TM and Sergio

[Blue in Munich]

So a manufacturer decides to give out free stuff to over a hundred unsuspecting people as well as some other nice touches and you believe they should get no plaudits at all for a nice gesture ?

I suppose that might depend on whether or not you'd paid full whack for one in order to fund TM's largesse in handing out freebies to somebody else. Because TaylorMade aren't paying for, the punter is.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I suppose that might depend on whether or not you'd paid full whack for one in order to fund TM's largesse in handing out freebies to somebody else. Because TaylorMade aren't paying for, the punter is.

Well thats valid for every single purchase made by anyone for anything - your money will go towards advertising and marketing events etc etc.

I paid full whack for a SLDR and im more jealous that they got to meet Sergio as opposed to be given free stuff.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Well thats valid for every single purchase made by anyone for anything - your money will go towards advertising and marketing events etc etc.

I paid full whack for a SLDR and im more jealous that they got to meet Sergio as opposed to be given free stuff.

As usual you choose to miss the point; yes, there's an acceptable margin for advertising & marketing in any company and there's vastly inflated prices to fund hype in some companies and a lot of top-end golf companies fall into that category, not just Taylor Made. One reason why I now choose to spend my golf money away from the big names.

 

[CMAC]

No, I'd have felt pretty chuffed at being gifted a brand new driver, of course I would. Completely irrelevant. This is PR at its most fundamental - see any giveaway...ever. I don't think TM deserve any plaudits for handing out free items to unsuspecting members of the public. Nothing clever or innovative about this piece.

methinks you don't understand marketing



p.s no-one is saying it's innovative.......there is really nothing new in any marketing

 

[Deleted member 15344]

As usual you choose to miss the point; yes, there's an acceptable margin for advertising & marketing in any company and there's vastly inflated prices to fund hype in some companies and a lot of top-end golf companies fall into that category, not just Taylor Made. One reason why I now choose to spend my golf money away from the big names.

So things like the SLDR and Big Bertha and the Top End drivers are priced high purely to fund hype ?

Maybe the prices are high to fund the extensive research that goes into producing the high end equipment ? Im guessing we would have to see the relative price breakdown on each driver etc before either is found to be true.

Would you still chose not to purchase the expensive drivers etc from the top end companies if you knew they could give enhanced performance ?

 

[Imurg]

Don't forget TM spend $200+ million on Marketing as opposed to $40 million on R&D - you need to sell a lot of clubs to recoup that amount of overhead,
These top end drivers - retailing at nearly 300 quid probably cost less than £50 to make/ship....

 

[triple_bogey]

This was a publicity stunt, pure and simple. It's been discussed on the US forums.

The TM PR team did an excellent job and obviously have some of the best people around. Out of all the TM staffers, why pick Sergio and especially at Bethpage? 2002 US Open anyone? Great way to repair old wounds methinks.

I may be wrong, but I'm sure Bethpage gets many times the amount of visitors hoping to get a tee time. Not the 30-40 people that got lucky and got a free fitting and driver.
Whatever the truth is, still a nice touch by TM :thup:

 

[hovis]

Don't forget TM spend $200+ million on Marketing as opposed to $40 million on R&D - you need to sell a lot of clubs to recoup that amount of overhead,
These top end drivers - retailing at nearly 300 quid probably cost less than £50 to make/ship....

So are you saying you think they should sell their drivers cheeper and spend less on gimmicks like this?

 

[Imurg]

So are you saying you think they should sell their drivers cheeper and spend less on gimmicks like this?

They could.....the marketing budget takes a good old chunk of the 300 quid.
They also have to pay their Tour Pros...

But that's how they decide to do their business - who am I to say if it's right or wrong.

But don't think TM just thought " AW heck, let's go down to Bethpage and give way a few drivers"
Same as Callaway didn'put on KoD just to make everyone feel good - they did it to sell product.

 

[Blue in Munich]

So things like the SLDR and Big Bertha and the Top End drivers are priced high purely to fund hype ?

Maybe the prices are high to fund the extensive research that goes into producing the high end equipment ? Im guessing we would have to see the relative price breakdown on each driver etc before either is found to be true.

Would you still chose not to purchase the expensive drivers etc from the top end companies if you knew they could give enhanced performance ?

Ah, so cheaper automatically means inferior performance does it? Methinks they've suckered you in. My playing partners who've seen me use the top end gear and now the lesser known brand would disagree.

 

[chrisd]

.

Some companies - TaylorMade, Nike etc - are fortunate enough to be able to do all three. .

Not "fortunate" to be able to do it, they can do it because they make vast sums of money from marketing their products better than others do!

When Callaway gave me a free Big Bertha Alpha at KoD I wasn't about to run them and their marketing down, in fact, I was highly delighted and wish to thank all of their customers whose purchases helped them be so generous , including me who had recently bought a set of their irons!

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Ah, so cheaper automatically means inferior performance does it? Methinks they've suckered you in. My playing partners who've seen me use the top end gear and now the lesser known brand would disagree.

Im not sure i say that anywhere within any of my posts

I simply asked if you would still not purchase for example a SLDR even if you knew it could give you an increased performance

 

[Astraeus]

methinks you don't understand marketing



p.s no-one is saying it's innovative.......there is really nothing new in any marketing

Methinks I understand marketing just fine. Do you clap through TV commercials?

Not "fortunate" to be able to do it, they can do it because they make vast sums of money from marketing their products better than others do!

When Callaway gave me a free Big Bertha Alpha at KoD I wasn't about to run them and their marketing down, in fact, I was highly delighted and wish to thank all of their customers whose purchases helped them be so generous , including me who had recently bought a set of their irons!

Fortunate wasn't the correct word. I'm not discrediting TM's efforts in developing good products and backing them up with good marketing and wouldn't suggest for a second that luck has brought them to where they are today.

 

[CMAC]

Methinks I understand marketing just fine. Do you clap through TV commercials?



.

if you say so, your posts show differently

 

[Blue in Munich]

So things like the SLDR and Big Bertha and the Top End drivers are priced high purely to fund hype ?

Maybe the prices are high to fund the extensive research that goes into producing the high end equipment ? Im guessing we would have to see the relative price breakdown on each driver etc before either is found to be true.

Would you still chose not to purchase the expensive drivers etc from the top end companies if you knew they could give enhanced performance ?

Ah, so cheaper automatically means inferior performance does it? Methinks they've suckered you in. My playing partners who've seen me use the top end gear and now the lesser known brand would disagree.

Im not sure i say that anywhere within any of my posts

I simply asked if you would still not purchase for example a SLDR even if you knew it could give you an increased performance

If you don't actually say it, you certainly infer it. I would consider more expensive kit, if I thought it would make a difference, but it would depend on how much difference. A SLDR costs about 3 times as much as my current one, but despite the huge price difference it won't hit it 3 times as far. As far as I'm concerned there's a law of diminishing returns for your buck.

As for the extensive R & D budget that you suggest justifies these prices, how come almost as soon as the next big thing resulting from this research is announced it's trumped by the next bigger thing and within a year is less than half price in the sales? It's the Emperor's new clothes as far as I'm concerned and a tour pro handing out a few drivers at a range won't change my opinion.