How Sponsors Can Link Up with Golf's Newest Audience
The 2022 US Open Golf Championship gets underway marking the 122nd edition of the event on June 16, but the world of golf is changing at a furious pace. Democratization of the sport is attracting a younger and more diverse demographic.
Traditional high-end brands like Rolex and Mercedes-Benz remain entrenched in the culture of the sport, but now we are seeing mass athletic companies like Nike's Jordan brand occupy a place of prominence on the fairways.
Brands of all stripes, especially the classic three stripes, are rushing in to accommodate this new audience. Adidas has teamed up with non-traditional partners like Waffle House and Vice Golf to collaborate on shoes.
Beats and Eastside Golf released limited-edition headphones for the Morehouse College Golf team, and the Golden State Warriors’ veteran All-star Steph Curry is publicly investing in a golf-focused crypto collective.
This all means that golf is opening to some brands who in the past may have felt the sport was only to target HHI consumers.
Now, LIV Golf, an eight-event series from June-October 2022, has been announced with the express purpose of bringing new audiences to the game. The announcement has created disruption in the staid golf world with a potential merry-go-round of sponsors taking place - UPS has already dropped Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen for participating in the series. More recently, RBC dropped Dustin Johnson and Graeme McDowell.
All of this goes to say that embracing new ways to push the sport gives advertisers new and different ways to engage.
Here’s a couple tips on how sponsors can find their way onto the course:
Don’t be deterred if your brand has not historically been aligned with golf’s demographic. As we have written about before, golf is getting younger, which opens up the opportunity for brands who are more closely aligned with Millennials or Gen-Z.
Don’t be deterred if your brand vertical has not historically been aligned with golf’s demographic. We have seen brands like Coca-Cola create engaging content around its relationship with Jordan Speith.
FanAI helps brands understand and measure sponsorship impact on sales using unique insights to maximize investments. Our mission is to help brands realize the true value of sponsorships by proving their impact on sales, and our vision is to be the leader in optimizing brand marketing performance.
