Boyne Golf

BOYNE Golf boasts 10 championship-caliber courses across 10,000 acres in Northern Michigan. Renowned for designs
by legendary architects like Robert Trent Jones Sr., Arthur Hills and Donald Ross, BOYNE Golf has become a central player in making Northern Michigan “America’s Summer Golf Capital.”

Daniels + Roberts’ charge was to position BOYNE Golf as a national brand, making it a go-to destination for avid and core golfers nationwide

• Increase Course Utilization: Boost rounds played by 15%.
• Increase Room Occupancy: Raise room night occupancy among golfers by 10%.
• Expand Brand Reach: Establish client as a premier destination outside of its traditional markets

We conducted an exhaustive study to pinpoint BOYNE Golf’s ideal customer segments and map out brand positioning. This analysis included:

1. Market Segmentation and Conjoint Analysis
2. Customer Data Analysis
3. Consumer Insights Research
4. Granular Campaign Targeting

With an aggregation and analysis of the research came insights on customer and prospect behavior, participation and penetration.

• SEO Improvements: Increased BOYNE Golf’s organic reach with a 171% rise in ranking keywords and a 220% boost in organic traffic.
• Digital Advertising: Targeted Google, Facebook and retargeting ads focused on high-conversion golf segments. From January to August 2020, digital marketing ROI averaged 1,060%.
• Media Mix Optimization: Refined based on golf bookings, occupancy and revenue, using geocoding to personalize campaigns by market.

Based on findings, we developed a brand campaign that best positioned the resort to our top segment “Alpha” golfers. Print, digital, mobile, public relations and promotions were all components of the integrated campaign.

Using these prospects, we fielded a conjoint style study of 2000 participants. Additionally, we overlaid behavioral and attitudinal data from our proprietary databases in order to identify and understand their behavior, choice attributes and motivations. Within the same study we tested extensive imagery, messaging and graphic composition.

Crucial to the exercise was fully understanding messaging that would motivate guests to travel 1.5 hours from the nearest airport location to the property. Also critical was determining drive times from local market DMAs which could be a minimum of 3 hours.

ENVIRONMENT GOLF MESSAGES RESONATE BEST with respondents

We geo-demographically mined for target prospects utilizing the BEHAVIORAL, ATTITUDINAL and DEMOGRAPHIC attributes that were defined in Stage 1 of the segmentation.

To ascertain positive golf course ratings, key influencers were well represented within our primary target segment while public relations maintained an ongoing dialogue with these KOLs.

Proprietary micro-marketing strategies were utilized in the media selection to assure highest impressions within the critical segments. Indices below 200 were determined as ineffective and discarded.

Unique programs were designed and initiated for the transient group, golf group and corporate group segments addressing their particular needs. These included choice attributes and subsequent messaging as defined in the research phase. While a brand identity and promise are consistent across all segments, messaging varies.

SKILL SETS USED

Golf enthusiasts study
Conjoint-style analysis
Competitive analysis
Strategic planning
Brand development
Brand positioning
Message testing
Brand identity
Integrated outreach
Online
Offline
Group sales support
Photography
Results analytics
Program optimization

We continually optimized based on geocoding, RevPOR, Occupancy, and ADR to provide ownership with the best possible solutions to drive and optimize revenue.