Gather Global Podcast

There are two letters that have become particularly famous in recent years:

AI. 

So, we're delighted to welcome our guest JR Charles from ParOne to delve into this theme and help you understand what AI might mean for your business.

JR leads a small team that is flying under the radar, yet ParOne provides services to GOLF, Golfweek, Golftec, SwingU, LET, LPGA, Legends Tour, and LIV Golf.

JR and his team understand the opportunities AI offers to the golf industry. Best of all, JR discusses AI with humility; an outlook we found refreshing during our recent conversation.

Key discussion areas to listen out for:

• 04:04 mins. Every week, ParOne process over 1 billion analytics. Is this what JR and the team originally set out to achieve?
• 09:22 mins. What was the starting point for ParOne with AI?
• 11:08 mins. How a toy dinosaur taught a young JR the power of automation.
• 14:10 mins. JR runs us through a golf scenario to demonstrate how AI can solve golf problems.
• 20:38 mins. Using the science of storytelling; is the result you get from AI only as good as the data you put in?
• 24:41 mins. Fear about AI. How golf leaders can overcome their fears about implementing AI in their businesses to enhance decision making. Will it replace jobs, and will it replace traditions?
• 29:14 mins. Could AI help diversify the golf industry’s future leadership?
• 31:46 mins. “How do you get more golfers into the game?” – how would AI answer this question?
• 35:24 mins. How do we solve pace of play issues that impact course revenue – what would AI say?
• 46:26 mins. How could AI help golf course efficiencies and sustainability?
• 50:08 mins. How could AI help players improve their game?
• 51:24 mins. How could AI improve golf club fitting?
• 55:19 mins. How could AI assist golf course design and re-modelling?
• 56:56 mins. How could AI help with challenges around the ball rollback?
• 58:19 mins. How could AI help golf insurance companies better estimate risks?
• 58:51 mins. How could AI help solve the golf course supply challenge in the US?
• 59:40 mins. How could AI help sponsors that are considering investing in golf?
• 68:47 mins. Where do golf businesses start in AI?

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Do you use insights to inform marketing decisions?

What do you consider when expanding into new markets?

How do you quantify markets?

Learn the answers to these questions (and more) in just 30 minutes from Cassandra Bausch.

Cassandra is the Director of Marketing at Club Champion. Club Champion delivers tour-quality golf club fittings to high performing, and recreational golfers. Each store has more than 50,000 clubhead, shaft, and grip combinations for golfers to test. Because the company’s approach is agnostic – the fitters don’t favour one brand over another – players find the best combination of components. 

After opening 100 new Club Champion brick and mortar stores in the last five years, the company is expanding internationally.

“We’re always trying to pick a segment that is underserved, or isn’t thought about in the grand scheme of club fitting. Women make up about 35% of the golf industry in general, but if you look at club fittings they are maybe 10-15%. So that’s an underserved market. When we do market analysis, what we’re looking to do is learn how to speak to that segment.” (Cassandra Bausch, Club Champion)

Key discussion areas to listen for:

• 1:08 mins. The similarities of marketing to bowling fans vs. golfers. How helpful is it for golf marketeers to be the target market?
• 7:27 mins. 100 new Club Champion brick and mortar stores have opened in the last five years. What’s the advantages and disadvantages of growing this fast?
• 9:37 mins. How did Club Champion quantify the market opportunity five years ago? Would they assess new growth opportunities using different insights and metrics now?
• 11:49 mins. Personalised club fitting has been available for a long time with club professionals. Why are more golfers getting fitted for clubs, and how is Club Champion capitalizing on this?
• 14:40 mins. What difference is Club Champion seeing with international markets? And how do you change your marketing tactics to succeed in these markets?
• 17:17 mins. When setting customer acquisition goals for a new market, does Club Champion use the same goal setting approach as in a new US state, or different?
• 18:39 mins. Gather’s Sue Shapcott conducted research for Club Champion that specifically looked at the club fitting experience for women and higher handicap golfers. How did Cassandra and the team use insights from this research to inform marketing decisions?
• 20:57 mins. How do you track brand perception and awareness?
• 24:25 mins. What is Cassandra’s framework for taking a brand like Club Champion forward in the future?

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In the third of Gather's three-part start-up series with Gather Collective Member Old Tom Ventures, we welcome Adeel Yang, Co-Founder of Dryvebox.

Learn about the journey so far including how Dryvebox recently took the decision to launch its franchise model; it has rapidly scaled from its first franchise to eleven across America.

Randi Zuckerberg was an early investor in Dryvebox. Dryvebox also has a wide range of collaborations with the likes of Lululemon, Cobra Puma, Michelob Ultra, Topgolf, Malbon, Topgolf, Barstool, LAGC, Lexus, and PGA Hope.

Adeel has other startup experience and understands the investor landscape; the pros and cons of partnership deals. Couple this with the experiences of Evan Roosevelt from Old Tom Ventures and you have a fascinating conversation packed full of helpful insights and advice.

Key discussion areas to listen out for:

• 3:18 mins. The Fairgame product journey so far – why did Eric see an opportunity to leverage human centric design, a simple user experience, and pair it with a beautiful brand?
• 3:00 mins. What did Old Tom Ventures see in Dryvebox and their Founding team that prompted them to consider investing?
• 7:50 mins. What’s the backstory of Dryvebox and how did Adeel jump from being a doctor over into starting a mobile golf simulator company?
• 12:00 mins. Many businesses start from a Founder’s need to “scratch their own itch.” How powerful a motivation is this if you are starting a company? Is growing a new company as simple as this?
• 15:00 mins. The value of co-founders. Is it important to seek other people to help build a new business?
• 22:40 mins. What has surprised Adeel the most about coming from outside the golf industry and building a business within golf?
• 26:03 mins. Which market currently demands Dryvebox the most: existing golfers, or people new to golf?
• 28:11 mins. Is it less desirable for investors to invest in a company run by a single person rather than investing in a team?
• 31:17 mins. How much of the early-stage decision making at Dryvebox was done through data and insights vs gut instinct?
• 33:20 mins. Does Adeel feel part of the golf industry? Or does Dryvebox feel like an external business with a product partnering with golf industry businesses? 
• 35:30 mins. Was it critical for Dryvebox to start discussing potential partnerships in the business's early stages?
• 39:52 mins.  “Staying Switzerland.” What is the no.1 learning that Dryvebox took from their first few years in the golf industry?
• 42:18 mins.  “Let other people do what they do best.” What is the no.2 learning that Dryvebox took from their first few years in the golf industry?
• 43:48 mins. Company Mission and Values – do they matter more to the next generation of customers?
• 51:02 mins. Was the decision to go the franchise route the biggest pivot for Dryvebox so far? What has Dryvebox learned from this?
• 58:14 mins.  How can you help Dryvebox? Want to discuss potential collaborations?

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“We are striving to create an experience so engaging that golfers will never want to leave the game.” 

(Fairgame)

In the second of a three-part series looking at golf’s startup ecosystem, we welcome back Gather Collective Member Old Tom Ventures and their guest Fairgame to talk about their journey so far.

If you read Golf.com, you may enjoy learning that one of Fairgame’s co-founders, Eric Mayville, built Golf.com’s publishing site that provides content to 10 million subscribers. At that time, Eric was a co-founder of Wondersauce, a global agency that now has 130 staff in five international offices.

One of Eric’s other Fairgame co-founders will be familiar to any watch collectors out there. Ben Clymer is the Executive Chairman and Founder of Hodinkee. He’s regarded as one of the leading voices in the watch industry, and brings that experience to golf.

“Golf today reminds me of where watches were 15 years ago.” 

(Ben Clymer, Co-Founder, Fairgame)

The third co-founder of Fairgame is reasonably well known in the golf industry. Despite his day job–being one the most famous international golfers on the planet–Adam Scott plays an active role in both the development of the Fairgame product and the promotion of the brand. In fact, the app Fairgame launched for golfers is helping Adam solve his own problem of staying in touch with golfing friends around the globe.

Old Tom Ventures is one of Fairgame’s first investors. They join Eric and Ben in this discussion to explain what they saw in Fairgame that prompted their investment decision.

Enjoy!

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Storytelling. It’s a buzz word. But what does it really mean, and why is it a superpower?

Effective storytelling can help golf brands connect with consumers. How, you may ask? We asked an expert. 

ASU Professor Kim Holst makes a living from words. Kim is a lawyer who teaches law students to write. She is also working on a PhD in journalism. Whether it’s rhetoric, analogy, or persuasion, Kim is fascinated by effective storytelling.

We asked her: If golf wants to expand its reach, how should we tell stories differently?

This is one of the most fascinating discussions we’ve ever had on the podcast.

Have a listen to find out why storytelling is critical to your business success.

Enjoy.

Key discussion areas to listen out for:

• 5:05 mins. Why Kim loves writing and words.
• 6:52 mins. Why Kim believes words are powerful.
• 14:25 mins. Why words matter in the golf industry, and why we should care about language.
• 26:24 mins. As a consumer herself, how does Kim feel about brands when she sees sloppy writing?
• 27:55 mins. What does storytelling mean to Kim; if Kim worked for a golf brand, how would she use storytelling to connect with consumers?
• 31:57 mins. How do you use stories to change people’s perceptions of your brand? How do your own biases influence the story you are telling?
• 37:10 mins. What brands do storytelling well?
• 41:38 mins. How can golf media be better storytellers?
• 42:52 mins. If golf wants to expand its reach, how should we tell stories differently?

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“Content creators and influencers have essentially become new media – new points of attention for brands that are more effective than broadcast.” 

(Daryl Evans, Rocket Yard Sports)

In the second of our three-part series with Rocket Yard Sports, we welcome back Daryl Evans, joined by special guest Trottie Golf. We delve deeper into the realm of golf marketing; exploring the impact of creator and influencer marketing on golf.

With over 11.8M views on YouTube, Trottie speaks with deep experience about influencer marketing during this podcast.

In this conversation, we talked about:

• How the creator space is changing
• How talent agencies work with content creators to develop storylines for brands. And how those stories are told by the content creators. 
• Trends in the golf creator space

Key discussion areas to listen out for:

• 3:54 mins. Trottie loved working with the world’s best players. But his audience reach is bigger by engaging fans through social media.  
• 8:28 mins. “Content creators and influencers have essentially become new media – new points of attention for brands that are more effective than broadcast. Their audiences never really decline.”
• 12:18 mins. How big is the opportunity for golf brands to have greater impact through relationships with content creators?
• 16:44 mins. The critical importance for content creators to have a brand building strategy.
• 22:05 mins. Who moves the needle when it comes to content creation in the golf industry?
• 25:53 mins. How content creators and brands can leverage relationships with elite tour professionals.
• 27:39 mins. Aligning brand and content creator values. 
• 30:07 mins. “Building brand equity is the equity that matters.” Why brands still need guidance on working with content creators.
• 35:22 mins. Content creators represent both the agency (Rocket Yard Sports) and the partner brands.
• 37:14 mins. How did the Trottie Golf brand come about?
• 39:36 mins. When did Trottie know it was time to double down on building his brand?
• 43:35 mins. How does Rocket Yard Sports help content creators like Trottie build a legacy plan?
• 45:31 mins. Where does Daryl and Rocket Yard Sports believe golf’s content creator space is heading in 5-10 years?
• 48:36 mins. Which Marvel superhero would Trottie Golf be in this future golf content creator universe?
• 49:48 mins. In Trottie’s opinion, what areas will golf content creation move into next?
• 52:18 mins. What are the white space opportunities for the men’s and women’s professional tours? How could they be addressed by working with content creators, influencers and brands?
• 57:21 mins. What happens if you don’t innovate as a brand?

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Where is golf marketing heading?

In our latest podcast, we spoke with Daryl Evans, Founder of Gather Collective Member Rocket Yard Sports. Daryl is an expert in positioning brands within sports and leveraging sports sponsorship to facilitate business growth.

In this first episode of a three-part series, we delve into the trajectory of golf marketing across three distinct phases:

1. The Past: How was golf communicated and marketed historically?
2. The Pandemic Years: How did the pandemic reshape golf’s communication and marketing strategies? 
3. The Future: What emerging trends are telling us about the future of golf communication and marketing.

Key discussion areas to listen out for:

• ·        4:45 mins. Golf’s evolution since the 1990s and its implications for current marketing strategies.
• ·        8:00 mins. The pivotal role marketing plays in reshaping the perception of golf.
• ·        9:40 mins. Reflecting on Golf Marketing 1.0 and its strategies, investments, and activations.
• ·        11:45 mins. Addressing the fracture in consumer attention and its ramifications for brands.
• ·        14:00 mins. Lessons learned from the Pandemic Years and their impact on marketing.
• ·        18.12 mins. Evaluating the repercussions of discount-focused marketing during the pandemic. 
• ·        21:51 mins. Balancing performance and brand marketing in the golf industry.
• ·        22:30 mins. Relationship funnels or sales funnels?
• ·        25:12 mins. Identifying golf brands that create emotional connections with consumers through narrative.
• ·        28:22 mins. The two most common marketing challenges for golf brands.
• ·        30:34 mins. Comparing advertising on professional golf tours with influencer marketing.
• ·        33:33 mins. Addressing the global reach of golf brands.
• ·        37:00 mins. A 2-minute summary of golf marketing’s future.
• ·        39:00 mins. The critical importance of aligning with brand values when selecting content creators and influencers.
• ·        42:02 mins. Recognizing the benefits of collaborative golf marketing.
• ·        43:55 mins. How golf is a three-dimensional market. What white space opportunities is this creating?
• ·        46:02 mins. Gather’s Non-Traditional Golfer Report. Why Rocket Yard Sports thinks it shows golf’s market opportunity,
• ·        48:27 mins. “There is a disconnect between how brands think fans engage, and how they really engage”. The importance of storytelling-led branding.
• ·        53.56 mins. A final message from Rocket Yard Sports to golf brands: Focus on the stories.

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In the first of a three-part video podcast series with Gather Collective Member Old Tom Ventures, we look at an emerging trend within the golf industry – a rise in startups.

Many founders and a number of investors have joined the Gather community, leading to interesting conversations about the investment opportunities that golf offers.

Previously, golf was seen as a trophy asset in the portfolio of many investors, rather than a commercial opportunity. Now, given the landscape of golf, we are seeing new stakeholders enter the investment space. One of which is Gather Collective Member, Old Tom Ventures.

Old Tom Ventures sees emerging golf companies as future market leaders. Through their fund, Old Tom Ventures invests in promising startups, guiding them through key growth stages. Old Tom Ventures expects these firms to add billions of dollars in golf market revenue in the next decade. By backing early-stage startups and acting as a syndicate, Old Tom Ventures offers vital support beyond just financial investment.

Evan Roosevelt and Matt Erley from Old Tom Ventures have knowledge across various aspects of the golf industry. So, we wanted to bring you deeper insights from their unique viewpoint.

Here are some key highlights to listen out for:

• 4:00 mins. What is Old Tom Ventures doing for the golf industry and for investors? What are the signals that golf startups are “having a moment?”
• 6.55 mins. Why is there opportunity for new founders in golf right now?
• 10.35 mins. “I have an idea! How can I talk with potential investors and get good advice?”
• 15.56 mins. Why is there an opportunity for investors to invest in golf right now?
• 23.34 mins. How is Old Tom Ventures navigating investment opportunities? If you are a founder, should you try to raise investment? When should you reach out to Old Tom Ventures?
• 29.30 mins. What are some big pitfalls that golf startups fall into?
• 33.42 mins. Not every business is going to be venture scalable. Here’s why that is not a bad thing.
• 35.16 mins. “I want to be a golf startup entrepreneur, where should I start?” 
• 37.14 mins. Incubators and accelerators: do they exist in golf and would they be beneficial for our industry?
• 43.35 mins. What’s one big advantage you have if you are trying to start a company in golf, compared to other sports?
• 46.45 mins. What are the cheat codes for building a business in golf?
• 48.42 mins. What is the spirit animal of the startup founder?
• 49.50 mins. Put in place contingencies along the way to help you qualify your business idea.
• 52.39 mins. Please send us your questions for Episode #2 in the Startup Series with Old Tom Ventures
• 54.15 mins. INVITATION FOR ACCREDITED INVESTORS: How to reach out to Old Tom Ventures and discuss some of the best opportunities.

Enjoy!

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How underleveraged actually is golf?

There’s noise in men’s professional golf right now. And there’s plenty of commentary on whether this is a positive look for our sport, or whether it is damaging.

What about if you take a very positive, but analytical lens on where this current period of flux might lead us? For both men’s and women’s professional golf, and our wider industry.

Our guest this episode is someone who is a joy to listen to in this regard. Well respected, hugely experienced across golf (commentating and analysing) and the wider sports and media landscape. 

Sébastien Audoux is a sports and media expert and has spent over 20 years in the industry. This hour will advance your knowledge and leave you feeling optimistic at where we are heading.

Some key highlights to listen out for:

• Start We know the fragmented nature of professional golf is frustrating to those of us working inside golf, but what about those outside of golf? “Let’s think about people (in media) that are not really following golf that closely….”
• 5.50mins What if all the “disruption” and noise currently in men’s professional golf is what was needed to solve this fragmentation?
• 7.30mins Complacency around the footprint in the US and the UK? “You expect a bigger willingness to try and attack those smaller markets…..we need to push in those other markets like the NFL, the NBA and many other sports have done so successfully.” 
• 8.18mins A belief in golf is that it doesn’t really have a seat at the big sports industry table. Where does Sebastien think that golf now sits in the wider sports business conversation?
• 12mins How underleveraged actually is golf? “Sometimes taking a risk for the long game, but be willing to accept some short term pain”
• 17mins How does Sebastien think that golf stacks up against other tier 1 sports as a field of opportunity for tech companies to invest in? What’s the untapped potential for golf?
• 24.50mins Is all PR, good PR? What’s this ‘stalemate’ between the PGA Tour and PIF going to do for golf’s image longer term?
• 38.30mins What is the opportunity on the women’s side of the game in these areas? Is it an equal size of opportunity, or an even greater one. And what’s stopping this opportunity being realised? “The potential for growth is much higher than the men”
• 55mins The missed opportunity because golf does not really “own” its storytelling…

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Golf is a large global industry. With that comes noise.

Headlines and statistics give short-term industry diagnoses. What these reports miss is a critical analysis of what the headlines or statistics mean for you and your business.

At Gather, we believe golf industry professionals want to cut through this noise and identify what information is specific to their business. 

So, this week we recorded a 28 minute podcast that discussed how to separate the chaff from the wheat when it comes to information. What should the golf industry really be talking about? Of course, we’d love to hear what you think about our discussion. So please let us know your thoughts.

In this conversation, we touch on:

• How can we make golf more entertaining?
• Has a switch flicked within golf? Is it perceived as an attractive commercial opportunity by investors, celebrities, sports stars – instead of a passion play?
• How can we make golf easier?
• The non-traditional golfer market is sizeable. So, what do we do about that?
• Geo-political shifts are moving golf’s power towards the Middle East and Asia. What does this mean for golf going forward?
• Will investment from the Middle East affect the golf sponsorship market?
• Will traditional golf sponsors continue to get the same ROI? If not, what will it mean if traditional sponsors start to step away?
• What are golf's workforce challenges and how are they being addressed?
• Is the golf industry environmentally sustainable? Does golf deserve the criticism it receives?

Enjoy!

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