And K15 comes as a blended set of irons and hybrids?
Yes. Our sales of hybrids are consistently strong, so we know they are in golfers’ bags. We are trying to make the transition from irons to hybrids very easy. This blended principle features in K15 and also in our new ladies range, Faith. The irons and hybrids will be sold at the same price when golfers buy a blended set upfront, so golfers can easily establish what the best club make-up is for their bag.
The launch of the Faith range is also very significant for us. Our Rhapsody range has significantly grown our ladies’ business throughout Europe, and we are expecting the Faith range to go beyond what we have already achieved.
Do you see the women’s golf market growing?
The golf market remains quite tough at the moment, but if there is a sector that is relatively strong it is ladies’ golf – and the ladies’ game is a much bigger sector Europe than it is in the UK. Through Rhapsody, and now Faith, and our support for the Solheim Cup, we have made a significant commitment to ladies’ golf, with the same technical approach we give to men’s, and we see ladies’ golf as a real growth opportunity.
How is business varying across European markets?
In the bigger traditional markets of France, Germany, Sweden and Ireland, which are fairly mature like the UK, we are strong but there remains room for improvement, but in the longer term the real growth is going to come from Eastern Europe, but this is a slow-burning fuse. They have got to build the golf courses, and hardware sales tend to come from the residential sector – as opposed to tourists – but it takes more time for the residential market to build up.
The UK is a very successful market for us, and our aim is to get other European markets up to the same level.
What else is Ping introducing to the market this year?
We have already had Louis Oosthuizen win the Open, and Miguel Angel Jimenez and Hunter Mahan winning on Tour recently, all playing with the new S56 irons. Oosthuizen and Jimenez also played the new Tour S wedges. The Anser iron is another new launch, which is our first forged iron. The Anser is a three-piece club with a forged face, offering some playability. It will be up there in price but we are expecting strong demand from some of the Asian markets in particular.
As consumers have become better educated, you have to deliver a more focused message, and a more focused product range. That is why you are seeing Ping make significant product offerings to different sectors. We want to communicate clearly on a technical level with consumers who understand the game, and we want them to know that we have the right products for their game. We now have a comprehensive range of clubs that reaches every aspect of the market.
This has been an evolving strategy over the years. Ping is a company that focuses primarily on golf clubs – that is our business – and we are earning a lot of trust and loyalty. We will never take that for granted though – it comes with producing real performance and technical innovation, which will always be at the heart of our company.
So is this Ping’s biggest ever product offering?
Yes, it is the biggest and most comprehensive range of product we have offered to date, not just in Europe, but in the United States as well, and we are launching at the same time in the US. The world is a much smaller place these days, and that is the fairest way to do it from the consumers’ point of view.
