Billy Casper Golf CMO Kyle Ragsdale (@BillyCasperGolf) is excited about the sport's outlook in the digital and social spaces. The former Vox Media exec wants Billy Casper Golf to be as equipped for that future as possible. This includes the company not being known as just a course management firm, but as a brand that connects golfer of all interest levels to the sport. To help accomplish this, Ragsdale last year led a brand modernization. He said, “We’re still finding our voice in social media. There are still things we don’t talk about -- we don’t get into people’s personal lives, we take a certain tone that’s in line with the kind of business that we want to run.” Ragsdale added, “How can we honor and curate stories that we think is interesting to golf? That’s our mission, but we’re not there yet.”
Attraction to the golf industry:
SOCIAL SNAPSHOT Must follow: I’m very topical in what I chase down. Favorite app: Arccos. I am crazy about my golf swing. Average time spent per day on social media: Two hours.
It's ripe for digital disruption. I see it at the fundamental product level, so the process of booking a tee time a week out and spending five hours and a bunch of money to play golf, that is central to what we do in this industry. But people just don’t have time for that. There is a fundamental product change that has to take place. Rounds can’t be five hours. TopGolf gives that experience of hitting a pure shot, but not in the confines of the linear world that we’re used to living in. As a marketer, what excites me is people will talk about golf 365 days a year. They will obsess over shots, obsess over equipment and obsess over the Tour. To be able to tap into that kind of engagement presents a ton of opportunity.
Social media helping niche areas of golf:
Take GolfBoard, for example. Those are some of the most-watched videos in all of sports. You have this really unique crossover opportunity. And for any social piece to work, it has to be an interesting piece of content. Laird Hamilton, a known entity in surfing, on what looks like a surfboard surfing a golf course just embodies everything that we love about golf. Any alternative view of the traditional round of golf is really going to tap into that population that has interest in it and not just golf shots. It just starts with all-around, well-thought out content.
How social media has changed golf:
The easy example is the Dude Perfect work that is taking golf into interesting circles. Look what happens when you smash a golf ball through a watermelon, for example. It’s bringing golf to digital in a less traditional view. Callaway also does a wonderful job of this. They have created their own content network. But it comes from a very creative content creation aspect.
Social platform best suited for golf:
Visually, Instagram for sure. Golf is such a visually powerful tool. From the instruction level, there is nothing better than YouTube. Then Facebook from the sharing aspect. We have big investment initiatives going on with all three platforms.
Trend that you are excited about:
Wearables, and it’s not completely figured out yet for golf. The wearable device is going to make golf way more social. Other than our cell phone, there isn’t a good connected device on the course. There’s a big void in what happens socially on the golf course. There are a lot of technologies that are poking in and around this. We also will when we are able to solve what’s truly compelling to be connected while you are on a golf course, that’s going to be interesting.
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