Golf Resorts
Many readers of the Burris Blog know that we do a lot of work in the golf industry. Over the years we have represented a manufacturer of golf cars and utility vehicles, marketers of plastic cleats, media entities, equipment makers - we've covered the spectrum of the golf business.
In our days working with Pinehurst I figured the target for a high end golf resort represented a very small part of the population. There are approximately 6.5 million "avid" golfers, those who play 25 or more rounds per year. And of those there are fewer than 2 million "affluent avid" golfers, those who play 25+ rounds and have household incomes in excess of $125,000. It's this smaller group that is the core marketing target for the better golf resort. And by "better," I mean the select company that includes Pinehurst, Pebble Beach, The American Club (Whistling Straits, etc.), Bandon Dunes, Kiawah, The Greenbrier, Sea Island and maybe one or two more.
My friend Frank Sanders at CSM could remind me how many of those "affluent avids" take golf trips every year, but, believe me, it's only a fraction of the total.
Now we work with PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and we're all about trying to insert that resort into the select group I mentioned above. Today we still go after the affluent avids. We aim at golfers, of course, but I try to remind myself - and my client - that advertising and similar communications strategies can only get us included among the number of resorts a golf travel planner considers for his - or his group's - vacation. It's his experience, and that of those who may refer PGA National to him - it's these things that really matter. And if it's a small universe to begin with, it only gets smaller and more difficult to market to if you don't deliver the best experience each and every time, for each and every guest.
I take 3-5 golf trips per year. This year alone I'll visit Scotland (Royal Troon among other courses), Monterey (Pebble Beach, Spyglass and Cypress Point) and Bandon Dunes.
(My brother Brad with me on our last trip to Bandon Dunes.)
Each of these trips will be memorable, but for what? The golf resort or destination that gets my business should want to know because they need me to come back and - more important - they need for me to recommend to those who may ask me that they, too, make a visit.
In our days working with Pinehurst I figured the target for a high end golf resort represented a very small part of the population. There are approximately 6.5 million "avid" golfers, those who play 25 or more rounds per year. And of those there are fewer than 2 million "affluent avid" golfers, those who play 25+ rounds and have household incomes in excess of $125,000. It's this smaller group that is the core marketing target for the better golf resort. And by "better," I mean the select company that includes Pinehurst, Pebble Beach, The American Club (Whistling Straits, etc.), Bandon Dunes, Kiawah, The Greenbrier, Sea Island and maybe one or two more.
My friend Frank Sanders at CSM could remind me how many of those "affluent avids" take golf trips every year, but, believe me, it's only a fraction of the total.
Now we work with PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and we're all about trying to insert that resort into the select group I mentioned above. Today we still go after the affluent avids. We aim at golfers, of course, but I try to remind myself - and my client - that advertising and similar communications strategies can only get us included among the number of resorts a golf travel planner considers for his - or his group's - vacation. It's his experience, and that of those who may refer PGA National to him - it's these things that really matter. And if it's a small universe to begin with, it only gets smaller and more difficult to market to if you don't deliver the best experience each and every time, for each and every guest.
I take 3-5 golf trips per year. This year alone I'll visit Scotland (Royal Troon among other courses), Monterey (Pebble Beach, Spyglass and Cypress Point) and Bandon Dunes.
(My brother Brad with me on our last trip to Bandon Dunes.)
Each of these trips will be memorable, but for what? The golf resort or destination that gets my business should want to know because they need me to come back and - more important - they need for me to recommend to those who may ask me that they, too, make a visit.
posted by Mark Burris - BURRIS at 2/19/2005 05:07:00 PM
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