Big Acquisition
When two great companies with like-minded cultures and deep passion join forces, they feed off each other’s talents at an elevated level.
Case in point: Last week, our Buffalo Groupe acquired Rawle Murdy, the cutting-edge, full-service communications firm based in downtown Charleston, SC. It specializes in real estate, hospitality and 
tourism, as well as government relations and home services verticals.
The 40-years-young, 27-person Rawle Murdy joins Buffalo.Agency (founded in 2001) as a division of Buffalo Groupe. The new entity was formed early this year concurrent to receipt of outside growth capital and a spin off from parent Indigo Golf Partners, still Buffalo Groupe’s largest shareholder.
The complementary pairing of Rawle Murdy with Buffalo.Agency furthers our vision to build the world’s first marketing platform that connects brands with lifestyle audiences through the lens of golf. Buffalo.Agency is well known for its data-driven approach that pushes 60-plus clients to grow their brand equities and revenues. We are led by award-winning talent in the areas of marketing strategy, public relations, content development, social media, media buying, creative, data analytics, and digital and search-engine marketing.
The two divisions will operate independently with Managing Director Bruce Murdy remaining at Rawle Murdy’s helm. The company is renowned for its convergence of strategic thinking, branding, content creation and delivery that helps clients’ businesses thrive.
Get ‘Generation G’™
The proliferating myth across America is that every industry must cater to Millennials to remain relevant.
So says Alexis Abramson, PhD, guest speaker at the recent National Golf Foundation Symposium.
She maintains Generation G™ is golf’s most important segment. We’re talking about 45- to 65-year-old “mid-lifers” comprising 28% of the U.S. population and the golf market. It’s substantially growing with more than 12,000 people turning 45 daily. That’s 450,000 golfers annually.
The Gen G population of 83.6M represents 8M golfers (34% of total) and 150M rounds. They pay $9B annually for golf, mirroring the past 30 years of Gen G markedly outspending other age groups.
Focus on this age group will do golf business well. It starts with course owners and operators, and extends to golf product manufacturers and service providers. We know Millennials are
attractive for customer lifetime value. Notwithstanding, the 18- to 34-year-old set’s preference for diverse experiences renders loyalty risky.
While Boomers (55 to 70) are affluent, their golf avidity tends to subside at 65. That’s why straddling Boomers and Gen X (40 to 55) is paramount. Gen G is amid its peak earning years (with
little if any financial stress), enjoys more discretionary income and is in line for healthy inheritances. It plays more golf with friends, family and community members because its earned that right, has more free time than younger counterparts and is prepping to become empty nesters.
Health is a stimulus, too. Gen G deals with chronic pain and other nagging conditions, and golf is seen as mitigating relief in their desires to live forever. A zest for “wellness of the mind” in the form of self-improvement and continuous learning also aligns with golf. Don’t forget peaking desires to give back as Gen G plays in more charity tournaments than any age bracket. Package it with good food and art to increase odds Gen G will hit the links.
Prevailing thinking is that Gen G doesn’t spend significant time on social media. Wrong. Two-thirds use social media and 70% is likely to purchase from a brand they follow on social, including (believe it or not) Snapchat.
Think again if you think Millennials are the Holy Grail. It’s time to re-frame your perspective and re-prioritize your marketing that sings to the characteristics of the Gen G demographic.
To connect with Dr. Alexis and learn more about Gen G – The Generation of Growth™:
Email |Website | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
Reed & More
The annual PGA Merchandise Show – produced by Reed Exhibitions and commonly known as the “MAJOR of Golf Business” – and Buffalo are now working even more closely together. Our content and creative teams have re-imagined “PGA Show Insider,” the monthly newsletter featuring educational, interesting and entertaining articles and video (often produced by the PGA Show team in partnership with ThePostGame) about industry news, themes and profiles. With an attractive look and compelling content, emerging and established brands are advertising their distinctive offerings. PGA Show Insider is an effective, year-round vehicle for show exhibitors to touch nearly 60,000 attendees, primarily buyers for pro shops, off-course specialty stores as well as big-box and online retailers. We are set to distribute the second, new-look issue any day now. Contact Cristiana Crocco, ccrocco@reedexpo.com, for more information.
A Buffalo-produced television spot for Global Value Commerce and its lead GlobalGolf.com brand recently won a coveted Telly Award … The exclusive Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic tabbed our team to execute a paid social media program in addition to existing turnkey golf PR work … Complementing Buffalo’s role as media and marketing consultant, paid search and social media are now also part of our promotion of the Northern California Golf Association Foundation’s “Youth on Course” program … Buffalo has begun creating awareness for MorganFranklin Consulting’s partnership with prominent golf instructor and Golf Channel personality Michael Breed … Lynx Golf extended its partnership with us to include PR, organic social media and blog contents for its premium line of golf clubs.
Black Hole
As a kid, I’d tag along with my mother to the supermarket. On the check-out line we’d invariably be held up by customers dispensing coupon after coupon. “They’re smart for taking advantage of the information at the fingertips,” she’d say.
More than 20 years later, in 1996, Bill Gates would coin the ubiquitous “content is king” mantra.
Through the ages, people don’t change. Most hold insatiable appetites to read, see and hear stories which inform, educate and entertain. They yearn and learn to become more interesting, intelligent and well-rounded, and possess an edge in a hyper-competitive world. They can’t get enough. Making and saving money are typical motivations as is consuming anything and everything about their passions for sheer enjoyment.
No matter how creative, innovative or groundbreaking the content, it’s destined to go undiscovered without a cogent distribution strategy. Effective promotion deposits your content in laps of hyper-targeted primary and secondary target audiences. It then builds relationships and eventually prompts consistent consumption of videos, newsletters, articles, whitepapers and more. Over time, they gain trust, open wallets, maintain loyalty and become champions within their networks.
Paid and unpaid distribution channels are aplenty, and it’s important to determine goals for return on objectives and investments. Search and content pay-per-click? Paid social on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn? Organic social? Native / branded content advertising? YouTube channel? Traditional advertising and PR? Crowdsourcing? SEO? Personalized e-mail and texts? Digital out of home? Some or all of the above? Where does one start?
I could author pages about this subject; however, suffice it to say our team is adept at helping clients create rich editorial calendars and navigate the complex world of distribution options. Best practices rooted in a precise merger of science, art and continuous analysis is the best offense. It’s also the best defense against brands averting misguided content and the familiar “most miles traveled, least accomplished” plague.
Feidler Funnies
For more than 10 years, Bill Feidler has brilliantly led our golf hard-goods team. We used to joke he has a fork in one hand and a golf ball in another during family dinners. Bill’s wife confirmed that to be true. While geeking out on golf gear, his sense of wit is dry and super clever:
When I was eight years old, I wanted to be this when I grew up – The concept of being adult-like seemed so incredibly far away I don’t recall even thinking about it. But if pressured, Little Billy Feidler would have wanted to be either Hulk Hogan or some type of professional baseball playing ninja who shattered home run records and engaged in light vigilante work during the offseason.
My favorite all-time cartoon character – Mr. Burns from The Simpsons … so old and villainous. As a child of the ’90s, The Simpsons was required viewing. Everyone I knew tuned in on Sunday at 8 p.m. except my dad who was a model of consistency in his hatred for all cartoons. I miss “must watch” television. Today, my kids can stream any Simpsons episode whenever they chose. For us, it aired once a week and if you weren’t in front of the TV at that moment, you missed it and felt utterly lost on Monday with friends recounting the hilarity.
If I could be any animal rather than a person – I’d be a dog. Eat, sleep, wrestle, get a massage, repeat. I can do that.
I find this ridiculous – Somewhere in the universe a black hole is eating a star. Our star, a.k.a the sun, is slowly burning out. We’re on a rock traveling 67,000 miles per hour toward our impending doom. But when I do laundry and somehow have one unmatched sock at the end, my fury and confusion make all other issues seem small.
My three sports icons – Kirby Puckett, Joe Frazier and Ernie Els. Game six of the 1991 World Series is why I love baseball. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Kirby Puckett hit a walk- off homer to force game seven and prompt Jack Buck’s famous call, “We’ll see you tomorrow night.” Smokin’ Joe is the epitome of toughness and I remember my dad sitting my brother and me down to watch replays of the “Thrilla in Manila.” It’s exceptionally brutal and beautiful at the same time. In 1997, I saw Ernie Els win the U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club. Two weeks later I took up golf and the rest is history.
If I could change one thing about golf – Don’t let anyone play tees longer than 6,400 yards unless he or she is a legitimate scratch player. In fact, the vast majority shouldn’t be biting off more than 6,000. Sure, you’ll get the random star whose Paul Bunyan-esque drives will bulldoze these “short” courses, but those players account for about 1% of the golfer population at any given public track. Nothing is worse than waiting on a group of duffers who think they’re supposed to be playing from the blacks.
