Biggest advertising mistake that golf clubs are making

Imagine you’re opening a sandwich shop. Would you pay the money to buy into the Subway franchise, then refuse to allow any “Subway” signage or branding?

Nope. Brand recognition matters right?

Met with a fairly prominent mid-sized golf management company the other day.

It’s astonishing to hear how romantic people can be about “what they’ve always done”. I believe it’s an enormous vulnerability… and at the same time a HUGE opportunity for orgs that get it. Those that aren’t building brand are slipping toward irrelevance.

To me, when a golf club “buys into” a golf management contract, it’s a lot like a franchise relationship. They get in for two reasons:

1. Efficiency in a Box – The repetitive stuff gets simplified or outsourced, more buying power, freeing people up for more important things. Every management company offers this.

2. Brand Recognition & Selling Power. Like buying into the Subway franchise vs. starting your own local sub shop. Many management companies suck at this part of the value prop.

Why is it that a golf management company dismisses the value of building brand…and in the same breath tells me that none of their facilities allow them to post their logo anywhere on property?

You may be winning at half-time, but without brand, you’ll lose the game.