Tag Archives: Pinterest

2013 Golf fun includes the Golf Channel’s Fantasy Golf Challenge

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Last year I participated in a fantasy golf league for the very first time.  I chose the Golf Channel Fantasy Golf Challenge because I am a huge fan of the golf channel (especially the Morning Drive show).  Each week, Winn McMurry, would join the morning show to give her picks.  In the early stages I wrote posts each week about my players but found that to be a bit repetitive and I had other topics I wanted to share with my readers.

In all honesty, I had set goals for 2012 for myself and failed miserably.  I was very optimistic and didn’t realize how hard it would be to win just one week (which I thought was an achievable “stretch” goal).  My best week was when I ranked 1,551  (I finished the year ranked in the mid-5,000 range).  On a bright note, I did beat my friend who was playing but not by much (and she missed a few weeks) so this year I really have to be on my toes.

The one thing that I did not like about the league was that the leader-board only showed the ranks for the top 100 and did not show the total number of players.  So you could compare yourself to the top 100, the people in your own league, and the Golf Channel experts but that was it.  Therefore, knowing my final rank was mid-5,000 really did not mean anything since I had no basis for it expect that I clearly was not in the top 100.  But I would have liked to know where I was against all players. I actually wrote the golf channel fantasy team an email at the end of the season and suggested they add the total number of players.  Now, they may have been planning it all along but the new player profile includes your overall rank against everyone.

Screen shot Fantasty Profile

Click to see a large image of the screen shot of the fantasy profile layout.

This makes it a bit more fun for those of us that may never be in the top 100.  If the number (48,638) in the screen shot is indicative of the number of players last year, then being in the 5,000 range was pretty good for a beginner.  Of course, lots of room for improvement.

The Golf Channel has also added the LPGA majors to the fantasy golf game and that makes me very happy.  I think it promotes the women’s game and hopefully will expand the fan base for the LPGA.

The other new twist is a Mulligan!  You get to drop your lowest score each segment (three segments this year and I’m guessing the segments will be Spring, Summer, Fall).  I’m not sure of the date breaks for the three segments because of the shortened PGA tour schedule.  In 2013 the PGA will play only 40 tournaments between January and September. Then the 2013/2014 season begins in October which is the tour’s new wrap-around season.

Also, in the spirit of social sharing, the Golf Channel has added Twitter, Facebook and other social sharing tools to the site.  I’m not sure it will be meaningful to tweet about my picks but I setup a Pinterest board to follow my fantasy picks.  A Pinterest board will allow me to add images and write recaps. I participated in the CME Titleholders LPGA Pinterest contest last year and I had the winning board.

I have set goals for the 2013 fantasy golf season.  Obviously I want to win because that is the reason we all play games.  I will also be very happy to better my 2012 end of season position and I have set two more goals. First, to win one week (same stretch goal as last year) and second, be in the top 1,000 at the end of the year.

Finally, I never understood the guys at work that did the fantasy football or baseball teams but now I get it.  Fantasy games draw you into the action. I have always loved watching golf but the fantasy game makes watching the tournaments even more fun.  The result of playing the fantasy game that I did not expect is that I discovered new golfers to watch.  Players that may or may not be the next “break out star” but I am now interested in watching them play.

The LPGA’s Marketing Challenge

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The LPGA has a challenging issue in the American market.  The challenge is to change the perception of the LPGA in the mind of the average American golf fan.

What is really behind this challenge?  Let me share a recent conversation I had with other golfers on the Wednesday before the Wegmans LPGA Championship.  I was playing golf with a group of women (all play a lot of golf and are passionate about their sport).  I asked if they watched the LPGA and they all said no because the top 10 women golfers are all Korean.  Their perception is that the LPGA is becoming an Asian tour.  Their declaration that the top 10 players are all Korean is not correct. They were surprised when I told them both Stacy Lewis and Christie Kerr are in the top 10 of the world rankings; and that Stacy Lewis had won two of the last three LPGA events.

On Thursday, I started watching the Wagmens LPGA Championship.  It looked like an American might actually win this major tournament; Paul Creamer, Christie Kerr, and Stacy Lewis were playing well.  Then, on Sunday,  a Chinese player, Shanshan (Jenny) Feng shot an amazing 67 and won.  She is the first Chinese player to win but this means that the current title holders for the four LPGA majors are all Asian (from Korea, Taiwan, and China), and this is “the story” that is focused on in the media.

On the golf channel, both Ron Sirak and Tom Rosenforte raised the issue of what Feng’s win means for the LPGA.  Ron Sirak even suggested that it might mean the LPGA Championship could be held in China in the near future.  In Beth Ann Baldry’s GolfWeek online article she also pondered what Feng’s win means… “For all we know, decades from now this tour might be based in China. Crazier things have happened.”  These golf commentators are adding fuel to the fire and provide even more proof of the “image battle” facing the LPGA marketing team.

So what’s the LPGA to do?  They have tried very hard to position the tour as a “global” tour and promoted Yani Tseng so that fans can embrace her.  This is an important message because the huge growth in golf will be from markets like China.  But frankly, that doesn’t really help with the immediate (and sensitive) image issue facing the tour in its key market, the United States.

It is important to give credit where credit is due and the leaders of the LPGA are reinvigorating the tour overall. For example, they have added events, gotten new sponsors, and they have a really great new marketing campaign for 2012 —  “See why it is different out here.”  I promise, you will enjoy the video below.

They also have embraced social media as I highlighted in my previous blog post “Funny Tweets from LPGA Golfers.”

Now this is all great but the problem is that the message is not getting out to the average golf fan (at least not where I live).  The ads I see for the LPGA are only on the golf channel and mostly shown during coverage of the LPGA.

So what is the LPGA to do?  Well, here are a few suggestions.

  1. Get the Golf Channel to show the new ad campaign during broadcasts of the other tours; especially the PGA.  I get why the new ads are shown during LPGA coverage, but to me this is “preaching to the choir.”  As a marketing professional, this has always been a “pet peeve” of mine — showing ads that are intended to reach new customers to viewers already engaged with your product.
  2. Target an ad campaign to the viewers that “long for the days of Nancy Lopez.”  Heck, get Nancy to do some ads to promote the new breed of American players.  The message is that if you liked Nancy Lopez, then watch Stacy Lewis.  Which brings me to the next issue.
  3. Promote the heck out of your top American players.  Stacy Lewis is #2 in the Rolex world rankings — make a big deal of it.  Play off the developing competition between Stacy Lewis and Cristie Kerr to be the top American.  It’s great that the golf announcers talk about it during the broadcast but take advantage of it in your marketing (use all that great TV footage for some great viral videos).
  4. Expand social media and create a Pinterest strategy.  First, I give credit to the LPGA for having an official Pinterest page; but it has no strategy to engage Pinterest users. The strategy right now looks like they just put up some images as placeholders. They are missing a huge opportunity to brand the LPGA (as well as women and golf)  on a social media site whos biggest demographic is women. I can think of lots of quick wins for their Pinterest presence.
  5. It’s great that the LPGA has embraced Twitter with their players; but now it’s time to see if they can get some love from their brothers on the PGA. The young golfers on the PGA tour “are champions” (excuse the pun) at tweeting and some of the PGA players have huge followings.  I am curious if PGA players follow the LPGA.  If yes, see if they will tweet about it.
  6. Focus on grassroots marketing (and not just when the LPGA is in town for a tournament).  Basically create an outreach program with content that golf associations can use in their eMarketing channels.  There are many golf organizations that are key influencers in their markets and could be the local cheerleaders of the LPGA but they need to be given the messaging and the stories to push.

This blog post may seem like I’m on my soapbox but it just irks me that the golf media has to keep the focus on the large number of Asian players on the LPGA.  Since the media is determined to keep it as a top story; it is up to the tour to create the stories to give the home fans something to embrace.  Many of the American LPGA players are trying hard to step-up and compete (should I say it again, Stacy Lewis is #2 in the world) so they are doing their part.

Golf fans are passionate about their sport and usually have a favorite player (or players) that they follow.  For golf fans that like to cheer for the “home town players,” the LPGA has a lot of great American players to promote in the US market.  Golf fans love to watch great drama unfold during tournament play.  The LPGA has all these things, but right now it seems to be the best kept secret from the average golf fan.