Get Noticed was the company that brought mainstream ads to golf ranges from 2007 to 2010 and paid ranges a percentage of the ad revenue as well. Alas, Steve and his company went through some tough times during the height of the recession back in 2009/10, and ultimately they were left without much option but to take a back seat a year or so later from continuing and developing the business any further.
Golf Features caught up with him to ask him about the re-entry, the timing and what could golf ranges could expect from becoming a contracted Touch Outdoor partner.
So Steve, what has prompted you to return to the selling and placing of advertising into the golf range market?
Quite simply, I always maintained we had the right developing business model and fully believed in the service we were providing to golf ranges a few years ago. We entered the market back then with a mission to try and make a small financial difference to all golf ranges. To the 450 partners that were with us during our network peak of 2010 we on the whole did that, as they seemed at the time to be the forgotten element of what, in my opinion, was and still can be at the very heartbeat for the good growth and continued development of the game we all love.
Sadly, like many ad businesses around at that time - and in particular at the peak of the banking crisis - we were delivered an unfortunate timing blow. Advertising budget manoeuvres and the general slashing of value in advertising campaigns were completely taken out of our control, and that ultimately hit us very hard and very quickly, leaving us in a salvage position which we were unable to overcome.
So why the return now?
Six years on, I have been monitoring the outdoor market closely over the years, and am heartened that over the past 12 months the ad spend levels have continued to go forward and beyond what they were during the pretty heady months we experienced prior to 2009. Many range partners back then during this key period were receiving 12 / 16 campaigns per year from us, which for most independent range operators provided a very welcome addition to their income.
This is one of several reasons that helped reignite my personal interest, knowing the timing was right to set about re-entering the marketplace. So I began to put together what I believe to be a stronger, more robust business model which will allow me to finish what I started, and allow ranges to once again reap the benefits of a national company bringing national and international advertising campaigns to their practice facilities.
Will it be a straight replicate of Get Noticed Golf?
Not exactly. From my perspective, with the business just about to launch, I couldn’t have set it up and aimed to have run it more differently if I had tried. The sales setup, along with how we place the ads operationally, will be vastly different in terms of the methods we will be using, along with a request for much more hands on contact with all our installed ranges, where we will be managing the ad space month to month directly with every range owner, so they too will have ultimate control via the web portal we have designed for everyone’s benefit.
In terms of strength, sustainability, do you feel your business is better prepared?
I am really pleased to have sourced the investment I set out to achieve, which, given the history, some of my business partners and shareholders thought long and hard before committing. But they see the belief I have in my product in the marketplace we are entering, especially one that today isn’t in an advertising recessive period and they have given me every support to come back to market and put the network in place.
So what can ranges be expecting from Touch Outdoor in the weeks and months ahead?
Well firstly, we will be investing heavily into them once again by way of installing any partner range with brand new panel stocks. To run alongside the A3 sized practice bay ad panels, we have the entry & exit larger ad sites, known as 6 sheets. We will also bring along a new format of “On Range Marker Ads” - effective airmesh banners, stable in all weathers - within our frames to be set out on the range at 100, 150 or 200yds, which we hope the range owners will truly appreciate.
One extra item, and one I know is a current high cost for most range operators, is the rubber tees. I hope during the first months to eradicate some of the continual replacement costs of their rubber tees on their behalf. It is early days, but I am extremely hopeful of securing a national brand to sponsor all tees at all Touch Outdoor installed sites. We would simply provide our installed range partners with a selection of heights they use to complement their own current stocks, and that hopefully will slow down the purchase costs placed on the ranges for these continual replacements.
When are you looking to secure ranges to be installed and what can a range expect for being a contracted partner?
Ideally, I would like to secure and have installed a good number of outlets prior to the year end in preparation for the sales beginning in 2017. We formally launch this November during The International Golf Travel Market (www.igtm.com), where we will be introducing Touch Outdoor and UK golf ranges to tens of Tourist Boards and marketing departments from around the globe. I have golf and travel related posters ready now to be placed in all of the panels upon installation, which will provide the basis of a new beginning between the ranges and Touch Outdoor.
I can confirm also I have secured the golf professional Don Ross from Feelgolf (www.feelgolf.com), so in early 2017 we will be able to offer every installed facility in every poster site to be a joint-earning advertising panel on a direct range-by-range shared basis with the format we are set to launch.
Of course, the future is what is important to all parties, and if Touch Outdoor reaches it’s realistic sales forecast for 2017/18, then our range partners will realise in the region of at least hundreds of pounds of commission alongside, of course, the investment in the placement /installation of signage, the range marker furniture, too, that we will be bringing, which I am sure all ranges will appreciate.
We hope ranges can see the benefits we bring aren’t purely financial, although we realise fully the value we will ultimately bring will be a key indicator in the future ongoing relationship.
How should ranges go about placing their interest with you? Or will you be visiting many range owners in the weeks and months ahead?
It will be a combination of me, or a representative, dropping by many ranges, making our introductions to explain our offering. We also have a range benefits page at www.touchoutdoor.co.uk where any facility can register their interest and, of course, those that use this route would receive priority to be attended to.
Well that all sounds positive. All that remains for us is to wish you the very best of luck with the new venture and hope you go on to complete what you started some years ago.