Global Golf and Translation

In this episode of the The Global Marketing Show, Jean-Pierre. Degembe. M.A. , Global Director, Sourcing - Golf for Wilson Sporting Goods, regales me with golf and global marketing stories from around the world. “Global is my life,” Jean-Pierre says. Raised and educated in France and the UK, he has lived in the US for the past 20 years. His wife is from Japan, and he’s worked in the UK, US, and Malaysia. He also routinely travels around the world for business and for life.

As a result, Jean-Pierre appreciates and understands cultural differences. At Wilson, he spearheads a consumer-centric approach to global marketing, delivering award-winning product on all continents.

Golf is Global. There are at least 66 million golfers around the world. The rules are basically the same, says Jean-Pierre, yet different customs abound. In the US, for example, there’s the “six-pack game,” a loosely scored round of golf for a group of buddies on the weekend, with a six pack for every nine holes. In Japan, it takes a full day to play 18 holes. East Asian countries – Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand – play “night golf” because it’s too hot to play during the day, and the floodlights become part of the strategy.

As Jean-Pierre describes it, golf is truly a global sport, played for entertainment, socializing, family bonding, and doing business.

Listen to the full episode to hear more – the details are fascinating!

Pandemic Perk: A Fairway for All. Once male-dominated and exclusive, in some countries the sport has gradually become more of an everyday activity, helped along by COVID-19. “Covid was great for golf,” says Jean-Pierre. “Courses stayed open. Junior players abound because baseball and soccer camps were canceled. Wilson has seen a huge increase in demand and people playing the game.”

In the UK, a sport once dominated by “stuffy, country-club types and men’s-only memberships” now welcomes women and juniors and the country stands “at the forefront of trying to find ways in which to grow the game.”

Other countries saw similar swings:

• In France, golf is a family affair.
• Sweden has become the second largest European market, despite the short season, because in the summer they can play 24 hours a day.
• In Germany, women comprise close to 40% of the market.
• Spain retains a traditional, country club approach but has become more social.

The Language of Golf. Jean-Pierre estimates Wilson’s customer base as 40% US, 40% Europe, and 20% Asia. Product messaging comes out of Chicago headquarters and then adapted in-country to fit the target audience. Sometimes it’s “pretty tricky” but the goal is to let in-country “experts” transform the creative content. Things can “mean the same but have to be presented in a certain way.” Similarly, Wilson relies on in-country, native-speaking experts to drive translation – both lingual and cultural – of corporate messaging into target markets.

“Everything starts with the consumer,” and it’s a “balancing act” between the consumer and R&D, through to commercialization. Going to market, Wilson takes a global approach: “At the end of the day it’s the same game around the world, putting a little white ball into a hole,” however, that basic message requires localized elements.

For example, in some parts of the world, Wilson will emphasize the ball’s “softness,” while in others, emphasis is on the ball’s ability to travel far distances.

Especially fascinating is that each market has its generalizations:

• In Asian markets: players are shorter and swings are slower, so equipment is lighter.
• US golfers tend to be more serious and want powerful equipment. It’s also a more mature market compared to the rest of the world.
• Gloves sold in Australia are “cadet-sized” because golfers there tend to have shorter fingers; gloves sold in the Asia-Pacific region require “centimeter sizing and a slightly different cut.”

Even golf bags, which may seem to be a commodity, require market-specific differences – the US prefers golf carts to portable bags, for instance, and material patterns and designs can differ markedly from one region to another.

Interestingly, websites are per-country because product lines and pricing are slightly different but worldwide, packaging is solely in English and French – Wilson assumes that golf terminology is easily recognized by non-English and -French speakers. Some local catalogs are still done in local languages, but even that service is gradually going by the wayside.

Golf is “a sport that reveals a lot about yourself in many ways,” says Jean-Pierre. And in both golf and global marketing, his best advice is to “[k]eep an open mind – don’t try to force something, just try to adapt something.”

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