As a brand saddled with a poor reputation, golfers were down on Top Flite—and sales were down, too. The brand had to signal real change, real fast, before new-to-market competitors stole even more share.
Category
Sports & Recreation
Services
- Audience research
- Brand strategy
- Product naming
- Logo design
- Packaging design
- Point-of-sale design
The results
Double Digit
sales increase without any media support
Talking with golfers led to a strategy that struck a chord
Our research uncovered a large segment of golfers who don’t see the sport as their passion, but as a chance to escape, crack some beers, and have fun with friends. This escape definitely isn’t big on tradition—among other things, these golfers were the first to push the relatively new practice of playing music on the course.
“A fun round and some laughs at the 19th hole are just as important as the score after 18.”
Turning up the fun in messaging and design
Led by this music-inspired insight, we developed a new, rock ’n’ roll-inspired positioning—adopting rock’s brash attitude to stand out in a sea of dimpled sameness. This positioning drove the re-branding that was able to grab attention in store and on the course, all without an accompanying marketing campaign.
- A bold, edgy new logo signaled change to casual golfers and Top Flite’s new “ditch golf tradition” personality
- A fun tagline called casual golfers to the tee to Blast It—their ball and their music
- Better names for two important SKUs: the D2+ was renamed “Hammer,” and the ball for ladies was renamed “Empower”
- Unique packaging designs featured our weekend-duffer golfers rocking out on every box—plus ball features communicated visually with music soundboard slider bars
- POS showcased an eye-catching, 3-D electric guitar amplifier front and center instead of typical golf visuals such as balls, clubs, or graphics making claims like “the latest advanced technology.”
