Golf Industry Central Autumn 2014 | Page 11

Industry News NZ GOLF LAUNCHES LOVE GOLF CAMPAIGN It began with the now world-famous #KogoesPro video with Lydia Ko and All Black Israel Dagg and now New Zealand Golf launches the LOVE Golf campaign. “It highlights how affordable golf can be if you break membership down to a weekly fee, as gym membership does,” said Rowsell. It is the first time that New Zealand Golf has undertaken a nationwide promotion of golf with the aim of the campaign to drive people towards golf club membership and to also promote participation and change perceptions of the national game. “The website will also show the public how many different types of membership offerings are available at each club, giving the likes of those with busy schedules and young children the chance to look at memberships that are more tailored to their lifestyle.” Ko and Dagg, who featured in the video, which attracted more than 110,000 views on YouTube and global media interest, are the first of many LOVE Golf ambassadors of people from all walks of life. The LOVE Golf website will make getting into golf a simple process with a search tool for people to search for memberships and offers. Jan Rowsell, the Marketing Manager of New Zealand Golf, hoped that the campaign would be a landmark promotion for golf in New Zealand. “We have been working really hard over the last 12 months with the LOVE Golf campaign and we are really excited to launch this initiative which has the potential to change the way people perceive golf,” she said. Rowsell believed the key to the LOVE Golf campaign will be its longevity. “To have an impact of the casual player in New Zealand the LOVE Golf campaign will be on going and have a long term focus of building golf club membership and making the game we all love sustainable for the future.” Rowsell, who has recently taken up golf membership herself after a hockey career that included representing NZ, said there have been challenges in running a nationwide campaign that works for all clubs. “We are fortunate to have many different and unique courses in New Zealand however this creates its challenges when trying to do something nationally that can work for everyone. “Flexibility within the campaign was therefore the key to its success and getting support from the clubs. Feedback so far has been very positive that we have achieved this.” The LOVE Golf website has been created and is designed to be light-hearted, fun and welcoming and to show people just how affordable and accessible being a member of a golf club is. Every club that signs up for the LOVE Golf campaign will offer golfers an introductory offer of three rounds of golf and a lesson with the club professional (if applicable). Golf clubs will receive access to a LOVE Golf tool kit where they will be able to change out stock imagery for their own use providing clubs with professional marketing collateral which is tailored to their own needs and different offerings. The LOVE Golf brand, which will be used on merchandise, is already in demand and this merchandise will be available soon. Ko and Dagg proved to be the ideal ambassadors for LOVE Golf with their natural camaraderie and banter which many casual golfers can relate to. “We were fortunate to get such a great response to the video we made with Lydia and Israel as our LOVE Golf ambassadors. The chemistry between the two is great and they tell the story of how much fun golf can be and how it can be played by all abilities. “We’re looking forward to adding more LOVE Golf ambassadors from all walks of life as the campaign rolls out and will be looking to use social media as the primary driver to again tell all the wonderful stories about the love of golf.” Golf Industry Central Autumn 2014 9