Classic Movie Posters Inspire Never Compromise Putter Campaign

Vista, Calif. -- One wouldn't think a Peter Lorre or Boris Karlof movie would inspire a golf ad, but Never Compromise made it work. With its latest promotion, the manufacturer of golf putters and wedges strayed from the usual golf P-O-P featuring big product shots and techno graphics. Instead, the company created a marketing program with a look reminiscent of movie posters from the 1930s.To introduce two new lines of putters, the TDP and Sub 30, and its Trans Matter technology, the company created a pair of print ads that are also being used in-store as foamboard posters. The posters have a corrugated easel on the back so they can be freestanding, leaned against a wall or hung on a wall. The first poster is large (24 inches by 36 inches) and shows a mad scientist and his creation, "the Trans Matter Phenomenon." It recalls the old "Frankenstein" films with Boris Karlof. The second poster (24 inches by 18 inches) parodies the film "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and is titled "The Man Who Won Too Much." It shows a young ace putter in action."If you look in a golf publication or even in a golf store, a lot of times the posters all look the same. They have the large product image and logo. We wanted to add a little color and spice it up a bit so people would at least stop and take notice," says Tracy Nackel, director of marketing.The classic movie poster campaign has a retro look, which younger audiences enjoy and older audiences appreciate, Nackel says. "Movies target everybody, so with the movie poster theme we could go without targeting one specific age group over another." The posters hit stores primarily in April and May but sales reps are still supplying them. Nackel says 500 small posters and 300 large posters were produced. While the company has shipped displays directly to retailers in the past, she says they found that retailers wouldn't use them. "It's much more effective if our reps bring it in, then there's no question what it's for. If they don't want to use it, they don't throw it away, and we just take it back. They receive so many things from so many of the manufacturers that they can't use it all."In off-course stores, the posters work as a tandem. The large poster, featuring the mad scientist, is intended for the front of the store. It reads at the top, "The new Never Compromise putters are here -- try one today in the putting corral!" The putting corral is a section of the store where consumers can try different putters on a little mock green. In the corral, the small poster sits on a ledge or is placed behind the putters.Nackel says this poster campaign helped Never Compromise slide under the radar in off-course stores. "We are finding a lot of off-course stores are becoming more uniform and getting away from P-O-P. They want everything to look more similar in all of their stores." Another obstacle comes with green grass pro shops that generally don't use any P-O-P other than the fixtures they own, Nackel says. However, some sales reps have placed the posters in men's locker rooms. "We leave it up to the rep's discretion to put them where they think they will be most effective," she says.Smog Design Inc., Los Angeles, designed the posters and The Printhaus, Los Angeles, printed them. The posters introduce TDP series and Sub 30 putters (four in each line), but focus on the new technology designed into the putters. "We didn't have enough to do a separate poster for each line and we didn't feel the shops would place a different poster for each line," Nackel explains. "We had to come up with a way to combine the lines so we featured the technology, which is the Trans Matter material.

Classic Movie Posters Inspire Never Compromise Putter Campaign

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