Golf brand profiles: Callaway
When I am looking for new equipment I seem to gravitate first to Callaway. I wish I fully understood why; it is probably a combination of word of mouth, the graphic and industrial design branding speaking to me, and the selection from middle amateur to pro. They are the first profile I am going to profile
Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF)- lessons from Callaway:
- Trickle down brand equity for products. Manage the quarters and dimes, and the nickels and pennies will manage themselves; the brand building through advertising Callaway does for their core products (eg. drivers) is what sells their teriary products (eg. gloves). This allows them to license their name to make tertiary products, creating alternate revenue streams.
- Clear positioning. There is no doubt that Callaway is positioning itself as the leader in R&D. While other brands focus on being ‘what the pros use,’ the the high grade of engineering they position themselves to have will speak to a definate personality type of golfer.
- Positioning consistent with history. Too many companies can be accused of changing message too often; not Callaway. Callaway’s history has a consistent focus on R&D which can be leveraged through marketing.
Company info:
- US company (based in California)
- Revenue: $1.1 billion USD, 2007 (up 10% over 2006)
- Independant company, publically traded
- Also manages brands Odyssey, Top-Flite, Strata and Ben Hogan
History:
- Founded by an ex textile industry verteran Ely R. Callaway in 1982 by purchasing the company Hickory Sticks.
- In 1986, Richard C. Helmstetter (a former billiard cue designer) became a designer for Callaway and pioneere CNC metal cutting machine technology in golf. This allowed them to develop the Big Bertha driver.
- In 1996, Roger Cleveland left Cleveland Golf to design for Callaway.
- For it’s golf program Callaway spent $160 million and stole engineers away from DuPont and Boeing.
Current marketing:
- Tag line: Hit it Pure
- Positioning: leader in innovation through design and engineering
- Products: drivers, woods, irons, putters, balls, bags, footwear, GPS, headwear, sunglasses, various clothing, watches, gloves, umbrella, divot tool, towel (The brand equity created by concentrating on the core products, drivers-irons-balls, trickles down to the secondary and teriary products in the family) Tertiary products are made by independent manufacturers who license the Callaway name.
- On Twitter: http://twitter.com/CALLAWAY
August 26th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
[...] Flagship product doesn’t need to be the most expensive product: We are used to seeing the Corvette on the turntable in the middle of the showroom to trickle down some equity and sell some less expensive trucks. But Titleist flips that strategy on it’s head by focusing on the relatively inexpensive golf ball, and letting the clubs promote themselves. Exactly the opposite strategy of we Callaway, as we discovered. [...]
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