Football players love golf, but do golfers love football?
At Topgolf, the high-tech indoor golf chain, it seems they do. The brand surveyed its customers and found that more than 80% of them are football fans, according to VP of Brand Marketing Katie Van.
That’s why Topgolf’s latest campaign is about football, not golf.
“We always think about, ‘What’s our competition for your time and your dollar?’” Van told Marketing Brew. “During football season, that competition shifts a little bit because football is such a huge part…of every single weekend.”
Since there’s no competing with college and NFL football for the attention of many American households, the Topgolf marketing team embraced that passion to give football fans what they want during the season “without leaving Topgolf on the sideline,” Van said.
From green to gridiron
What is it that most football fans want most from the months of September to February? Besides a winning record for their team, they want all football all the time.
To meet that need—while simultaneously encouraging people to visit Topgolf venues—the company is introducing a “football-inspired experience” that includes a field-goal golf challenge, new reservation and suite packages that accommodate game times, and football-themed food and drinks. Topgolf also rolled out ad spots to spread the word; the campaign, called “Topgolf Has Football,” is set to run throughout the season, Van said.
“We know that football is a big part of culture in general, and a huge part with our players,” she said. “But what we also knew is that they didn’t necessarily think about Topgolf when they thought about football, and certainly not for game day.”
The campaign is meant to drive traffic to venues (a major KPI for the company throughout the year) and boost customers’ “fun scores,” another KPI that Topgolf measures through surveys after visits, Van said.
Friendly competition
The creative concept for “Topgolf Has Football” was spun off of the brand’s summer campaign, “You’re Better Off at Topgolf,” which was similarly designed to position Topgolf as a contender for people’s time and money versus “other competitive occasions” like spending the day at a pool or a bowling alley, Van said. The ads lean into the potential downsides of other activities, such as uncleanly environments and unfavorable weather.
The latest spots are targeted to a broad audience “regardless of who your crew is that day,” Van said, whether it be families or friend groups. The general approach to football season was more based on psychographics than demographics, she added, tapping into the competitive nature of a lot of Topgolf’s customers.
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“We have a very strong part of our player base that is very competitive, and they like to play sports, they like to watch sports,” she said. “That’s the underpinning of everything that we’re doing for football.”
Ideally, the campaign will get people in the doors and keep them coming back through football season and beyond, Van said. With golf’s cool factor on the rise and the sport becoming increasingly diverse, a trend that Topgolf has helped drive, golf brands have plenty of opportunities these days to grow loyal audiences.
“Golf as part of culture is ever increasing,” Van said. “We did a partnership earlier this year with Netflix on Happy Gilmore 2. I think that was just a great golf and culture moment. We’re always looking for those sorts of opportunities to reach our golf audience [and] well beyond.”