Six-time PGA champion Lee Travino said about his short game “Putts get real difficult the day they hand out the money.” Even if you have never played a single round of golf you have probably felt this phenomenon yourself. As the Masters' tournament approaches and you are preparing to launch your marketing campaign, you might feel that same sense that even the smallest tasks are getting a little bit harder. With this in mind, today we are taking a closer look at the small adjustments that you can make to maximize the marketing potential of the Masters.

Be Where Your Consumers Are

In any sporting event, there will be a certain amount of positioning that is necessary to gain the kind of attention you are looking for. To use a golf analogy you should never be in the rough when you can be on the green. Strong positioning of your brand ambassadors and promotional materials should take into account that while the Masters has many venues and possible places to stake your claim, everyone is there to watch the golfers. While you are unlikely to be able to sponsor every golfer and plaster them like a Nascar, there are other possibilities. Your brand ambassadors can integrate with the crowd following a specific match and hand out free items that make it easier to be a spectator, such as branded bottles of water or hand fans for the heat. You can also place kiosks and other stationary marketing areas near high-volume thoroughfares or eateries where customers are bound to pass by. 

Three Big Components To Successful Sport Marketing For The Masters

There are three simple yet powerful principles you should follow to maximize your success at the Masters:

1. Don't Upstage The Event

The annals of sports marketing are like a graveyard for brands that thought that they were bigger than the event that they were sponsoring. While the ultimate goal is to link your brand with the tournament in the mind of the fans, you should make your brand all about golf, not the Masters all about your brand. If you can't have a presence on the course, host a viewing party where others who are in the same vote can watch the big matches with you. If you seem to be authentically excited about the event it is easier to win over the fans who feel the same way.

2. Exercise Lateral Thinking

Commonly articulated as thinking outside the box, lateral thinking does involve moving outside your comfort zone. If you have a target demographic that has shown the highest degree of loyalty to your brand, it may be tempting to keep on pressing that button until it breaks. However, it may be more prudent to focus on the fastest-growing demographic rather than the largest one. This may require you to attempt marketing events that you have never coordinated before, and this will be as potentially lucrative as it is exciting.

3. Play To Win 

This is the most self-explanatory. You have a specific goal that you have to meet by having a presence at the masters. Commit to that goal and outline all the steps that exist between the start of the campaign and that goal. Most of the hardest work will be in the preparation, but just like Lee Trevino said you should focus the most when there are the fewest tasks left to do. Execution is essential, and there won't be any green jackets waiting for you if you shoot for par.  

Do you need more help with your marketing and on-site promotion at the Masters or other sporting events? Contact Us for a consultation and see how we can help you get the most out of your marketing budget.

Major Sports Augusta - We are YOUR TICKET IN!™

When it comes to developing an incentive plan, the Masters Tournament provides an ideal opportunity. Golf as a sport is closely associated with business and networking, and you can be certain your employees and recruitment targets will have an interest in it. If your aim is to impress, you naturally go with the biggest and best event there is, which for golf is the Masters Tournament. Nothing sends a stronger message to your employees and the outside world that your company is in the big leagues than associating it with one of the most well-known sporting events there is. Unlike other one-off events, the days-long format of the Masters naturally allows ample opportunity for interaction and networking. 

When it comes to something this big, is a danger for things to go very badly if they are not planned correctly. Just as the Masters can be a great incentive, if the trip goes wrong that can lead to equally great disappointment. Therefore it is vitally important to plan carefully for the Masters as there is little room for error. If something has not been arranged well in advance there will scant possibility for last minute bookings at this extremely popular and well-attended event. Everyone else, maybe even your close competitors, will be making advanced plans to showcase their business at this event and you need to do so too.

By far the best way to ensure your Masters Tournament incentive plan is a success and not a source of disappointment is to partner with a specialist agency. It makes sense to use the services of people whose focus is in making these arrangements year after year. This is well worth it as it gives you and your company the edge over others who did not have the foresight to retain expert assistance. Furthermore, by doing so you build up ongoing relationships allowing your incentive plan to establish a reputation and grow as needed. The ultimate goal is to establish your business as one that sends people to the biggest tournament there is because it is one of the biggest and best players in its own arena.

As the nation's premier golfing championship, the Masters Tournament is a highly desirable destination which draws huge crowds every year. If you are lucky enough to be going, it is definitely not a good idea to leave the arrangements – any of them – to the last minute. If you do, once you are in Augusta you will find things are a lot more difficult than they needed to be, and what should be a highly enjoyable experience of a lifetime could suffer as a result. This includes the details of how you are going to get around during your trip. Golf's most famous names are not going to wait before teeing off just because you are running late!

This is an event to be planned for far in advance if possible. Augusta during the Masters Tournament is a busy place, and others will be making their preparations long beforehand, so you should too. Better still, why not retain the services of someone who knows their way around and who specializes in making trips to the Masters as smooth as possible? You do not want to regret being at the Masters and not being able to fully enjoy it because of logistical errors or because you were distracted by mundane details like how to get where you want to be on-time.

As with any major sporting event, simply turning up on the day without any planning is not going to give you the most rewarding experience. By taking the time to invest in some research, and by retaining the right people to help you navigate your way through the crowds of eager spectators, your Masters experience will be as great as it should be. Don’t let what should be a spectacular trip to The Masters become a source of ongoing regret by not selecting the right partner to help guide your experience.

Masters 2020 tickets sales ended in June 2019. And because this is, after all, the Masters, you couldn’t simply buy tickets. There’s an “application process” for practice rounds and tournaments. The first round of the process pre-qualified participants to purchase tickets.

If you missed out, don’t plan on buying tickets at the gate. This simply isn’t that kind of event. Remember, if you do attend the Masters, you aren’t a spectator or a “golf fan.” You’re a patron, as in patron-of-the-arts because this golf tournament goes beyond the game and becomes art. Every year.

Masters of the Art of Golf

Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, and Tiger Woods won the Masters two years consecutively. Jack Nicklaus has the most Masters wins. Tiger Woods is looking good for 2020, which would make for his sixth win, should he take the cup. Odds are good Tiger will break the record held by Jack Nicklaus for the most Masters wins (6).

One-Win Wonders by Country

The United States has had 61 Masters wins by thirty-seven golfers. Other competitive nations include Spain, South Africa, and Germany. Surprisingly, England falls into the also-ran category.

The countries with 1 win and one golfer are:

• Argentina
• Australia
• Canada
• Fiji
• Scotland
• Wales

One Win? Wonderful!

U.S. contenders that won once (and winning a Masters once is a huge victory) are:

• 1935 – Gene Sarazen
• 1938 – Henry Picard
• 1939 – Ralph Guldahl
• 1941 – Craig Wood
• 1946 – Herman Keiser
• 1948 – Claude Harmon
• 1955 – Cary Middlecoff
• 1956 – Jack Burke Jr.
• 1957 – Doug Ford
• 1959 – Art Wall Jr.
• 1968 – Bob Goalby
• 1969 – George Archer
• 1970 – Billy Casper
• 1971 – Charles Coody
• 1973 – Tommy Aaron
• 1976 – Raymond Floyd
• 1979 – Fuzzy Zoeller
• 1982 – Craig Stadler
• 1987 – Larry Mize
• 1992 – Fred Couples
• 1998 – Mark O’Meara
• 2007 – Zach Johnson
• 2015 – Jordan Spieth
• 2018 – Patrick Reed

The names in bold are one-winner players you can expect to see at the 2020 tournament.

Save the Date: April 9-12, 2020

The Match Made in Heaven

The 2020 Masters Tournament, 84th Edition is the first of the 4 major tournaments for the year.

One-win wonder Fuzzy Zoeller said winning the Masters was as close to heaven as he would ever get. For the Masters to be considered a divine experience is a bit of an oxymoron, but anyone that has ever played Augusta understands.

Every shot is within a fraction of disaster. That’s what makes it so great! - Gary Player

The U.S. Open, the Open, and the PGA have something in common. They have winners – champions – of a series of tournaments, ranked membership, rated membership.

Anybody can play the Masters. All you have to do is meet one of 19 requirements to be invited. Happy Gilmore wasn’t invited.

If You Could Vote…

The “Masters vs. U.S. Open: Which-is-better?” debate has been an ongoing clubhouse argument and appears regularly as golf magazine articles since it was the Augusta National Invitation Tournament in the ’30s. In fact, since 2013 there’s been an ongoing poll. You can cast your “vote” and/or view the results.

Because golf is a “gentleman’s” game, phrases like “wiped them out” or “shut them down and won by a mile” are uncommon. However, tallied votes indicate the Masters is a runaway.

Masters Biggest Major; Here’s Why

The Masters ranks first among most golfers and spectators. Some of the reasons are:

1. Attendance – There are “crowds” at the U.S. Open. There are “patrons” at the Masters. The 2019 U.S. Open was a sellout. The 2019 Masters Tournament “declines to release” attendance information. And the holes are named after flowers.
2. Course set-up – Depending on its location, the U.S. Open can be more treacherous than Augusta. “One time a season, I’m allowed to enjoy professional golfers squirming through a USGA-primed minefield disguised as a golf course,” said John Iaciofano
3. Location, location, location – “I really want to play Pebble Beach, but before I die I have to play Augusta,” said Erik Peterson. “The worst holes at Augusta are still great.” The course is in terrific shape. Gary McCord once said, “I don’t think they mow these greens, I think they bikini-wax them.”
4. Money – An open field ticket for the U.S. Open are from $32/day. By the end of the week, it’s from $196/day. Daily tickets for the Masters are $115. The U.S. Open payout is more than the Masters. But the Masters has the green jacket.
5. Music – The Masters’ soothing “Augusta” is probably played in spas and psychiatric hospitals worldwide. “In Celebration of Man,” the U.S. Open theme sounds like “Rocky” on drugs. It’s annoying.

The Majors Are Magical

The Masters Tournament is rooted in tradition and has a unique character. The Masters is also the first of several exciting major golf tournaments every year.

The fact is, whether you’re a spectator or a player, being at any one of these golf tournaments is exciting and magical.