PGA National Resort & Spa

challenge

With the facilities undergoing a $100 million renovation, ownership sought to change this perception by re-positioning PGA National as one of America’s great leisure and corporate golf destinations. As home to the PGA TOUR’s Honda Classic, leveraging the wildly popular event to raise the profile of its five golf courses was also mission critical to PGA National.

insight

PGA National Resort and Spa faced a formidable branding and awareness challenge. Target market surveys revealed affluent golfers didn’t differentiate between it and the competitive set along Florida’s Southeast coast. Moreover, many guests and avid golfers perceived PGAN as tired and repeat guest utilization was declining.

activation

Buffalo.Agency designed and executed a strategic public relations and branding plan focused on golf, travel, lifestyle, meetings, conventions and financial media. Tactics — such as storylines, ghostwritten stories and packages — were segmented by market (National, Northeast and Florida) and seasonality (peak, shoulder and off-peak). A new tagline, “Undeniably Hot, Unexpectedly Cool,” was crafted to guide key messaging.

result

Measurement techniques include advertising equivalency, “share of voice” versus the competition, website traffic and packages sales. The ROI of the year-round program and media FAM trips is estimated at 5:1. Given this contribution to sales lift, Buffalo.Agency was recently renewed for a seventh consecutive term.