A Better Bargain

There's always a bargain being struck when it comes to how every customer approaches their entertainment.

Let's look at a couple versions. An amusement park and a television show.

One has an admission gate with a fixed price. The other is available for free with the understanding you'll consume some advertising along the way.

So it's either an admission ticket digging into your wallet for an agreed price - or some commercials trying to influence your future consumer decision-making. It's all up to the consumer to accept or reject each of these bargains being offered.

In simpler times this was really the majority of it. Not so simple anymore but the real bedrock of these agreements with the customer is the same today.

Agree to a price or agree to be advertised to.

The new wrinkle is that there are a lot of hybrids now - and golf is one of those entertainment hybrids.

Streaming services were pure until recently. A new-age admission ticket. A monthly fee for entertainment. They couldn't last that purely it seems. Their new basic model is a hybrid offering ads now in addition to a smaller gate fee. The movie theatre became a hybrid a generation ago when they introduced advertisements before the movie began. Prior to that it was a purely admission ticket product.

As I like to do, I'll introduce a Blue Jay game as the hybrid that could most likely be our model to look at. They're a definite hybrid. A specific ticket price to get into the stadium then plenty of ads and sponsor recognition being delivered throughout the game trying to affect your consumer sensibilities. But the Blue Jay hybrid has a 3rd prong to it. Digital distribution to their customers when they are not at the ballpark. Just sign up for their newsletter and let the fun begin. Highlights and game summaries and player information and so much more - including some product offerings of course. That's a great bargain for the Blue Jays. They get you at the gate. They advertise to you in the park. And they regularly visit your inbox & social feeds as recent reminders of your enjoyment of their entertainment. And also a great bargain for the customers who are getting thorough entertainment in return on all 3 fronts.

Could be us. But we are missing more than we should be. We're wasting the bargain we could be making with our customers. Let's grab a mirror and take a long look.

The admission fee portion of our hybrid offering is pretty clear. A bit unpredictable when supply outweighs demand but we mostly have this corner covered. Especially since the pandemic tilted the market realities toward our product.

The onsite advertising portion is really not a big thing for us. Sure we may have some local company pay to be on our Tee Signs or scorecard for minimal revenue, but maybe our golfers don't want an intentionally commercial experience at their place of relaxation. Besides - they Jays bring in 3 million people to their park per year and we are only 1% of that at our respective facilities. But how about those great partners from the breweries & beverage companies & manufacturers delivering some extra help for us to promote their product - that's helpful enough I guess even though that makes us more of a broker really.

2 prongs down and one to go. But first a brief summary of the opening pair. We're pretty sophisticated on our admission ticket angle despite maybe some added discipline needed in down-cycles. We're not overly mature at the advertising portion - which might be intentional but at least needs a review every once in a while - there's much more there if you are willing to work for it and become a much deeper participant inside your surrounding community. But it's tough to find the time & motivation when tee sheets are full.

It's the 3rd prong where we veer off some. Most every other hybrid entertainment product knows that each individual prong is its own bargain unto itself, and they treat that digital relationship to their customers with as much respect as they do with the other 2 prongs.

I'll submit that we offer a proper bargain on the first 2.....but not the 3rd.

Back to the Blue Jays. Their 3rd prong bargain is as follows. For your attention and potential interest in their product you'll get all those updates and highlights and player info and nuggets of entertainment mentioned above. We don't compete here at all. We aren't delicate with our Database. We don't invest in a sophisticated bargain with them. We hit them over the head and then we do it again. And again. Buy, Buy, Buy. And don't forget to say thanks on your way out.

The last 4 weeks are always a really tough stretch for those of us who take our Databases for granted a little bit. Instead of a bargain where we offer thoughtful and meaningful entertainment in exchange for some attention to our digital advertising - we instead assume that this amalgam of inboxes is either too unworthy of a fair exchange or too deeply in love with us to evaluate the imbalance of the lopsided bargain we present on this front.

The bargain we offer on our ticket price is sophisticated and very fair.

The bargain we offer for onsite exposure to some advertising is fair despite needing some maturity.

The bargain with our Database is out of balance.

We can't offer fair trade elsewhere then trick ourselves into believing this incredibly important asset does not require the same mutual respect. Just press send. Sell them something. Sell them everything. Sell them anything. They must be salivating for the 12th consecutive OFFER we have for them to consider pulling out their credit card again.

The truth here is that your customers are enjoying the balance of the bargain on offer in the 1st two prongs - but aren't getting much out of this one. They're often tired here. They just get accosted endlessly. And I've seen my share of frozen Open Rate and Click-thru numbers to identify this soft spot.

Limited time offer. Limited supply - act now. Take advantage of this low, low price. There's just no bargain here. Despite some drone footage and social media pics of steak dinners and sunsets - many of us aren't offering anything substantial enough in return for their continued valuable attention.

This is the attention-for-entertainment digital bargain and many of us aren't holding up our end. We want very much and offer very little.

You may think everything is just great and you remember recently sending a hearty note of thanks to your staff person who designed the incredible Holiday graphic supporting the Pro Shop Holiday sale....but there's a lot to learn here.

Things you can get away with when demand outpaces supply? Taking your customer for granted a little bit here and there.

Things you can't get away with when supply outpaces demand? Same answer.

I've got 10 questions for you to take your temperature and offer you a check-and-balance you can use to add to your toolbox managing this portion of your operation. I've found it's either worry or curiosity that stirs the success of these conversations. If you're not worried yet, then at least get more curious because we are forgetting our recent success was handed to us by a worldwide pandemic.

More than 50 years ago The Who released their album Who's Next and a great song called Bargain was introduced. The album opens with an incredible one-two punch with Bargain following the opener Baba O'Riley. It also might be a cryptic nod for us here that the last song on the album is Won't Get Fooled Again.

If you feel curious - I am [email protected] or 416-300-2075

It's a classic tune. Here's a link to a recent Live version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48EOgmjGsUI