Gather Global Podcast

In the third of Gather's three-part start-up series with Gather Collective Member Old Tom Capital, we welcome Adeel Yang, Co-Founder of Dryvebox.Learn about the journey so far including how Dryvebox recently took the decision to launch its franchise model; it has rapidly scaled from its first franchise to eleven across America.Randi Zuckerberg was an early investor in Dryvebox. Dryvebox also has a wide range of collaborations with the likes of Lululemon, Cobra Puma, Michelob Ultra, Topgolf, Malbon, Topgolf, Barstool, LAGC, Lexus, and PGA Hope.Adeel has other startup experience and understands the investor landscape; the pros and cons of partnership deals. Couple this with the experiences of Evan Roosevelt from Old Tom Capital and you have a fascinating conversation packed full of helpful insights and advice.Key discussion areas to listen out for:3:00 mins. What did Old Tom Capital see in Dryvebox and their Founding team that prompted them to consider investing?7:50 mins. What’s the backstory of Dryvebox and how did Adeel jump from being a doctor over into starting a mobile golf simulator company?12:00 mins. Many businesses start from a Founder’s need to “scratch their own itch.” How powerful a motivation is this if you are starting a company? Is growing a new company as simple as this?15:00 mins. The value of co-founders. Is it important to seek other people to help build a new business?22:40 mins. What has surprised Adeel the most about coming from outside the golf industry and building a business within golf?26:03 mins. Which market currently demands Dryvebox the most: existing golfers, or people new to golf?28:11 mins. Is it less desirable for investors to invest in a company run by a single person rather than investing in a team?31:17 mins. How much of the early-stage decision making at Dryvebox was done through data and insights vs gut instinct?33:20 mins. Does Adeel feel part of the golf industry? Or does Dryvebox feel like an external business with a product partnering with golf industry businesses? 35:30 mins. Was it critical for Dryvebox to start discussing potential partnerships in the business's early stages?39:52 mins.  “Staying Switzerland.” What is the no.1 learning that Dryvebox took from their first few years in the golf industry?42:18 mins.  “Let other people do what they do best.” What is the no.2 learning that Dryvebox took from their first few years in the golf industry?43:48 mins. Company Mission and Values – do they matter more to the next generation of customers?51:02 mins. Was the decision to go the franchise route the biggest pivot for Dryvebox so far? What has Dryvebox learned from this?58:14 mins.  How can you help Dryvebox? Want to discuss potential collaborations? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you use insights to inform marketing decisions?What do you consider when expanding into new markets?How do you quantify markets?Learn the answers to these questions (and more) in just 30 minutes from Cassandra Bausch.Cassandra is the Director of Marketing at Club Champion. Club Champion delivers tour-quality golf club fittings to high performing, and recreational golfers. Each store has more than 50,000 clubhead, shaft, and grip combinations for golfers to test. Because the company’s approach is agnostic – the fitters don’t favour one brand over another – players find the best combination of components. After opening 100 new Club Champion brick and mortar stores in the last five years, the company is expanding internationally.“We’re always trying to pick a segment that is underserved, or isn’t thought about in the grand scheme of club fitting. Women make up about 35% of the golf industry in general, but if you look at club fittings they are maybe 10-15%. So that’s an underserved market. When we do market analysis, what we’re looking to do is learn how to speak to that segment.” (Cassandra Bausch, Club Champion)Key discussion areas to listen for:1:08 mins. The similarities of marketing to bowling fans vs. golfers. How helpful is it for golf marketeers to be the target market?7:27 mins. 100 new Club Champion brick and mortar stores have opened in the last five years. What’s the advantages and disadvantages of growing this fast?9:37 mins. How did Club Champion quantify the market opportunity five years ago? Would they assess new growth opportunities using different insights and metrics now?11:49 mins. Personalised club fitting has been available for a long time with club professionals. Why are more golfers getting fitted for clubs, and how is Club Champion capitalizing on this?14:40 mins. What difference is Club Champion seeing with international markets? And how do you change your marketing tactics to succeed in these markets?17:17 mins. When setting customer acquisition goals for a new market, does Club Champion use the same goal setting approach as in a new US state, or different?18:39 mins. Gather’s Sue Shapcott conducted research for Club Champion that specifically looked at the club fitting experience for women and higher handicap golfers. How did Cassandra and the team use insights from this research to inform marketing decisions?20:57 mins. How do you track brand perception and awareness?24:25 mins. What is Cassandra’s framework for taking a brand like Club Champion forward in the future? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Storytelling. It’s a buzz word. But what does it really mean, and why is it a superpower?Effective storytelling can help golf brands connect with consumers. How, you may ask? We asked an expert. ASU Professor Kim Holst makes a living from words. Kim is a lawyer who teaches law students to write. She is also working on a PhD in journalism. Whether it’s rhetoric, analogy, or persuasion, Kim is fascinated by effective storytelling.We asked her: If golf wants to expand its reach, how should we tell stories differently?This is one of the most fascinating discussions we’ve ever had on the podcast.Have a listen to find out why storytelling is critical to your business success.Enjoy.Key discussion areas to listen out for:5:05 mins. Why Kim loves writing and words.6:52 mins. Why Kim believes words are powerful.14:25 mins. Why words matter in the golf industry, and why we should care about language.26:24 mins. As a consumer herself, how does Kim feel about brands when she sees sloppy writing?27:55 mins. What does storytelling mean to Kim; if Kim worked for a golf brand, how would she use storytelling to connect with consumers?31:57 mins. How do you use stories to change people’s perceptions of your brand? How do your own biases influence the story you are telling?37:10 mins. What brands do storytelling well?41:38 mins. How can golf media be better storytellers?42:52 mins. If golf wants to expand its reach, how should we tell stories differently? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Where is golf marketing heading?In our latest podcast, we spoke with Daryl Evans, Founder of Gather Collective Member Rocket Yard Sports. Daryl is an expert in positioning brands within sports and leveraging sports sponsorship to facilitate business growth.In this first episode of a three-part series, we delve into the trajectory of golf marketing across three distinct phases:The Past: How was golf communicated and marketed historically?The Pandemic Years: How did the pandemic reshape golf’s communication and marketing strategies? The Future: What emerging trends are telling us about the future of golf communication and marketing.Key discussion areas to listen out for:·        4:45 mins. Golf’s evolution since the 1990s and its implications for current marketing strategies. ·        8:00 mins. The pivotal role marketing plays in reshaping the perception of golf.·        9:40 mins. Reflecting on Golf Marketing 1.0 and its strategies, investments, and activations. ·        11:45 mins. Addressing the fracture in consumer attention and its ramifications for brands.·        14:00 mins. Lessons learned from the Pandemic Years and their impact on marketing.·        18.12 mins. Evaluating the repercussions of discount-focused marketing during the pandemic. ·        21:51 mins. Balancing performance and brand marketing in the golf industry.·        22:30 mins. Relationship funnels or sales funnels?·        25:12 mins. Identifying golf brands that create emotional connections with consumers through narrative.·        28:22 mins. The two most common marketing challenges for golf brands.·        30:34 mins. Comparing advertising on professional golf tours with influencer marketing.·        33:33 mins. Addressing the global reach of golf brands.·        37:00 mins. A 2-minute summary of golf marketing’s future. ·        39:00 mins. The critical importance of aligning with brand values when selecting content creators and influencers.·        42:02 mins. Recognizing the benefits of collaborative golf marketing.·        43:55 mins. How golf is a three-dimensional market. What white space opportunities is this creating?·        46:02 mins. Gather’s Non-Traditional Golfer Report. Why Rocket Yard Sports thinks it shows golf’s market opportunity,·        48:27 mins. “There is a disconnect between how brands think fans engage, and how they really engage”. The importance of storytelling-led branding.·        53.56 mins. A final message from Rocket Yard Sports to golf brands: Focus on the stories. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How underleveraged actually is golf?There’s noise in men’s professional golf right now. And there’s plenty of commentary on whether this is a positive look for our sport, or whether it is damaging.What about if you take a very positive, but analytical lens on where this current period of flux might lead us? For both men’s and women’s professional golf, and our wider industry.Our guest this episode is someone who is a joy to listen to in this regard. Well respected, hugely experienced across golf (commentating and analysing) and the wider sports and media landscape. Sébastien Audoux is a sports and media expert and has spent over 20 years in the industry. This hour will advance your knowledge and leave you feeling optimistic at where we are heading.Some key highlights to listen out for:Start We know the fragmented nature of professional golf is frustrating to those of us working inside golf, but what about those outside of golf? “Let’s think about people (in media) that are not really following golf that closely….”5.50mins What if all the “disruption” and noise currently in men’s professional golf is what was needed to solve this fragmentation?7.30mins Complacency around the footprint in the US and the UK? “You expect a bigger willingness to try and attack those smaller markets…..we need to push in those other markets like the NFL, the NBA and many other sports have done so successfully.” 8.18mins A belief in golf is that it doesn’t really have a seat at the big sports industry table. Where does Sebastien think that golf now sits in the wider sports business conversation?12mins How underleveraged actually is golf? “Sometimes taking a risk for the long game, but be willing to accept some short term pain”17mins How does Sebastien think that golf stacks up against other tier 1 sports as a field of opportunity for tech companies to invest in? What’s the untapped potential for golf?24.50mins Is all PR, good PR? What’s this ‘stalemate’ between the PGA Tour and PIF going to do for golf’s image longer term?38.30mins What is the opportunity on the women’s side of the game in these areas? Is it an equal size of opportunity, or an even greater one. And what’s stopping this opportunity being realised? “The potential for growth is much higher than the men”55mins The missed opportunity because golf does not really “own” its storytelling… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A massive thank you to those of you that joined us for our recent Mentor Room: LIVE! as we welcomed Nicole Wheatley and Jojo Regan, two Gather members who are at the forefront of brand positioning. Both are passionately helping drive a new image for the game to new audiences. Listen out for key insights on:Investing in branding/marketing/PR - the key decisions and opportunities for more golf businesses to consider.How we can speak as an industry to the non-traditional golf audiences?The "unknown" golf market. How do you approach the golf audience that doesn't sit within traditional demographics with very little known about them (e.g. GenZ, Millenials) ?NFT's and the world of crypto - are there genuine opportunities for golf in here?Read more and check out the highlights video over on our website. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if golf, was just golf?Not amateur and professional, with so many fragmented organisations. Not with organisations for men and women separately competing for the same commercial sponsors and media outlets?“We HAVE to look at golf differently now”This week, we are incredibly excited to share with you our first ever Women's British Open Champion as a Gather Guest, who has some fascinating insights to share from how Australia are challenging the previous norms.Transitioning from elite tour professional to senior leadership within the golf industry is a rare feat. In addition, being a leader that challenges the norm and trailblazes with new concepts and collaborations, is even rarer. We loved our chat with Karen Lunn (CEO, WPGA Tour of Australasia). Join us as we dive deep into a fascinating conversation on the Gather Global Podcast.Karen just offered up so many incredibly valuable insights in this conversation, and we're very excited to now share them with you. Here's some of the key areas we covered:Governing bodies in countries pitching against each other for sponsorship, television coverage and government support, rather than collaborating. "Seems like a no-brainer." Learn why the WPGA and PGA in Australia are doing things differently and what other countries and organisations can learn.How would Karen currently score our industry, out of 100, in its ability to collaborate effectively for the benefit of the game?The biggest standout from the Australia-wide golfers survey? Hear what the huge opportunity is…and why it’s not about ramming golf club membership down people’s throats!Looking at partners with disruptive ideas as an opportunity for the industry, not a threat to the game.Hear about the switch Karen has made from an elite player, a major winner, into working as a leader in the sport. Lessons in resilience and keeping your motivation when doors are closing on you. Have former professional tour players honed this skill better than many?Do we still place too much value on golfing ability when appointing people into golf industry roles?Does the research tell us that PGA training is now focused on the wrong candidates? Karen’s view on the biggest opportunity for the golf community in Australia over the coming 3 years.Enjoy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you are starting your first role, or you're a senior leader in golf, there’s critical insights and learnings in this new episode. They come from someone who has gathered varied experiences and skills, put their hand up and asked for more help to learn and now see themselves in an influential role at a global brand at the age of 35. But still learning and staying humble.Chris Hedderman has worked as an Assistant Professional at a local municipal course, re-gripping clubs in minus temperatures in the cold of winter. He’s worked at one of the most exclusive clubs in the world, receiving the odd comment about not being the ‘usual’ type of Assistant Pro. He’s been on tour working with players and along the way, developed a wide range of skillsets which led him to his current role as Head of Marketing for EMEA at adidas Golf.Some very strong messages about why and how to listen to the younger people who love golf and who want to work in golf to help shape our future industry. Also, some learnings about how positive collaborations can be when you have no fear and leave your ego at the door. And of course….we talk about the "big" brand strategy behind the ‘Hoodiegate’ disruption…Here’s some of the great insights Chris shared with us:02.00mins: “Unhelpful stereotypes!” How far we still have to go to change these? 7.05:  “We’ve created robots” Cool young amateurs and Pro players still conforming to ‘golf fashion’. 17.53: “What are we so scared of?” Why doesn’t golf want to embrace change in what people wear? 21.54:  What is the risk, as a global brand, to adidas Golf doing various collaborations with new independent and smaller brands?35.59: “Huge OPPORTUNITY! Golf shops have “retail-tainment” on a plate!” How many golf pros do a great job of selling apparel and how much revenue are they ‘leaving on the table’? 45.00: “Bring me a ‘Stop the Bus’ moment…” Why we must lift up the voices of younger people in golf and listen to their ideas, for the future benefit of golf.49.02: Understanding the minds of Gen-Z for your future career and business. 56.43: Don’t let your peer group opinions hold you back from putting your hand up to learn more from experienced leaders in the industry. 63.00: How the best disruption happens… The inside story on the strategy for the adidas hoodie with Tyrell Hatton? 78.49: The “Dabblers” and “Potentials” are the MAJORITY of the golf market. (*Note: Not called simply “non-members”). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

PARTNERSHIP WORKING 2.0With vast experience working with partners globally spanning over 20 years, the approach to partnerships continues to evolve for Andy Brown. However, what's next for this space and will we see disruption? Here's some of the stuff we dig into in this chat, which offers lots of food for thought if you work with partners in your role or want to learn more in this area:Golf used to be a lot of handshakes, whereas now communication barriers have been broken down and behaviours have changed. When we consider the evolution of the digital space - how has this changed the role of working with partners in our industry?The partnership models across golf seem quite obvious and generic. Are there any collaborations that have had a high impact and break the mould?Why do you think innovation and golf rarely end up in the same sentence? The Irrigation & Turf Care Industry is hugely innovative but it goes under the radar. Surely the innovative thinking from this sector could be valuable in other sectors of golf too?Driverless cars, green cutting machines, supermarket checkouts! When will we see the robots? Is the agronomy world going to see less human capital and more machine automation?What might golf have to do to stay, not only relevant, in 50 years time, but to actually survive?In just 30 years, due to climate change predictions, will our sport become as extreme as the 'Urban Golf' concept the recent BBC Sport article theorises? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You know those times when you wish you could hear the chats between the industry leaders on topics that really matter? Gather now offers you that fly on the wall experience with our Gather Ripple Series. Fred Popp (Zag) and Emma Taylor (former Head of Marketing, Tottenham Hotspur) talk about creating environments and communities for sports fans. Emma’s amazing time at Tottenham Hotspur saw the club grow exponentially and recently culminated in the opening of a stunning, world-class stadium. She played a lead role in developing the brand experience for this unique sports and entertainment venue and worked as part of the Senior Management Team delivering every aspect of the visitor experience.Fred has incredible experience of helping global brands in his own right, including The Open. You can find out more from his time as guest on the previous edition of the Ripple with Phil Grice.Explore this fascinating conversation with insights packed into just 20 minutes:1.05: Finding the delicate balance between marketing, customer sales and brand building 3.14: Building multi functionality facilities in line with customer needs 10.09: Adapting existing facilities to be more family friendly 13.12: How can golf appeal to multi-generations? 16.30: How to connect with non-golfers? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You know those times when you wish you could hear the chats between the industry leaders on topics that really matter? Gather now offers you that fly on the wall experience with our Gather Ripple Series. In our second episode, Phil Grice (Independent Consultant) continues the ripple by interviewing international sports branding expert Fred Popp (Partner, ZAG). Fred has worked with a list of stellar clients in his career, including The Open, the NBA, Tottenham Hotspur and the FIFA World Cup.Explore this fascinating conversation with insights packed into just 15 minutes:- What is golf's 'stock value' right now?- How is the golf industry perceived in the wider sports industry? In line or behind?- How would you adapt professional golf to develop a better green grass landscape?- What can traditional golf clubs do to change negative perceptions?Our next Gather Ripple will see Fred turn to another leader to continue the conversation… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us for this intellectual chat with Andrew who has had a foot in both camps of academia and the golf industry for many years. With a career and projects that span various areas of the golf industry, he’s uniquely positioned to delve into some questions we have been itching to ask.You know those ones that you feel should be raised, but nobody really knows where to start with them? Yeah….those ones.Open your mind and check this one out, we delved into: “Who owns golf?” and how does this relate to governance, power and influence?The question of structures within golf, the history and how forward thinking the governing organisations are.How tension within the structures can be helpful.Is it fair to expect anything national golf associations to solve all the challenges for golf in a country?Are there too many associations within golf?Does innovation and innovative thinking have the potential to drive changes in the governance of golfWhat might the future of Higher Education golf programmes look like? How can you create a meaningful and appropriate education and development opportunities for yourself within the industry? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Starting in banking, leaving to start up a real estate private equity development fund, training to become a golf professional, summers interning in the US and now currently the Vice President of Sales for Arccos Golf. It’s been a diverse journey, which sees Andrew now working at a really interesting case study of a successful start-up in golf. This episode was a little bit like going back to school for us…. We learned A LOT. Listen out for:Why is nobody tracking the biggest percentage of golfers in the UK? Any sensible business wouldn’t survive without a way to engage with all their customers.What is one of the things the golf industry completely undersells to its consumers?Start-ups in the golf industry – do they need to be “go big” or “go home” in order to be successful?Setting lofty goals vs “achievable” goals, especially if you plan to pitch for investment.“Quit your job” – perhaps the first step for someone in their 20’s or 30’s, working in the golf industry and with ambition of starting something up.Does Andrew think there is an investment market for big thinking in golf and does golf need more education on what investors look for?If you grow up in the golf industry, is there a risk your thinking is institutionalised?A great idea from Andrew on how the Gather community could help you to test your business model. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.