Conspicuous consumption

Are you ready to dominate your financial course?

I’m super happy you’re here.

I want to help you align your money with your life – so you can master the green.

So, if you’re feeling loose, let’s tee one up on…

The putt that changed golf

Phil Young never played a round of professional golf in his life, but in 1932 he missed a putt that is still making an impact on professional golf today.

On the 18th hole at Bedford Country Club during one of his regular matches, Young stared down a putt on the final hole.? He took his time reading the green and fixing his line.? Young stood over the ball and put a perfect stroke on it, but the ball veered off course as it approached the cup.?

He missed the putt.?????

Young was flabbergasted.? Like so many amateur golfers throughout history, he felt that there was no way he should have missed the putt.?

It must have been the ball’s fault.

So, Phil did what any “ordinary” golfer would do.? He headed off to the hospital with his playing partner, who just so happened to be a dentist, to get the ball x-rayed to find out why he missed the putt.?

As it turns out, the hard inner core of the ball Phil was playing that day was actually lopsided.? This flaw caused the ball to roll off-kilter and deviate from Phil’s desired line.?

It actually WAS the ball’s fault.???

Phil marched back to the course and convinced the club pro to let him take a dozen or so golf balls of each brand back to the hospital to x-ray.? Confused but intrigued, the pro obliged and humored Phil’s request.?

It turns out Phil was on to something.?

The x-rays showed that ball after ball had a lopsided core.? Some just slightly, but some severely.? Phil wondered, “How many other golfers out there are missing putts because of substandard equipment?”?

This is how the Titleist golf ball was born.

How Titleist became the most played ball

Phil Young was the owner of Acushnet Process Company, which gave new life to used rubber products.? With a wealth of knowledge regarding the chemistry of rubber paired with an entrepreneurial spirit, Phil convinced fellow MIT graduate Fred Bommer, also an avid golfer, to join up with him at Acushnet to head up its new golf division.?

It took three years, but in 1935 the Acushnet Process Company produced its first golf ball.

With a world-class manufacturing process making game-changing golf balls, Young and Bommer needed a marketing strategy to communicate the value of their balls to the average golfer.?

They did this by putting their golf balls directly into the hands of golf professionals at local clubs.? After all, these were the folks who could best communicate the value of superior equipment to the average golfer.?

In the 1940s and 1950s, more golf pros were traveling to compete in potentially lucrative professional tournaments, and Acushnet shifted its attention to this emerging battleground.? These tournaments, a precursor to the PGA Tour, were a new forum for Acushnet to assert its golf balls as the ones chosen most by the highest level of professionals. The company focused on getting its product to as many touring pros as possible.?

This marked the beginning of the Titleist brand’s wildly successful "most played" marketing strategy that continues today.?

The 1949 U.S. Open was the first tournament where Acushnet's Titleist was the ball chosen by most professionals in the field.? Titleist’s dominance at the professional ranks has continued over the past seven decades to today, with more players playing Titleist golf balls than all other brands combined.??

Titleist dominance also spills over into the recreational market.

In their most recent annual report, they disclosed they recorded $761 million in revenue from golf ball sales.? This is two-time the revenue of their nearest competitor – Callaway.

(for a full breakdown of Acushnet’s most recent annual report I highly recommend you check out Jared Doerfler and his Perfect Putt newsletter)

Titleist’s ability to dominate recreational market begs the question – why are so many average golfers spending so much money on premium golf balls?

Conspicuous Consumption

?If you’ve ever teed it up, you’re familiar with the competitive nature of golf.?

Maybe you’re playing for money, a round beverages at the 19th hole, or maybe you’re simply playing for bragging rights.? Whatever the circumstances, the desire to best our opponent is hardwired into our DNA whether we acknowledge it or not.?

But another competition goes on even before you set foot on the first tee box.?

Even if you’re not competing with our playing partners, you’re sizing up their equipment –

You note the brand of ball they’re playing, the style of their clubs, and the manufacturer’s name on their bag.? You examine the logos on their shirts, shoes, and hats.? Even the car they arrive in and pull their equipment out of is part of the competition.?

Social comparison of spending is not a new thing.? Nineteenth-century economist Thorstein Veblen coined the phrase conspicuous consumption to describe the practice of purchasing goods of a higher quality than what might be considered necessary.?

The term was used to describe the spending patterns of the nouveau riche class of the 19th century, who had garnered a significant portion of the country’s wealth during the Second Industrial Revolution.? These men and women with newly abundant discretionary income leveraged the purchase of luxury goods as a means to display their wealth and position in society.? ??

Acushnet recognizes the aspirational nature of their products and leverages the tendency for conspicuous consumption among golfers as a part of their marketing strategy for Titleist golf balls.?

They call it the "Pyramid of Influence," as described in their 2020 Annual Report:

"At the top of the pyramid is the most dedicated golfer, who attempts to make a living playing the game professionally. Adoption by most of the best golfers, whose professional success depends on their performance, validates the quality, features and benefits of using the best performing products. This, in turn, creates aspirational appeal for golfers who want to emulate the performance of the best players."

Dedication, success, and performance are what the Titleist brand stands for, and this is what you’re aspiring to be a part of when you tee up a Pro V1.?

It doesn’t matter that you’re going to spray a half box of your premium golf balls into the woods during the round.? The name on your ball does the talking.? You play the exact ball that the professionals play; therefore, you’re just like them.???

The paradox of spending

?The paradox here is that just like driving a luxury car doesn’t make you rich, paying more for a “premium performance” golf ball doesn't make you a better golfer.? In both cases, the conspicuous purchases run counter to the ultimate goal.?

If you want to be a better golfer, you should practice more, invest in some lessons, or spend your money playing more rounds of golf.?

If you want to be rich, you don't waste money trying to prove to other people that you already are.?

The alignment model

We all have our own unique set of financial circumstances, which include our goals and values.? These should be aligned with the spending, saving, and investing actions we take.?

Applying this to golf, unless you're a professional golfer who earns their livelihood by playing, you probably value playing for the camaraderie, exercise, challenge, or just for the pure enjoyment of the game.?

I would make more sense to align your spending with what you value most about the game—

• Spend money on greens fees for more opportunities to enjoy the fun
• Save up for a golf trip with your friends
• Hit an inexpensive bucket of balls at the range, or
• Pay for some lessons.?

Think of alignment with your money in the same way you approach hitting a golf ball.? Swinging without purpose can get you into the same kind of trouble as spending without purpose can.? To stay on track, you first need to understand your values or identify your target.?

For example, health is one of my five core values.? ?With a young family, I want to ensure I'm around to see my kids grow up and ensure that I have the health span to play all-time QB, shoot hoops, and enjoy long walks over some short grass with them.?? ??

The actions we take to maintain our health may look different to all of us, but for me it means staying physically active, eating a healthy diet, and maintaining my weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and all of those other vital numbers our doctors recommend.?

The goal of lengthening my health span means I spend money on gym memberships.? I block out time on my calendar for a weekly boxing class.? I pay attention to the food I eat, and while my diet isn’t perfect, I make an effort to make sure I eat enough fresh produce and higher quality proteins and starches.??

Aligning your spending with values isn’t about reducing the amount of money you spend.? It’s about directing more of the money you earn towards things that support what is most important to you.?

Need help aligning your swing?

The alignment model is of the many tips I offered up in my book, Golfer’s Guide to Money:? find your financial swing and master the green.?

It’s a quick 9 chapters to help you shape your mental game into one that builds and sustains wealth.? If you’re curious about what it takes to dominate your financial course, this book is for you.?

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