Women In Sport Research Paper

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Chandler Thomas 1 August 2018 Women in Sport Buchanan Merchandising and Marketing in the LPGA On January 22, 2018 in Orlando, Florida, the LPGA’s 2018 advertising campaign debuted. The emphasis of the 2018 campaign is “A Global Tour Like No Other”. The commercial for the campaign, which is shown on Golf Channel, focuses on the diverse nationalities of the players, but also wants the viewers to see them as friendly and approachable. I really like how the campaign for this year focuses on the personalities of the players and shows them as who they are. I notice on television, most commercials for female sports, they are shown as extremely serious and strong or are sexualized and focus is taken away from their athletic ability. I felt like this campaign was a good balance, the athletes were in their golf uniforms and were shown as athletes, but also relatable and non-intimidating. Along with airing on Golf Channel, the LPGA’s 2018 campaign is active on YouTube. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. They also have partnerships with international television and have their own social media channels. The LPGA also has many sponsorship partners, which are all listed on the official LPGA website. Kia, PureSilk, Rolex, and Titleist are the well-known sponsorship partners of the LPGA. The LPGA also sponsors events for young girls to increase their participation in golf and they offer several scholarships to graduating seniors, such as the Marilynn Smith Scholarship that I received my senior year of high school.

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While the LPGA’s main target audience is female golfers, the organization does a great job of marketing towards all audiences. The LPGA does several partnerships with the PGA and I have seen several commercials and promotions where female and male golfers are featured together. I believe that the LPGA’s goal when choosing their target audience is to increase awareness of women’s golf, and to do that, the main target audience would be young girls around 10-16 years of age. Several of the LPGA’s partnerships have tried to be more inclusive towards women when designing equipment and clothing. For example, Adidas Golf “now owns 20 percent of the of the women’s worldwide golf footwear market share” and has created a team of female golfers from various countries that are Adidas Ambassadors and have provided several corporate leadership jobs to women in the company. Going back to the 2018 campaign commercial, I think the LPGA went with a “women support women” approach. The commercial includes several female golfers from different countries coming together to show that even with the diversity between them, they can come together and play the sport they love. During the commercial, the players are teaching each other how to speak their language. I felt like that represented the inclusiveness and approachability that the LPGA is basing their campaign on. I think the campaign is great. The only thing I would change about it is that I think they should add something that involves the professional athletes interacting with young girls and encouraging them to work hard and pursue golf. Overall, I think the LPGA does a great job of campaigning and marketing for their organization. Along with marketing in a way that is respectful towards the female athletes, the LPGA also offers several corporate leadership jobs for women. With their impressive list of

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sponsorship partners and the incredible opportunities they provide, I believe that the LPGA is one of the most professional organizations in the world of female sports.

Works Cited Kramer, Scott. “Adidas Golf Knows How To Target Its Female Audience.” ​Forbes​, Forbes Magazine, 24 May 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/scottkramer/2018/05/24/adidas-golf-knows-how-to-target-its-female-audi ence/. “LPGA Launches 2018 Advertising Campaign on Golf Channel | LPGA | Ladies Professional Golf Association.” ​LPGA​, www.lpga.com/news/2018-lpga-launches-advertising-campaign-on-golf-channel​.