speed. And this isn't big news.

 

Lol. You truly hate Taylor Made don't you BH?

 

Yea. It's weird. I have a 3 wood that they made that's so good it needs no explanation. No hype. No nothing. So I keep it.

 

But I hate to even try other clubs they make. The childish games they play are just crazy. Last years attorneys contacting members here over m3 pics kind of sealed it. You know as well as I do that their employees leaked those pics. How else would they get out that early ? And they have the nerve to threaten people who are spending money on their crap ? For putting on a free version of the same hype marketing campaign they put on themselves. Yea. Kind of hard to forget.

 

This year they promise hotter faces. Nobody seen that speed yet.

 

I don't think they make junk. I just think they take advantage of the ignorant public. When they could sell as much or more with straight talk , relying on quality

 

I gained a lot of speed with the M5. :wave:

 

Were you coming from persimmon ?

[GoGoErky]

I feel light up the industry has to be a reference to Rickie and there new truvis ball. Rickie is a colourful character who dresses in bright clothing. There new ball is also the same....

Rickie is one of most likable and marketable players around. His “under-achievement “ on the course doesn’t seem to impact this fact. Titleist has been the golf ball leader as long as I can remember. It is their financial bread and butter, and no one has come close to knocking them off. IF Taylormade could gain a chunk of the Pro V1 market, it would be huge. Bigger than signing another player to a club deal.

 

Whether GolfWRXer's realize it or not, Rickie is one of the most marketable golfers out there, despite his lack of top level success. He basically carries Cobra and Puma by himself, and neither of them sell in any numbers to rival the leaders in their respective categories. But without him, they REALLY wouldn't sell anything.

 

Again, GolfWRXers are NOT the usual intended target audience of most all manufacturers' marketing, but, as someone in the golf industry for what feels like a long time now, I can tell you that the reason companies market the way they do is because it works for them. If not, they quite simply wouldn't do it. These are multimillion dollar companies...they know what they are doing for the most part. In talking with industry people for over 20 years now as part of said industry, the most two successful areas of "marketing" that come up year in, year out are overall Tour presence, and your local golf course staff/head professional. These are the areas that any successful golf company (talking about the US market here) focuses on.

 

With overall Tour presence, what I'm referring to is not necessarily one top/elite name endorsing your clubs/balls, as that almost never works. But rather a stable/sizable group of top Tour players using your equipment. Say for instance TaylorMade now with what sometimes seems like the majority of the top 10 golfers in the world, or Titelist with like 75-80% of any Tour event's field using a ProV1. That's what the average consumer notices. Not that Tiger is using such and such (as clearly shown with Nike's failure, and Bridgestone losing sizable marketshare SINCE signing Tiger), but with the fact that Tiger, DJ, JD, Rahm, Rory all play TaylorMade. Or...take Titleist. They don't focus on any one superstar, and never try to keep a superstar when they make their break away from Titleist chasing money, but instead focus on keeping as many names as they can, period. It's this same concept that drove the "pay for play" era and chase after overall Tour usage. And it's why the companies that don't do this, despite making arguably better equipment...see Mizuno, Srixon in the past for example...simply don't sell in any kind of numbers to even sniff the top of any category they sell in.

 

The other area of "marketing" or focus for companies is,as I said, local course staff/head pros. The average golfer has shown time and time again that that's one of their biggest sources for recommendation on equipment, and quite simply the only outlet for most golfers to buy and try said equipment. It's why all companies target having someone at any local course and being "on staff" with them, giving that person free golf clubs/apparel/balls/gloves to talk up the brand. This works and always has worked, and the companies that focus on this and green grass accounts...we are seeing in the industry that golfers are moving away from big box stores and back to green grass accounts more, at least from my experience and that's backed up by what the companies are telling me...are doing well. We as course operators get bombarded with companies more or less begging to get us/our employees "on staff". A company that has done this for decades is Titleist. Their dominance in the golf ball market is a decades old plan that has been pulled off quite well. They have, going back literally decades, always made a push to capture the local course staffs/head pros, younger/youth golfers, etc, knowing that it would carry through to sales at said retail outlets, and that those youth would grow up more than likely being Titleist lifelong customers. And, the plan worked and still works, although is being eaten into by other companies attempting similar things. I see more and more fellow course operators moving away from carrying Titleist as their primary ball, or at least offering other Tour level balls in their shops. Some have even moved away from stocking Titleist at all, as I have for the past 6 months or so. 10, 15 years ago or more that would have never been seen.

 

With the Rickie signing, TM may very well be attempting to make him the "face" of TP5. TaylorMade seems to be getting on the right track internally (marketing aside...all marketing is hype and spin) from what I see, and is doing many things right, again, from my experience on this side of the business. Callaway is...kind of showing signs of going the way TM did back when they dug themselves a big hole and set the industry back a bit (discussion for another thread). But, Rickie IS a marketable presence that definitely relates to the younger golfers. Young golfers obviously show that they are influenced by him more than any other big name, or we wouldn't be seeing so many brightly dressed youth on our courses...as well as poorly dressed middle agers trying to look like Rickie. I'd say he's the most copied golfer out right now, from what I see at the daily fee course level. IF, and it's a big IF TaylorMade builds a whole campaign around Rickie and his use of the TP5/TP5 PIX (it's no coincidence the first pattern release is orange), it could be the start of chipping into the premium golf ball market even more.

 

I feel the same way about Callaway and with the number of ex TM employees running the show at Callaway it was bound to happen once they accomplished their 5 year war goals.

[Holy Moses]

I spoke to some people and Fowler is moving to the TM ball and glove, 100% confirmed. I'm assuming this is their announcement which is pretty sad because nobody will care. Ricky doesn't sell anything for anyone other than Puma clothing and shoes.

 

What about insurance and Red Bull and home loans?

[jll62]

I spoke to some people and Fowler is moving to the TM ball and glove, 100% confirmed. I'm assuming this is their announcement which is pretty sad because nobody will care. Ricky doesn't sell anything for anyone other than Puma clothing and shoes.

 

And that is a lot of Puma clothing and shoes. Titleist doesn't really market him for their ball and glove. If TM uses him in marketing the chances imo of the ones who but Puma because of him now buy balls and gloves. That adds value to signing him and helps Tm be more if a ball company.

 

He does sell a lot of clothes and shoes no doubt.

 

He does because the kids like the guy and want to look like him but I dont see how this transfers over to selling a lot more balls, ridicilous statement if this is it

 

Signing the #12 player to play your ball, without requiring him to play the rest of your equipment, is a big deal. If this is indeed the news that's coming, it's silly to call it a ridiculous statement. As I stated earlier in the thread, this would signal a big strategy shift and indicates that TaylorMade is aggressively pursuing golf ball market share. They believe they have the best product on the market, so why wouldn't they shift gears? Golf balls are also a consumable and everyone needs to buy them, unlike clubs. I have to believe margins on balls are relatively healthy, so it seems like a perfect market segment in which to grow.

 

It believe it's short-sighted to only look at this from the perspective of, "How many balls will Rickie sell?" While I'm sure there's a forecast on someone's desk with a projection of how many more dozens of balls are expected to be sold as a result of this, I find the longer term strategy play more interesting. Rickie feels like the first domino to fall in a broader strategy of trying to change the market perception of TaylorMade golf balls. Who else might they sign to play the ball? Combine an increased and more varied Tour player presence along with the ball fitting program they're rolling out this spring/summer, and you create a platform from which you can grow market share by stealing some from the well-entrenched incumbent.