• by Tanya Gazdik , August 7, 2019

With its first-ever advertising, breaking this summer, The National Golf Foundation aims to bring new golfers to the game. 

The campaign mocks the game’s stereotypes (argyle sweaters, “better-playing” men) and highlights some of its less known guilty pleasures (think intoxicants). The target audience is not current golfers. Individual ads are addressed to day drinkers, rec-league athletes, stoners and women. 

Titled “Welcome2Golf,” the effort includes two 30-second TV spots, three full page print executions and the new microsite welcome2golf.com. It is TDA_Boulder’s first work for the client, a Jupiter, Fla.-based trade organization that fosters the game and the business of golf.

TV media includes Comcast and Hulu. Print includes regional lifestyle monthlies and alternative magazines. 

A social effort,  “Golf because…” will include videos with sports and entertainment celebrities including Herm Edwards (former NFL player, coach, ESPN personality and current ASU football coach), Alfonso Ribeiro (actor on “Silver Spoons" and “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air") and Marcus Allen (former NFL player and O.J. Simpson driver).

The campaign initially breaks in Colorado and then will roll out to Florida, says Joe Beditz, National Golf Foundation president and CEO. 

“Colorado was picked as the pilot location because of its strong golf community and rich demand potential,” Beditz tells Marketing Daily. “Denver is one of the fastest- growing markets in the U.S. and demographics skew younger and more affluent. Other locations have yet to be determined, but there are many appealing locations.”

Marketers have not gone out of their way to promote golf, relying mostly on the popularity and media exposure of professional golf, he says.

“We’ve estimated there are 15 million Americans who are very interested in playing golf, but haven’t yet taken the first step,” Beditz says. “These are the people Welcome2Golf is meant to reach. Research shows that latent demand for golf skews younger, female and less traditional than the existing golf population. So we aimed our imagery and messaging in that direction.”