Callaway Golf has big plans to use new endorser Phil Mickelson in advertising, but while it may be possible to get some print ads out by the end of this year, television commercials will likely have to wait until early next year, said Larry Dorman, senior vice president of the club company.
Jerry McGee, an account manager at ad agency Young & Rubicam Brands, said he was meeting with Callaway officials at Callaway’s Carlsbad, Calif., office last week to discuss plans.
“There is no formal plan to use him, but there will be for sure,” said McGee, who oversees the Callaway account for the Irvine, Calif., office of the New York-based Y&R. “When you get a player of his magnitude, you don’t want to hide him.”
Callaway announced it had signed Mickelson to a long-term deal just days after Titleist announced that it had mutually agreed to sever ties with the No. 4-ranked golfer, but Dorman said that Mickelson actually parted ways with Titleist a “couple of weeks” ago. “We didn’t start talking anything seriously to him until he was released from his deal,” Dorman said.
Dorman would not reveal the value of Mickelson’s deal.
Published reports and industry sources estimate the Callaway deal at $7 million to $10 million a year, while Mickelson’s Titleist deal was worth about $4 million a year. Industry sources said tensions have been high between Titleist and Mickelson since at least last year, when Mickelson praised Callaway golf balls to a Callaway official on a voice mail message. Mickelson’s agent, Steve Loy of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Gaylord Sports Management, did not return phone calls. A spokesman for Titleist e-mailed the company’s official statement, which said the company and Mickelson made a mutual decision to part ways.
As part of his new deal, Mickelson will wear the Callaway logo on his shirt sleeve and on the side of his visor. The logo will also be on Mickelson’s golf bag, and he will wear Callaway gloves and shoes. Mickelson was expected to play the company’s Fusion Driver — which will be released to the public next year — and Big Bertha 3 wood and 4 wood at the Bell Canadian Open last weekend.
