Callaway Golf's new online documentary featuring rapper Scarface is an example of how the brand "is using content on unexpected channels to lure players to a game that is suffering from an image that it is not millennial friendly," according to E.J. Schultz of AD AGE. Callaway is "striking content deals aimed at making golf a little more cool and a little less country club." The 10-minute film will feature Scarface "getting fit for golf clubs and other equipment" at Callaway's Southern California HQ and then "using it on the golf course." Callaway Senior VP/Marketing & Brand Management Harry Arnett said golf and hip hop "typically wouldn't go together," but Scarface "really shows that golf is really a sport that transcends demography and transcends what your normal expectations would be." The film will premiere in September. Callaway also has a partnership with Red Bull Media House aimed at altering golf's "stuffy stereotype." The deal includes an "upcoming video series called 'Distance Lab' that will feature" golf instructor Hank Haney giving tips to Red Bull athletes. The three-episode series "will run on Red Bull's channels as well as on Callaway TV, a channel the marketer launched earlier this year for Apple TV and Roku." Callaway also has been active on Snapchat, where the brand's content has included a video of Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger "hitting golf shots at Heinz Field during the week of the U.S. Open." Arnett said the initiatives are aimed at "creating an avenue for a new audience to think about Callaway" (ADAGE.com, 8/15).
BIG HITTER: Cavaliers G J.R. Smith said, "If I were to do my own shoe, it’d definitely be like a lifestyle shoe. I also really want to do a golf line. I want to create my own golf shoes. I play all the time." NBPA.com's Jared Zwerling noted the Team Swish lifestyle store, a sneaker and apparel retail shop built in Smith's hometown of Millstone Township, N.J., by his father, Earl, is "scheduled to open later this month." Smith later this week will also host his 10th annual charity golf tournament (NBPA.com, 8/8).
