Episode 15 of the DSMSports Podcast w/ Chad Coleman of Callaway Golf

Snippets from Episode 15 of the Digital Snippets from Episode 15 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcastand Social Media Sports Podcast

Episode 15 featured Social Media Manager at Callaway Golf, Chad Coleman.

Coleman discussed redefining Callaway's brand identity, providing valuable content to fans on social/web channels, and more.

What follows is a collection of snippets from the podcast. For the full episode, visit DSMSports.net

@njh287 DSMSports.net


Chad's career path → Went to University of Arkansas and managed a local frozen yogurt shop on campus and jump-started their social media presence from scratch, geared toward engaging and connecting with college students, especially

Went from there to a social media marketing agency working with major brands in various consumer industries

Always loved golf and kept up with golf industry on social → connected with Golf Digest social media rep and exchanged ideas about social media and golf brands → she recommended Chad for position at Callaway Golf



“A lot of hard work and persistence and throwing out ideas...And proving to Callaway that I was the guy for this job.”

“How can you apply those skills to make your employer better...(social media) was so new at the time, they wanted someone to come in and say, 'here is what I'll do, how we'll do it, and how we'll do it better than everyone else.”



“(Social) is shifting from agencies to in-house...If you're not in the building, in the midst of everything going on every day, I honestly don't see any way to succeed in producing content. You have to be ingrained it and understand the business.”

“You have to be able to speak golf.”



“(Social media) positions get created with the idea that you'll do not much more than update the Facebook and Twitter accounts...It's so much more than that. And when you throw revenue and opportunities to engage corporate partners behind it...you have this natural, built-in audience...and a great (engaged) community of fans [on several platforms].

““We started to drive revenue from it (with the Red Wings).”



“A lot of what I started off doing was cleaning house...We were kind of all over the map before I came in...We (needed to) focus on the brand accounts.”

“Another thing was getting senior management on board. I knew that was huge...to be able to communicate with them (for fans) is key. Nobody was doing that, so (we did)...That was a big deal for us in setting a general overall strategy.”



“We're acting as kind of a newsroom here, producing our own content. We're quick and timely and engaging and topical...We're interacting with fans and pushing out content as fast as we can get it out...It's about thinking 'what's next?' for us...how can we share stories...in a cool and unique way different from every other golf company?”



“The old way of golf marketing was a one-way communication...I knew there was a big opportunity to make our brand feel more accessible.”

(Notes how he marries his personal social media with his identity as a Callaway Golf employee and advocate)



“When I started, we were going through a huge change in the company...The past two have felt like a startup. First, we had to recognized to our current customers, we realize we (needed) a new culture at Callaway...Step two was getting taken seriously again by the best players in the world and being seen as an innovative performance equipment brand...

“Changing the perception of your brand is definitely not easy...It was a lot easier to change our perception on Twitter just with our content and our tone...it was the quickest and easiest way to get people to think of us differently. It really was a helpful tool.”



“It's about speaking to diehard golf fans (regardless of skill). They love everything about the game. That's who we're trying to connect with and create relationships...Making that connection is a pretty strong thing. Because when we reach the Callaway enthusiasts out there, they turn into Callaway ambassadors themselves and tell their buddies at the local pro shop about (Callaway).”

“The people we're trying to reach on social are the younger, more digitally savvy better players and elite amateurs to have them basically think our brand is cool again. Social has played a big role in that because we're able to connect on a daily basis.”



This episode's Helpful Tool: Tweetdeck

- A well-known social media dashboard and management and measurement tool. Listen to make sure you're using it to its fullest capabilties!



“Our above the line stuff is a little more standard and typical than what we do (in social)...It all starts with (our social media marketing team). We're constantly barraging people all day every day connecting with fans. That's where it starts for us and the rest will follow.”

“In addition to all of the social stuff we're doing, we're also creating a lot of our own content now. We're acting like a newsroom now...every morning, our marketing (team) meets and talk about 'what's going on today? What are people talking about?'”

Chad describes several great examples of Callaway's long-form and short-form content coming from in-house resources and content that fans want



“Any kind of content that we've produced (for a product) needs to be readily available for customers...(our website) is now very content-driven. Our whole business now is content-driven.”

“It's a pretty powerful thing for a golf fan to be standing in a shop and being able to tweet the head of R&D at Callaway and get a response. It's something golfers have never had access to before.”

“If it's information about a product, they want to hear it from the horse's mouth. And they want to hear it in the most simple, consumable way possible...We're convinced that they if they hear us out and get all the information that they're going to choose Callaway.”



“I get a feel for what's working and what's not just by listening to our fans. We're moving at such a fast pace that I don't get into the trenches as much...We analyze (our content) to see what is getting the most views, how (long) people are (consuming) to optimize...We do some constant tweaking on-the-go.”

“The tone and voice we want to have is being one of your good buddies who is obsessed with golf speaking in a way a golfer speaks and understands. Making our brand more relate-able and connect with our consumers that way as well...Golfers speak the same language. Our different platforms will segment out (some things), but most are the same with the tone and how we talk about golf.”



“I love being able to educate people...I have all these assets (to help inform)...We have specific products for specific people and the good thing is we can that person why (a product suits their particular need).”

“By allowing consumers inside access to the people behind the brand and taking the time to understand what we're about and what our products do, that'll translate to the marketplace.”

“It's fun to optimize each platform and to see what consumers want on one versus the others.”



“One of my favorite channels is Instagram because it allows us to be more intimate with our customers and fans and allows us to share our story without being as marketing (focused)...I'm able to share (the brand) story in unique and interesting ways.”

describes how Callaway uniquely uses each social media platform they're on with different content for a different brand/business objective

“They're all different and you have to optimize for each...it definitely makes a difference. I've learned how to talk to each of our different channels to get the best reaction.”



“It's important to have a plan going in and not just be there. We want to make sure we have a plan to provide value to our customers. It's about 'how can we use this channel to do something creative and unique that we can't do on another channel?'”



Case Study – relaunch of Big Bertha club, which has happened recently and buzz building started months ago- Revived old persona-based Isaac Newton marketing campaign,

integrated science and novelty- Teased campaign with YouTube video and branding- Promoted #BerthaIsBack hash tag across social channels to build

up excitement- Shared sneak peek photos and video- Next phase after announcement was having info and tools ready to

share in a simple and digestible way- Post-launch is keeping people interested, activating with PGA Tour

players



This episode's Shareable Stat: Only 6% of NFL fans have actually attended a live NFL game. (@NationalSportsForum)



A distinct way golf fans are unique among other sports fans:

They are much more passionate about the sport and the equipment. They're spending a lot more on equipment than (other sports) so they're very knowledgeable, they do their research, and they're passionate about it and the passionate about a brand and that's why social (and building a relationship over time) is so big for us.”



Best golf course Chad has ever been to: Augusta National

I've never had such high expectations and still been as blown away as I was. It was unbelievable.”



First time Chad was starstruck on the job:

Seeing Phil Mickelson in a casual setting at the Callaway performance center; Most recent: Gary Player



The campaign that generated the most social media buzz was:

#TweetToUnleash; let consumers reveal the new flagship driver for the year → the more fans tweeted using the hash tag the more visible the new club became → more and more revealed over time



The most effective social media network for Callaway is:

Twitter for getting out daily and timely content and being responsive...Instagram is the most fascinating (though) because it's a more intimate environment where we can really get more personal about the brand and share the story of the brand.



The best tip for a beginning golfer:

Understand how hard a game it is. Know going into it that you're not going to very goo for a very long time and (you'll need) practice and persistence...she is a brutal game and if you don't have the right mindset about it, it can be not very fun.



The best food item Chad has had at a golf course: Pimento Cheese sandwich at The Master's at Augusta National.

“That is probably the most sought-after $1.50 sandwich in the world.”



Chad's pick for 2015 PGA Tour Player of the Year: Harris English

“He's a great guy, got a good head on his shoulders and he's gonna be (big).”



Chad's Social Media All-Star To Follow: Callaway's Head of Marketing Harry Arnett @HarryArnettCG

“He'll tell you like it is and answer every question and give you cool insight into what we do at Callaway.”

Where to find Callaway: @CallawayGolf, @OdysseyGolf and find Chad @HashtagChad on Twitter and Instagram



Thanks so much to Chad Coleman for sharing his time and knowledge on the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast!

Listen to the podcast and get more info and content at DSMSports.net (And subscribe in iTunes). You can also follow me on Twitter @njh287
