OEMs Sponsoring Social Media Influencers: Your Thoughts?

[Josh Parker]

I don't mind it at all.  It's more exposure and cheaper than adding professionals to the payroll.

[BringerofRain]

Everyone has done an excellent job explaining their viewpoints and I cannot disagree. 
 

OEM’s understand the future of marketing is through influencers and YouTube.  If they want their product to be seen by the max amount of consumers this is currently the only way. 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

1 hour ago, GolfSpy_BEN said:

I know @Jnoble89 is a huge fan of Grant Horvat & Micah Morris. He has told me how much he enjoys watching those two visit the Kingdom…

Nothing against them personally. Just want them to take me with them to the Kingdom ONE TIME.

[Rob Person]

52 minutes ago, Josh Parker said:

I don't mind it at all.  It's more exposure and cheaper than adding professionals to the payroll.

Yup, and the fact that the influencers make money off of viewership, pushes them to release better content. I remember when Takomo was just 2 sales employees turned influencers . They were very picky about who they released to. Now they have over 20 influencers pushing out their clubs.

[CFreddie]

30 minutes ago, Jnoble89 said:

Nothing against them personally. Just want them to take me with them to the Kingdom ONE TIME.

If you get the call @Jnoble89, I better be invited!

[Golfspy_CG2]

Anybody heard of Cody Alt? 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

2 hours ago, CFreddie said:

If you get the call @Jnoble89, I better be invited!

@CFreddie #GetSpiestotheKingdom

[Rob Person]

2 hours ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Anybody heard of Cody Alt? 

Nope. But gonna go looking 

 

Cody Alt is a serial entrepreneur who has taken the American legalised cannabis industry by storm. He is the founder of several companies and brands, including PureKana, Kushly, Elevate Media, Offseason Apparel, Cactus Hack, and Cure Wellness

Edited January 4 by Rob Person

[Golfspy_CG2]

10 hours ago, Rob Person said:

Nope. But gonna go looking 

 

Cody Alt is a serial entrepreneur who has taken the American legalised cannabis industry by storm. He is the founder of several companies and brands, including PureKana, Kushly, Elevate Media, Offseason Apparel, Cactus Hack, and Cure Wellness

yeah, not my cup of tea so to speak...ha

[Samuel09152]

15 hours ago, Jnoble89 said:

Nothing against them personally. Just want them to take me with them to the Kingdom ONE TIME.

Me too!! I even DM Trottie from time to time to see when he can fit me in..... He never responds, maybe if I send him my numbers compared to Micah's he will be interested. Actuall, I should not do that, it will likely scare him away.

I, honestly love OEMs sponsoring SM influencers because without them doing it, I likely would not have known where to start with golf equipment. I started watching, playing, and becoming intrigued by it because of a buddy and I watching ForePlay Pod/videos. Now that I watch alot of different people and podcast (abit of a youtube nerd), I have and continue to learn more about the products that sponsor them. The marketing technique works, and will continue to work because seeing someone like Bob Does Sports or Trent's Breaking 90 series, allows me to see how those club perform with someone at my caliber. It usually gives me more insight on how the club may react in my hands, which usually pursades my decision when buying golf related products. I know that until I met you fine folk and have started being on this forum, my judgement was onesided because of the "Big 3" golf companies deal's with influencers. Those are just my quick thoughts.

Let me say this also, because of this forum, I am becoming a bigger fan of smaller companies and products and my mind is more open.  

[Shrek74]

On 1/27/2023 at 10:18 AM, GolfSpy_APH said:

Full disclosure, at the time of posting this I haven't listened to this podcast. I plan to on my way home or over the next couple days. 

However I would love to year your thoughts on this topic as a whole. 

The question brings on a few different thoughts and I want to process them a little bit before listening to this so my feelings on it are my own. 

MGS Blog also had an article based around Good Good signing with Callaway you can read here: https://mygolfspy.com/breaking-good-good-golf-partners-with-callaway/

I can certainly see the appeal of it from both sides, I can't say any influencer playing a certain brand has lead me to want to or purchase a certain product. 

I only watched the part that pertains to your questions/comments about influences and golf, so I'll only give my thoughts on that. I also haven't read through all the other responses yet as I didn't want my reply to be influenced (see what I did there).

No SM influencer will ever convince me to buy something. In golf, no professional golfer will convince me to buy something. When I was younger, I might have looked at balls or shoes or something simple like that if a certain golfer (not Tiger) used/wore them. I did that a little when I played football/basketball/baseball in high school. Not now.

I've learned a lot in the last ~4 years about the game of golf and my game in particular that tells me to ignore brands, biases, professionals, influencers, and anyone else when it comes to what equipment I play or clothes/shoes I wear. Only my game/swing has influence over my choices these days. Blades will only hurt my game, so I don't play them. Titleist ProV1 are expensive and I get all the performance from my Maxfli Tour (or Vice Pro, OnCore Vero X1) for less then half the cost. I can't make golf balls "dance" the way the pros can, so there's no reason for me to even bother with looking at what they use.

I do, however watch multiple YT channels for reviews of clubs that are more unbiased and in some cases more appropriate to my swing speed and game. Someone like Gabe at Let's Play Thru is a perfect example. Although he's much better than I am, his speed is just a little less than mine, but he's what I term a "regular" golfer. So his reviews will be more applicable to me and my thoughts about stuff he's tested. I don't buy something because he says it's good, but I do allow his review to add to my research.

The company formerly known as TXG was one of the first channels I found when I started looking at golf YT stuff about 5 years ago. Their fitting videos especially opened my eyes to how I needed to think about clubs and fitting, something I hadn't really done before then. Obviously Ian, Mike, and Matt (now doing his own thing which I also subscribe to) are all far better players than I am and Matt and Ian are faster as well. I'm right around Mike's speed, so his results do peak my interest from a results standpoint. But I've found over these last 5 years that their reviews have been unbiased and full of good nuggets of info that I can use when I research something I'm interested in. They don't make me go buy something, but I trust when they say something is good or bad. I've actually thought about trying to get a fitting with Ian for my 50th b-day this Spring because I believe their fitting quality is one of the best around and they truly just want their clients in the best gear possible to play their best golf.

There are others I keep an eye on. Rick Shiels, Peter Finch, Matt Fryer, and Michael Newton among others. But their reviews are just that, theirs. I pay attention to what they say and how things work for them, but ultimately I'm not influenced to buy anything because they like it. I've also found they have biases towards certain club brands, so I pretty much watch more for entertainment than influence with these.

There are plenty of people who will in fact buy whatever a particular player uses. Mike at TXG (CC) will buy anything Tiger wears or plays. Doesn't matter if it's Nike, Taylormade, or wooden shafts. If Tiger uses it, he buys it. This is just wasteful in my opinion.

Buy what works for you, not what an influencer or some marketing team tells you.

Now, the other side of things is exposure for the brands. I think this is where the whole influencer thing actually works. If you look at how many people subscribe to channels like Shiels or Let's Play Thru or TXG (CC) or any of the others, you see that putting clubs in their hands gets tons of exposure for the equipment/clothing/shoes/technology. Even without official reviews, just having them play the stuff will bring interest and the more interest it can generate, the more sales will likely come. Good Good, Grant, Micah, and others who are actually good players will help brands not only reach a much wider audience but will allow the equipment to look good being used. Not everyone will watch golf tournaments, so getting the exposure these other ways helps manufacturers with sales in the end. If they're willing to pay an influencer like they do a tour pro (or instead of a tour pro), that's their business. I'll enjoy the videos, but I won't buy something based on that alone.

[Samuel09152]

14 hours ago, Jnoble89 said:

@CFreddie #GetSpiestotheKingdom

I tweeted the Barstool Classic so much (300+ days in a row with missing 1 or 2 days so had to restart my count) that they are going to bring it to Alabama. Do you think if we tweet at Taylormade everyday that they will eventually go for it? I'm willing to start that tweet to see if we can get some attention lol 

 

[Rob Person]

35 minutes ago, Samuel09152 said:

I tweeted the Barstool Classic so much (300+ days in a row with missing 1 or 2 days so had to restart my count) that they are going to bring it to Alabama. Do you think if we tweet at Taylormade everyday that they will eventually go for it? I'm willing to start that tweet to see if we can get some attention lol 

 

But where? Probably Pursell, as they seem to be the mecca for SM golf this past year

[ILMgolfnut]

Not so much clubs, but Erik Anders Lang at Random Golf Club influenced me to try Vice balls. Which I liked, but it's too hard to find them (website purchases ship from Germany; what I see on the shelves around here is their lower end balls), and not that much better than balls I can find more readily, so I went back to Srixon.

[bens197]

Makes a lot of sense. High ROI on a low cost investment that’s targeting specific demographics. 
 

For the young and old salts who say “this is silly” well guess what. They’re not looking to you as their audience. 
 

The one that stands out for me is Grant with TM. He’ll occasionally pop up on my socials and the overtly gregarious and “extra” is a turn off for me. 
 

But I get it. 

[bens197]

5 hours ago, ILMgolfnut said:

Not so much clubs, but Erik Anders Lang at Random Golf Club influenced me to try Vice balls. Which I liked, but it's too hard to find them (website purchases ship from Germany; what I see on the shelves around here is their lower end balls), and not that much better than balls I can find more readily, so I went back to Srixon.

Erik did a phenomenal story on Northwood GC in Northern California. I believe it was called “Adventures in Golf”.  Highly highly recommend watching.  It’s was a bucket list for me prior to his episode for an odd reason and a unique story I’ll share later.

That was my intro to Erik and he has a really polished nature to himself. Wonderful story teller, curious and inquisitive and makes watching an episode a pleasure.  

[Headhammer]

If it didn't work the OEMs would not still be doing it. I see these teens as influencers giving away clubs on Instagram and feel a little dirty following a young girl for a chance at a free driver. I would really be interested in what the WAR is of each of these influencers on actual club sales. 

[Headhammer]

Sorry Wrong Thread!

Edited January 10 by Headhammer

[ILMgolfnut]

On 1/5/2024 at 11:35 PM, bens197 said:

That was my intro to Erik and he has a really polished nature to himself. Wonderful story teller, curious and inquisitive and makes watching an episode a pleasure.  

Erik was a photographer and filmmaker before he became a golf nut (did a number of music videos), so he's had a little practice at telling a story on camera. He was also married to the Australian singer Sia for two years; I'd never heard of Sia but my girlfriend sure had.

[bbanksp1]

Makes total sense in that influencers build their following so they can get paid. OEM's want to market their products. Win Win. Its just not any more complicated than that. Would seem that this topic exists because theres some push back and negativity surrounding influencers from many of a certain age(mine). 

[Rob Person]

Almost started a new topic,  but remembered this was here.

Recently BustaJack, Wesley Bryan and a few other top youtubers have dropped their dedicated brands and switched to Takomo irons and other manufacturers for their drivers/woods. I use BustaJack as an example because from the beginning they were locked in with PXG. (Loved the Golfing old Glory series) they even did a complete refit, at their Texas HQ with the gen 6 clubs.

I've watched the Bryan Bros for awhile too, and it was exciting to see him earn his pga card in Bermuda. Now they are also using Takomo clubs (irons only I think) and a few pga pros have switched too.

I just keep wondering what it was that made them jump ship? PXG and Takomo both seem to have quality products, and they played some great golf with the PXGs.

I'm sure there was contract negotiations and money involved as a deciding factor somewhere. 

Now BustaJack has a new series Golfing thr Globe and more sponsor spots placed throughout their videos.

[Jim Shaw]

3 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

Almost started a new topic,  but remembered this was here.

Recently BustaJack, Wesley Bryan and a few other top youtubers have dropped their dedicated brands and switched to Takomo irons and other manufacturers for their drivers/woods. I use BustaJack as an example because from the beginning they were locked in with PXG. (Loved the Golfing old Glory series) they even did a complete refit, at their Texas HQ with the gen 6 clubs.

I've watched the Bryan Bros for awhile too, and it was exciting to see him earn his pga card in Bermuda. Now they are also using Takomo clubs (irons only I think) and a few pga pros have switched too.

I just keep wondering what it was that made them jump ship? PXG and Takomo both seem to have quality products, and they played some great golf with the PXGs.

I'm sure there was contract negotiations and money involved as a deciding factor somewhere. 

Now BustaJack has a new series Golfing thr Globe and more sponsor spots placed throughout their videos.

you mean Wesley Bryan is playing Takomo's? 

[Rob Person]

4 minutes ago, Jim Shaw said:

you mean Wesley Bryan is playing Takomo's? 

Yup

 

https://www.pgatour.com/article/news/equipment-report/2023/09/13/wesley-bryan-explains-his-unique-and-unexpected-set-of-takomo-irons-in-napa

[Jim Shaw]

6 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

Yup

 

https://www.pgatour.com/article/news/equipment-report/2023/09/13/wesley-bryan-explains-his-unique-and-unexpected-set-of-takomo-irons-in-napa

well, would you look at that... this golfer can play any iron he wants, and he picks Takomo's... wow, that is unbelievable in my mind... I mean I love them and they work great for me but Wes is one of the best in the world, a winner on the pga tour...That is so good for Takomo... pretty cool... thanks for the info...

[BringerofRain]

2 hours ago, Jim Shaw said:

well, would you look at that... this golfer can play any iron he wants, and he picks Takomo's... wow, that is unbelievable in my mind... I mean I love them and they work great for me but Wes is one of the best in the world, a winner on the pga tour...That is so good for Takomo... pretty cool... thanks for the info...

I too  wonder what the deal is for those irons. I would be very surprised if he was not heavily compensated for  those irons. Especially when thanks to you tube he is probably one the top 25 most influential PGA pros. 
 

It also makes a lot of sense to me takomo would find high visibility relatively cheaper option to reach golfers who don’t want to pay $1500 for a set of irons. 

[BringerofRain]

2 minutes ago, BringerofRain said:

I too  wonder what the deal is for those irons. I would be very surprised if he was not heavily compensated for  those irons. Especially when thanks to you tube he is probably one the top 25 most influential PGA pros. 
 

It also makes a lot of sense to me takomo would find high visibility relatively cheaper option to reach golfers who don’t want to pay $1500 for a set of irons. 

I feel compelled to follow up my post. It appears he has played Takomo since September of 2023. So I guess the marketing strategy may not be as fruitful as I thought considering I just found this out today and watch way too much YouTube golf. 

[Rob Person]

I was shocked when I heard BJ had dropped PXG (or the other way around) and can't find any other info as to why.

Personal thoughts are these influences sign XX years for a contract and then shop around for the best next deal.

[IndyBonzo]

I totally understand it from the OEM perspective.  And generally I am fine with it from the influencer’s side.  
 

But it can raise integrity issues in my mind for YT personalities who review clubs a lot of the time.  I’m looking at you, Crossfield.    Maybe it’s me but it seems he subtly diminishes Srixon’s competitors in his reviews, and poo-poos their marketing claims to a significant degree.  Honesty?  Maybe.  Biased?   Methinks.  

[Jim Shaw]

8 hours ago, BringerofRain said:

I feel compelled to follow up my post. It appears he has played Takomo since September of 2023. So I guess the marketing strategy may not be as fruitful as I thought considering I just found this out today and watch way too much YouTube golf. 

I was thinking about that as well, however September is a great time to start trying new equipment so you get the feel by February/March when the PGA season really starts cranking up. Looking at it from Wes' perspective. Also grabbing a PGA player and a PGA winner is never easy, I don't know much about Direct to Consumer products, or their marketing strategy, or their budget for that matter. I have a feeling, in this instance it was the product that sealed the deal, but i could be bias on that comment. 

I do know that, at the top of the pyramid, those players dictate what clubs or tools they use, so for example Jack Nicklaus played Miura's for many years but didn't make a big deal out of it. 

The "secret sauce" for me with the Takomo 301 MB's is the pure blade with believe it or not, some forgiveness for off centre hits, maybe that is what Wessley Bryan likes about them as well. Who knows eh?

[JohnToulupe]

It's a multifaceted topic with various perspectives to consider. From a marketing standpoint, influencer collaborations offer brands a modern way to connect with their target audience authentically. While influencers can effectively promote products, their endorsements may not always sway purchasing decisions. Yet, the trend highlights the evolving landscape of digital marketing and consumer behavior.
After delving into the podcast, you can find out more about emerging influencer marketing trends and case studies on this website. There, you'll discover in-depth analyses and expert insights to enrich your understanding of this dynamic field.

Edited March 15 by JohnToulupe