In this episode of Scratch, Viren sits down with Alex Ames, Marketing Director at Manors Golf, the challenger brand bringing new energy, creativity, and cultural relevance to a sport long seen as elitist and inaccessible. Manors believes golf is a game to be explored, not mastered, and they are reshaping the category one cinematic campaign at a time.

Alex unpacks how Manors went from a small rebrand to a movement inspiring a new generation of golfers. He dives into the brand’s early struggles (“the Dark Ages”), how events helped them rediscover momentum, and how the team realised that attention—not product, was their true currency. He reveals the internal creative engine behind Manors’ iconic films, from Monday forensic reviews to Thursday idea punch-ups, and how viral thinking shapes every concept.

The episode covers everything from the Reebok partnership (and why they avoid “brand soup”), to location-led campaigns, to how everyday golfers and celebrities ended up sharing the tee sheet at Manors events. For marketers, the message is clear: if you want to change a category, change the story people tell about it.

Watch the video version of this podcast on Youtube ▶️: YT Link

          📚 Chapters:

00:00 – Intro & Viren’s fanboy moment
01:38 – Challenger brand shoutout: Satisfy Running
03:03 – What Manors Golf actually does
05:24 – Why golf needed a cultural refresh
07:42 – Golf as exploration: the foundation of Manors’ brand
14:31 – How insights were reframed for a new audience
15:47 – How social media opened golf to younger players
16:36 – Why storytelling became foundational to Manors
18:55 – The “Dark Ages” & the moment everything shifted
21:22 – Why events matter for brand building
22:23 – Their unique influencer strategy (no follower-chasing)
24:55 – The community-first mindset
26:03 – The unseen advantage of having a strong brand
30:23 – How Manors built its content machine
32:36 – Inside the Monday forensic review & Thursday punch-up
34:51 – How virality informs campaign execution
39:48 – Hook-first creative thinking
41:40 – “Blow up the golf cart”: Reebok collaboration
55:32 – Most underrated channel for challenger brands
58:08 – Closing thoughts

🖊️Mentioned in the show:

• Rival 50 - The Top Challenger Brands of 2025 - Rival's brand index with Imperial College London 
• Future of the CMO Documentary - A documentary for CMOs about the future of the role featuring the CMO of Mastercard, Shell, Dr. Scholl’s and many more.
• Satisfy Running – Favorite challenger brand reference for how to build culture around a sport:
• Random Golf Club (Erik Anders Lang) – Referenced as one of the early lifestyle-led golf collectives before Manors’ rise
• Arc’teryx – A key reference point for Manors’ positioning: “like Arc’teryx for golf.”
• The North Face – Another anchor brand referenced to explain Manors’ performance-meets-lifestyle functionality.
• Ryder Cup – Mentioned as the context for one of Manors’ biggest collection launches and a cultural moment in golf.
• Golfers Journal – Inspiration for golf as exploration and the storytelling aesthetic Manners tapped into
• Reebok x Manors “No Thanks, I’ll Walk” Collaboration: Campaign page.
• Max Fosh (YouTuber) – Inspiration for using hook-first creative thinking during campaign development
• Notion – The internal system powering Manors’ creative pipeline, punch-ups, and idea tracking.

Scratch is a production of Rival, a marketing innovation consultancy that develops strategies and capabilities that help businesses grow faster. This Scratch episode is hosted by Viren Samani, and he’s joined by Alex Ames, Marketing Director at Manors Golf.

Find Rival online at www.wearerival.com, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. 

Find Viren on LinkedIn

Find Alex on LinkedIn.

Say hi at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.

Rival is a marketing consultancy for brands that want to challenge convention in their category. We’re on a mission to understand what challenger brands do differently to grow in categories that are being disrupted, and use a challenger playbook to deliver outsized impact through an integrated, tech-enabled approach. Past guests include CMOs from Mastercard, GE, Shell, Hyperloop, Adobe, PepsiCo, and Papa Johns.

If you’re interested in learning more about marketing from successful CMOs, we compiled a list of the top 5 CMO podcasts to listen to in 2024; check it out here 🔗  https://www.wearerival.com/content-hub-articles/cmo-podcasts-you-cannot-afford-to-miss-in-2024