It’s rare that a PGA Tour pro would chunk a shot so badly that mud would wind up on his face. But that’s exactly the type of highlight — or lowlight — TaylorMade wanted for its new marketing campaign, which promotes a product launch this week.
Whether the golfer is a pro or an amateur, mis-hits happen, and that’s the basis for this campaign, which coincides with the launch of a new iron on Wednesday.
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| A campaign of mis-hits “makes the pros look a little more human,” a TaylorMade exec says. |
TaylorMade worked with PGA Tour Entertainment to comb through old tournament footage and find the mis-hits that will be featured in a 30-second spot, as well as a new website, mis-hitshappen.com.
A teaser ad with some of the flubbed shots has been running on Golf Channel for the past month, pointing to Wednesday’s product launch. A new ad will debut this week on Golf Channel with more of a technical focus on what makes the iron so forgiving, and a third spot featuring Sergio Garcia is planned for early next year. These spots will run on Golf Channel, CBS and NBC, the PGA Tour’s network partners, as well as Sky Sports in Europe and networks in Asia.
Melissa Ziegler, TaylorMade’s director of marketing, took the lead on planning “Mis-Hits Happen” and worked with Zambezi, a Venice, Calif., creative agency, on production of the ads and other video that shows up on the new website.
“I think this makes the pros look a little more human, and as a brand, that’s something we’d like to do more,” Ziegler said. “We wanted to find some of the shots that you don’t always see on TV, and tackle that head on.”
TaylorMade has relationships with more than 300 players internationally, so there was no shortage of prospects. It was just a matter of finding the mis-hits that were the best fit for the ads and the website videos.
Garcia, Justin Rose, Jason Day, Ryan Palmer, Boo Weekley and Camilo Villegas were the six golfers TaylorMade decided to feature. Among the clips used: Garcia with mud splattered on his face; Day hitting out of cactus; and Rose covering his mouth after an especially poor shot.
The website goes a step further and provides interviews with each of the golfers talking about the mis-hits. Another video will launch this week on the site showing how mis-hits from the new club’s toe or heel can travel about as far as shots that are hit flush. CBS analyst Gary McCord, Columbia University researcher Mark Broadie, and Sean Toulon, TaylorMade’s executive vice president of product creation, are featured in the video.
Each of the TV commercials will direct viewers to the website for additional video content.
On the launch of the irons Wednesday, TaylorMade plans media events in Dallas, home of PGA Tour pro and TaylorMade endorser Justin Leonard; Las Vegas, site of this week’s PGA Tour event; and Hickory, N.C., site of this week’s Champions Tour event. At each site, a TaylorMade pro will demonstrate the new irons with members of the media. Those type of events will continue into next month.
“The idea is that these irons will help golfers from the pro to the average golfer,” Ziegler said. “Everybody has mis-hits; the pros just don’t have them quite as often.”
Ziegler didn’t know how the players would react when asked about the mis-hits, but “they were amazingly open and honest about the shots,” she said. “You’re used to seeing these guys hit super-human shots and we said, ‘Let’s take them off the pedestal.’ They were really good sports about it.”
TaylorMade didn’t reveal how much it is spending on the launch, but Ziegler called it “a massive effort.”
