Project Description
An established brand
The PGA have been at the heart of golf since 1901. With almost 8,000 members worldwide, their members are experts on the game. Alongside the European Tour, they are the trustees of the Ryder Cup on this side of the Atlantic.
Introduction the PGA Qualifications
Connecting with an audience
The PGA approached us to help them with their 2020 intake of students. It was a project we were excited and privileged to be part of. It was also a logistical challenge given the unfolding pandemic…Our task was to present one of the most established golfing bodies to a Gen Z audience in a fresh and thoughtful way. Key to this is was demonstrating the myriad career paths a qualified PGA Professional can take.
Our work has been so demonstrably successful that we have since worked on building on the initial campaign in both 2021 and 2022. We have developed the initial concepts and content and added layers of sophistication and more refined content. The centrepiece of this year’s campaign is a new video – finally Covid restrictions had eased sufficiently for us to be able to film PGA students as they learned.
Meet the Students Video
Reach
Over the three seasons we have been working on this campaign, we have conducted many interviews with an array of PGA Professionals around the world – from tour stars to world-famous coaches, directors of golf, golf club managers, golf club owners, YouTube stars and club professionals. We have also spoken to the students of today and the PGA Members of tomorrow to make the content relatable as well as inspirational to our target audience.
Once we had created a suite of bespoke assets, we were able to use them in print, on the Draft website, as creative for third-party media, on social media campaigns and in digital newsletters.
We were able to target the relevant audience via traditional media, social and Google’s Ad Network. The result? Application numbers that were 350% up on 2019 and applications that were 170% more relevant. That trend has continued throughout the three years we have been working on the project.
Ad Creatives
What they say…
“With the help of 18Players, our Draft campaign has changed the way that prospective students engage with The PGA and gain that all-important first impression. It’s a far-reaching project that includes a microsite complete with video and written content, advertising creative and social media assets.”
Richard Green, PGA Head of Communications