Carbite Golf, a veteran of the golf direct response television arena, is gearing up to begin a mix of long- and short-form advertisements in late June to promote its new Polar Balanced CAP Series Putters and Polar Balanced Wedges.
The 30-minute infomercial will feature pro golfer Fuzzy Zoeller demonstrating various shots with the clubs on a golf course. The infomercial will direct consumers to a phone number to order a 90-day, risk-free trial of any of the four featured wedges and one of two featured putters. The ad also will push a free, 36-minute instructional video hosted by Zoeller called “Winning Golf With Fuzzy Zoeller.”
Carbite Golf also will air 30-second, one-minute and two-minute DRTV spots promoting the clubs and video. The two-minute spot, which features all of the clubs, is a condensed version of the long-form ad, while there will be two different 30-second spots and two 60-second spots — one promoting the putters and one for the wedges.
Carbite Golf will charge customers three payments of $78 each for one wedge and one putter and $35 per payment for each additional club. Customers who select a single-payment option will be given a 20 percent discount.
“We are using both long and short form to guarantee optimum reach and to get enough frequency to spur DRTV and retail sales,” said Jim Harrison, president of Harrison Direct, Bermuda Dunes, CA, the DRTV consulting firm managing the campaign.
Carbite Golf will run the long-form campaign on local broadcast and national cable stations, including The Golf Channel, regional Fox Sports affiliates, Discovery Channel and BET, Harrison said.
“We will be able to place the short-form spots inside various golf tournaments,” he added.
Carbite Golf expects to spend $1 million to $1.5 million per month on television media, Harrison said.
“By using DRTV, we can run a campaign with more frequency and reinvest the return on our investment toward media time,” said Mike Pinckes, marketing director at Carbite Golf, San Diego. Pinckes added that the company hopes to achieve a 2-to-1 ROI through the campaign.
Carbite Golf is targeting affluent consumers age 40 to 70, Harrison said.
“Many individuals in management positions utilize golf as a part of business activities,” he added.
Carbite Golf launched print advertisements earlier this month in national and local newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. The ad features the same offer as the DRTV ads and directs consumers to a toll-free number to place orders. The company will run similar print ads in magazines next spring, Harrison said.
To further supplement the DRTV campaign, Carbite Golf will kick off a direct mail effort by July. Harrison Direct initially will run test mailings of two direct mail pieces to 10 external lists totaling 100,000 consumers. Based on responses to the test mailings, Harrison Direct plans to launch a second mailing of more than 1 million pieces in mid-November.
The direct mail pieces will consist of a letter from the president of Carbite Golf; a brochure describing the products; a mail-in order form; and a call-to-action to a toll-free number or the Web site, www.carbitegolf.com, to place orders.
Carbite Golf has hired The AfterMarket Co., Phoenix, to manage all outbound and inbound telemarketing for the products. The outbound campaign is expected to launch next week.
Caudill & Associates, Anaheim, CA, is producing the DRTV ads. New Day Marketing, Santa Barbara, CA, will be responsible for all media placement. Harrison Direct is responsible for overseeing and coordinating all aspects of the campaign. Carbite Golf is handling fulfillment inhouse, Harrison said.
