What is changing with Adams Golf

[NGage]

Let me just add a little inside info on the sales side of Adams. They recently hired Mark Perfetti, who led Cleveland Golf during their big leap as a full line club company as a VP for many years in the late 90's until recently. Mark is a dynamic leader and will help get Adams on the right path.

 

I for one will now look to Adams for my new irons, especially the new Black finish forged irons. Mark was in the middle of the Gunmetal line for Cleveland and I'm sure will bring a lot of good things to the table for Adams. I will be rooting for Adams to get their ship righted and move forward to success.

 

I like the sound of all that....now where's that green "plus" button when you need it.

[Addicted2Golf]

I wouldn't overreact to the losses posted by Adams in 2009. I actually think their performance was indicative of the overall state of the industry and not necessarily an indicator that they are struggling or being mis-managed.

[GolfSpy Dave]

Who does Adams really compete with now in the market? Based upon sales numbers.

Cleveland? Cobra? Mizuno (US)?

 

Obviously the clubs cover all skill ranges, so I am just thinking who is on their level.

All of them are carving sales from the TM/Cally/Nike/Ping/Titleist pie

[MmmmmmBuddy]

Who does Adams really compete with now in the market? Based upon sales numbers.

Cleveland? Cobra? Mizuno (US)?

 

Obviously the clubs cover all skill ranges, so I am just thinking who is on their level.

All of them are carving sales from the TM/Cally/Nike/Ping/Titleist pie

Not the easiest question to answer. Most of the other club companies are part of a much larger corporate group. TM/Adidas, Titleist and Fortune Brands, Cleveland and SRI, Nike, Cobra and Puma.... To my knowledge, Adams is just a club company, owned by itself, kind of like Ping.

[NGage]

Not the easiest question to answer. Most of the other club companies are part of a much larger corporate group. TM/Adidas, Titleist and Fortune Brands, Cleveland and SRI, Nike, Cobra and Puma.... To my knowledge, Adams is just a club company, owned by itself, kind of like Ping.

 

 

It is....and in the market-place I would put them somewhere on the Nike, Cobra and maybe Cleveland level.

[GolfSpy Dave]

Not the easiest question to answer. Most of the other club companies are part of a much larger corporate group. TM/Adidas, Titleist and Fortune Brands, Cleveland and SRI, Nike, Cobra and Puma.... To my knowledge, Adams is just a club company, owned by itself, kind of like Ping.

 

 

It is....and in the market-place I would put them somewhere on the Nike, Cobra and maybe Cleveland level.

That was my assumption, but is it more accurate to see them trying to whittle revenue from the big companies rather than head to head with cleveland

[MmmmmmBuddy]

That was my assumption, but is it more accurate to see them trying to whittle revenue from the big companies rather than head to head with cleveland

Cleveland is owned by one large company with a lot of capital. Cleveland is a very small division for them. Adams is fighting for a larger piece of the iron and wood markets. They own the Hybrids and ladies clubs, at least at our store..

[Addicted2Golf]

It is....and in the market-place I would put them somewhere on the Nike, Cobra and maybe Cleveland level.

 

Nike is HUGE and Cobra was bought by Puma. Maybe Scratch then...lol.

[MmmmmmBuddy]

Nike is HUGE and Cobra was bought by Puma. Maybe Scratch then...lol.

Again... Cleveland is owned by a GIANT company.. Sumitomo Rubber.

look it up.

[NGage]

Nike is HUGE and Cobra was bought by Puma. Maybe just Cleveland then...

 

I'm talking only in regards to their share of the market place. Obviously the others have much larger companies behind the brand.

 

That just shows how good of a job Adams is doing -- a little company doing just as well as the bigger, more heavily financed/backed companies can do.

 

JMHO

YMMV

[MmmmmmBuddy]

I'm talking only in regards to their share of the market place. Obviously the others have much larger companies behind the brand.

 

That just shows how good of a job Adams is doing -- a little company doing just as well as the bigger, more heavily financed/backed companies can do.

 

JMHO

YMMV

It is nice to see a smaller independent company do well, but one has to wonder how much longer it can go on...

[GolfSpy Dave]

So everyone is a huge corp except Adams?

Scratch is not as common, although small too.

[MmmmmmBuddy]

So everyone is a huge corp except Adams?

Scratch is not as common, although small too.

Scratch is quite small, and I'm sure there are some smaller independent companies out there, but i cannot think of them right now.

[NGage]

So everyone is a huge corp except Adams?

Scratch is not as common, although small too.

 

 

[jamo]

Again... Cleveland is owned by a GIANT company.. Sumitomo Rubber.

look it up.

 

I have their tires, very nice.

[GolfSpy Dave]

 

 

ORLY?

 

Ignorance is bliss.

[Addicted2Golf]

 

 

 

Brutal. Actually, we need a emoticon of a guy shooting an arrow and completely missing the target. Dammit, where is that updated emoticon pack MGS?

[DJNiich]

I have thought more of ADAMS clubs in just the past year than ever before. I may have put Wilson Staff ahead of them a year ago.

[Shambles]

Are you saying that Mark Perfetti has some new ideas/mojo that were not executed at Cleveland?

 

I never said any such thing. Please don't put words in my mouth.

 

Marketing strategies for any company change with the conditions confronted, the assumptions made or the interpretations of available data, or any combinations of the above. There is really no telling without being closer to the matter and I am very far away and way too ignorant. It's just an alternative interpretation of company strategy that may or may not stand. Market share is also an important consideration of a company's value.

 

 

Shambles

[GolfSpy Dave]

I never said any such thing. Please don't put words in my mouth.

 

Marketing strategies for any company change with the conditions confronted, the assumptions made or the interpretations of available data, or any combinations of the above. There is really no telling without being closer to the matter and I am very far away and way too ignorant. It's just an alternative interpretation of company strategy that may or may not stand. Market share is also an important consideration of a company's value.

 

 

Shambles

Sorry if you took my question as a quote. I was merely looking for your speculation. No offense intended.

[lmh3]

Adams sales have been far greater than their initial projections. I have lists of products that are on backorder until mid-April, while that is both a positive and negative sign for them. They are moving inventory, but now they can't keep a full supply to meet the demand. Now if they over correct and order too many more pieces and miss out on the club buying time of the year for most people, they will be stuck with on hand inventory that they will need to clear out (see a3 Iron Sets still in stores now).

 

As far as the evolution of the company itself, we witnessed a company grow from a niche brand into a larger player in the market. They focused on the game improvement/senior area for the early years since there are a lot more of those type of players out there then there are in the "better player" category. They were able to make a dent in that market and now are turning their attention to the "better player" category. They need to try and avoid the trend of releasing multiple drivers for the same target group in one season that they seem to be getting closer to. They were able to succeed in the company evolution track that Nickent and Orlimar were not able to.

[GolfSpy Dave]

As far as the evolution of the company itself, we witnessed a company grow from a niche brand into a larger player in the market. They focused on the game improvement/senior area for the early years since there are a lot more of those type of players out there then there are in the "better player" category. They were able to make a dent in that market and now are turning their attention to the "better player" category. They need to try and avoid the trend of releasing multiple drivers for the same target group in one season that they seem to be getting closer to. They were able to succeed in the company evolution track that Nickent and Orlimar were not able to.

Do you think that there is a pressure to release the drivers as soon as they are ready to make sure that the innovation is still innovative? What I mean is if driver 1 is in stores and doing well, and driver 2 is ready, is there a risk in waiting to release it because other companies can move past your new innovation in the mean time. Would it make more sense for RnD to just take every other one to market? I have wondered this about TM too of course.

[MmmmmmBuddy]

I missed the Western Regional at my shop today... I could have gotten a better feel of how the company was doing. All things considered, I feel like Adams is in much better shape than some other smaller companies out there.

[lmh3]

Do you think that there is a pressure to release the drivers as soon as they are ready to make sure that the innovation is still innovative? What I mean is if driver 1 is in stores and doing well, and driver 2 is ready, is there a risk in waiting to release it because other companies can move past your new innovation in the mean time. Would it make more sense for RnD to just take every other one to market? I have wondered this about TM too of course.

 

They run into the danger of de-valuing their product if it is too fast and confusing the marketplace. I have heard plenty of comments about the 9032LS coming out very shortly after the first Speedline and now the Fast 10 on the heels of the 9032LS. Taylor Made follows a similar pattern of releasing as soon as a slight innovation is made, it leads to a lot of people saying that they will just wait until the "next" model comes out and get the other on sale. Adams has already had to subsidize the gift card promotion that retailers are running on the Fast 10 drivers, I'm sure all of the parties involved would rather sell the club at $300 and not have to give a $50 gift card with it.

 

Taylor Made gets away with it in that they make obvious changes in the models, it is a natural progression to have the first r9 at it's smaller head size with three adjustable weights, then the 460 head with no weights because you are unable to make up for the added weight in the ports, to finally getting that technology down so that you can do the SuperTri with it's 460 head and 3 movable weights. Adams has a tougher deal with just making it a little more aerodynamic or a little more forgiving, it is not as visually apparent to the customer. I'm not saying that I disagree with bringing the most innovative product possible to market, just that you run a thin line between being seen as cutting edge or just over saturating the market.

[Shambles]

Sorry if you took my question as a quote. I was merely looking for your speculation. No offense intended.

 

Apologies should be offered by me. I over reacted.

 

Business strategies are sometimes comparable to armies that are made to struggle against each other and the win can be more because of the quality of leadership and strategy than because of the courage and tenacity of individual soldiers. Good leadership consumes fewer resources but there truly are times when resources must be expended for stretegic objectives. There are many examples in history of inferior resources making the win because of superior management.

 

In the case at hand I was thinking of the possibility that management might have been liquidating assets for the sake of gaining market share. It's unlikely that a golfer with a new set of clubs will continue shopping and if he takes a liking to how your clubs perform, you might gain a loyal customer who will not easily be drawn to competitive products the next time he feels the need for something new. Hogan might have been driven by pride and a need to protect his self respect when he dumped an entire production cycle to the junk yard rather than sell it even at discount but he's been enjoying the benefits all the decades since. I'm certain his accountants cried tears of rage but the marketing benefits that his company reaped are magnificent and far beyond price.

 

 

I really don't know what the strategy of that company is because these things change according to data and interpretation of data. I'm just certain that marketing decisions can be driven by many factors and I know too little about that company's condition.

 

 

Shambles

[MmmmmmBuddy]

 

 

Taylor Made gets away with it in that they make obvious changes in the models, it is a natural progression to have the first r9 at it's smaller head size with three adjustable weights, then the 460 head with no weights because you are unable to make up for the added weight in the ports, to finally getting that technology down so that you can do the SuperTri with it's 460 head and 3 movable weights. Adams has a tougher deal with just making it a little more aerodynamic or a little more forgiving, it is not as visually apparent to the customer. I'm not saying that I disagree with bringing the most innovative product possible to market, just that you run a thin line between being seen as cutting edge or just over saturating the market.

Isn't this the same progression made with the R7??

Small R7

R7 460 w no weights

R& 460 with weights...

 

Seems really similar, with the same reasons from TM for the progression....

[lmh3]

Yup, that is why I was never one who got riled up about Taylor Made rolling product so quickly, they make obvious changes to the clubs that are readily visible to the consumer. With the Adams line, it is a little harder to see the advancements which is why I feel that it may be a bit tougher for them to differentiate newer models from older models.

[GolfSpy Dave]

it seemed to me that the free fairway promotion really devalued what was/is an excellent fairway wood too...

[lmh3]

That was Callaway's fault since they started the $1 fairway wood promotion, everyone had to follow suit then. The fairway wood was a great product, although I think that the Fast 10 fairways are even better.

[MmmmmmBuddy]

That was Callaway's fault since they started the $1 fairway wood promotion, everyone had to follow suit then. The fairway wood was a great product, although I think that the Fast 10 fairways are even better.

was it Callaway?? or Cleveland?? With Launcher 460 and fairway wood promo??