David Vs. Goliath:
In an industry dominated by juggernaut brands with enormous advertising budgets, creativity is paramount. It's often a "David vs Goliath" scenario where craftiness and resourcefulness are the slings and stones of success. Such has been the case with Mizuno Golf's recent efforts to shed a challenging stigma it faced among many golfers that it's masterfully crafted irons were the stuff of only the most advanced and elite golfers. In reality, Mizuno was creating ground-breaking and game-changing technologies in the game-improvement category, and it needed the means to showcase it and change these misguided perceptions. An idea was born.
Turning Joes Into Pros:
No one expects to throw a football like Peyton Manning or dunk a basketball like LeBron James. Likewise, average golfers know they’ll never hand in a scorecard as good as Luke Donald's or Stacey Lewis'. But even borderline duffers know that every so often they can hit a shot, or even play a hole as well as Luke and Stacey. Golf is unique among sports because inside every golfer lurks a pro.
Mizuno USA decided to capitalize on this unique quality of golf, and last year the company gave average golfers the chance to “Play Famously” through a competition to reward 12 passionate high handicappers with a contract to be a member of Team JPX and receive the ultimate in pro-level treatment. To qualify, golfers had to submit a 500-word essay describing their passion for the game to the contest website, Playfamously.com. Mizuno saw nearly 6,000 golfers join the competition with a lucky 12 ultimately selected.
The unique proposition of turning average Joes into Pros resonated extremely well with Mizuno’s target of higher-handicap golfers, as evidenced by all-time highs for the company in web traffic, a 78% increase in Facebook followers, and most importantly, an increased overall market share in irons to 11.6%, buoyed primarily by the game-improvement category that the company had in its crosshairs when developing the campaign. You can also check out a quick sizzle reel of the 12 members of Team JPX’s experience HERE.
The Life-Changing Nature of Golf:
The essays received told a lot about the passion average golfers feel for the game. But it’s the stories they told that kept organizers up at night and made them marvel at the amazing power golf has to change lives and overcome obstacles for everyone who plays.
So this year, Mizuno is inviting average golfers to “Play Famously” once again. But instead of focusing only on their passion for game-improvement, Mizuno is also focusing on "life-improvement." Mizuno wants to celebrate the "transformative" stories of how golf has helped, or is helping, individuals overcome significant life challenges. It's part and parcel to Mizuno's overall brand mission of "inspiring the true love of sports."
The sequel to Mizuno’s “Play Famously” launches this week in support of their new JPX EZ – the ultimate game-improvement iron, offering the largest sweet spot in golf. It will also serve as an invitation for golfers to demo the irons and submit their stories about the transformative power of golf at work in their lives. On February 21, Mizuno Golf will announce the first members of Team JPX with two more added every month up to July 21. All team members will receive their own custom set of Mizuno JPX– EZ irons, a custom Mizuno staff bag, Team JPX apparel, golf lessons from a professional instructor and the chance to compete in the JPX Invitational in September at the Country Club of the South in Atlanta.
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