Captivating golfers - why brands should be on the green

But why should brands add the golfing environment to their marketing mix? The first half of the answer is simple: Golf represents a growing culture in South Africa and the audience is made up of well-heeled, predominantly male individuals who are extremely well-educated and are either retired or in middle and senior management corporate positions, are company directors, professionals or self-employed entrepreneurs.

The second part of the answer is this: the environment is ideal in that it lends itself to very effective brand messaging and brand engagement. Golfers are in the environment for six hours at a time, on average, and usually play once a week. They socialise, they drink and they have fun; in other words they are in the perfect frame of mind to assimilate brand messaging. Plus, the environment is captive.

Here are more reasons for brands to be active in this environment:

Golfers are family orientated with 66% living in households of three or more. They are super wealthy, with 37% earning in excess of R50k per month and more than a third earning over R100k a month. They are massive investors - 60% have retirement annuities, 41% have share portfolios and 36% invest in unit trusts. In addition, 22% own two or more residential properties.

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They are serious sports nuts and avid fans of rugby and cricket. They enjoy mountain biking, playing cricket and fishing and when it comes to news, they choose sports news just above local news.

Golfers travel a lot. 76% have flown in the past year and 65% have hired a car. And 50% of them are travelling overseas in the next year.

They’re also extremely well connected, with nearly all of them using a smartphone and just over 60% using a tablet device.

They also like a tipple or two with over 70% of golfers regular beer drinkers and a growing contingent who select wine as their beverage of choice. Red wine being at the top of this list. 64% of golfers are also whisky drinkers and the majority of golfers will hang around for a drink after their game.

When it comes to cars, this audience favours luxury German marques such as Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes Benz and Audi. It is also interesting to note that of the 82% who said that they were traditional golf club members, 10% of them are also members of virtual golf clubs.

So what does all of the above tell us about the golfing audience? They’re wealthy, they love sports, they’re financially fit, they’re discerning, they have technology know-how, they indulge in luxury goods and consume premium alcohol brands. For brands wanting to tap into this audience, the golf environment offers huge scope for awareness and engagement.

Golf Ads™ offers an innovative and exciting range of branding formats and activations touchpoints for reaching an upper LSM audience in an environment that offers high dwell times and excellent frequency. For more information contact Simon Turck az.oc.sda-flog@nomis 083 252 8387 or go to www.golf-ads.co.za and follow @ProvantageSA