By BETH ANN BALDRYSenior WriterSEOUL, South Korea – It’s 12:30 p.m. on a crisp, spring weekday afternoon in Seoul. The Twins Golf Club practice range, Korea’s second largest, is lined with well-dressed patrons toting brand-named equipment. A quick count reveals 27 women and 46 men swatting away on the club’s 100 mats.
It’s called a golf club but there is no course. Members pay 3.1 million won (approximately $3,353) per year to use the Twins’ range and short-game facilities. If the pricetags aren’t enough to persuade an outsider that Koreans take their golf seriously, consider this: When the range opened at 5 a.m., 50 people were in line. After 5 p.m., players often wait several hours for a spot.
Even a first-time observer of the Korean golf economy can see and feel its vitality – and understand why U.S. companies are so eager to tap into it. But on the ground here, one also grasps its uniqueness and the challenges it poses American marketers.
The number of women at the Twins’ range alone provides a tell-tale difference from the United States.
Korea may be a patriarchal society, but women often control the family purse strings, making them a sizable force in the golf market. Thirty percent of Korea’s 4 million golfers are women (compared with 10 percent of 24 million adult U.S. golfers), and according to industry observers, women accounted for the lion’s share of the $600 million in golf apparel and footwear sales tallied at retail in 2006. The figure dwarfed hardgoods sales of $275 million.
That means a whole new way of thinking for U.S. brands accustomed to catering to men. But the foreign feel doesn’t stop there: Department stores are a retail hot-spot, where nothing moves the needle like celebrity style (say “Hello, Paris Hilton”), and Asian brands with wacky but wildly popular cartoon designs represent an unfamiliar breed of competitor.
“We think the women’s market in Korea is growing faster than the men’s,” said Mark Klingspon, TaylorMade-Adidas Golf’s senior director for global business development. “It’s
a market we should start to take a little more seriously.”
A visit to the posh Shinsegae Department Store (think Neiman Marcus on steroids) helps define the retail landscape. Shinsegae devotes nearly an entire floor to golf equipment
and apparel. All the usual American brands are on display, plus several Korean and Japanese companies with a penchant for animal cartoons.
Nothing on the floor is cheap. Practically every shirt off the rack costs at least $300. Form-fitting and stylish are the norm, but that’s consistent with golf in Korea, which is
a formal affair. Casual, pleated khakis are nowhere to be found.
A sales clerk in the equipment section says 40 percent of her customers are women. And the price tags in the department store offer another revelation: At Shinsegae, a model of TaylorMade’s r7 driver sells for 750,000 won ($810). That’s nothing compared with the price for a set of irons from the Japanese brand Honma. Older businessmen are the ones most likely to splurge on the uber-elite, graphite-shafted clubs that cost 15 million won ($16,185).
There is price relief at a sale rack in the women’s apparel section. But it, too, unveils another market difference: Nothing but size “large” items hang from it. By contrast, in U.S. stores, there’s typically nothing left but “extra smalls.”
The leftovers at Shinsegae illustrate how companies planning to do business in Korea
need not only to address different consumer tastes, but must redesign lines to fit the smaller frames of Korean men and women. That’s exactly what TaylorMade-Adidas Golf is doing; its Asian-specific line is expected in stores in January. Now, finding an up-and-coming Korean star to showcase the new apparel should be near the top of the company’s agenda.
And for good reason. TMAG officials are the first to concede that global rival Nike Golf
is a step ahead on the Korean marketing front.
When Nike endorser Grace Park returns home to Seoul, she entertains fans at the company’s fashion shows in upscale department stores. When fellow spokeswoman Michelle Wie makes headlines around the world, Koreans scurry to buy what’s in her Nike bag and closet.
“Because athletes are so iconic here to the locals, they make a tremendous difference (in sales),” said David Song, director of sales for Nike Sports Korea. “There’s a huge desire to look like celebrities.”
That idol worship extends far beyond athletes. The LPGA’s Hee-Won Han began her relationship with Fila Korea in 2000, and rookie Song-Hee Kim signed a $1 million contract with the company earlier this year. But the face that is plastered all over Fila’s headquarters in downtown Seoul is none other than Hilton, the hotel heiress. Fila Korea, which acquired Fila USA in April, ranks only 10th in golf apparel market share in Korea, according to company officials. But they are betting the paparazzi favorite will be good for brand exposure and sales.
Ironically, in Korea, marketing often means going Hollywood. Bean Pole International, an affiliate of electronics giant Samsung, is widely recognized as the nation’s leader in golf apparel. It signed actress Gwyneth Paltrow to enhance Bean Pole’s corporate profile.
Such star power is particularly helpful in selling golf-related items. Indeed, Korean retailers, cognizant of their female clientele, understand the value of accessorizing. For example, Boston bags are huge in Korea, and it’s a “must-have” for a fashionable golfer seeking a match for her smart cart bag. And since golf in this country is usually an all-day affair, bringing a change of clothes is practically a necessity.
Perhaps that’s why the Twins Golf Club’s apparel shop had a pricey yellow sun dress on
the rack next to its collared shirts. Which leads to at least one universal truth: Women love one-stop shopping.
• • •
Beth Ann Baldry is a
Golfweek senior writer. To reach her e-mail
bbaldry@golfweek.com.
Posted: 7/20/2007
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