IN AN EFFORT to target young golfers, The Ladies Professional Golf Association incorporated Tony the Tiger and Ernie the Elf into a direct mail piece reaching 80,000 Illinois youths.
The promotion, featuring the Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes’ and Keebler packaged goods icons, was a free-ticket invitation to the Kellogg-Keebler Classic golf tournament, scheduled for May 27-June 2 at Illinois’ Stonebridge Country Club in Aurora, IL. While the LPGA traditionally provides free admission to children, this effort “took that LPGA policy to the next level,” by putting invitations directly into their hands, according to Mark Hersch, tournament director and Gateway Sports Promotions president.
Thanks to sponsor Keebler’s relationship with the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. (Keebler is a major supplier to their cookie drives) the tournament promoter had indirect access to the troops. Naperville, IL-based Gateway gave the organization 10,000 tickets to send to Chicago-area scouts.
Forty thousand more went to regional grocery chain Dominick’s Finer Foods, which distributed them at points of sale. The other 30,000 invitations were given to Illinois youth golf organizations, such as Hook a Kid on Golf, the Illinois Junior Golf Association and the U.S. Golf Association.
Hook a Kid on Golf distributed the tickets by inserting them in its newsletter Tee to Green. Its May 20 mailing brought the tickets to more than 4,000 young members. Program director Holly Alcala estimates that 80% of the recipients were between the ages of 8 and 13, a demographic that dovetails nicely with the event’s sponsors.
“The addition of Kellogg and Keebler will draw families out to the event. They’re great sponsors to have,” Alcala said.
Neither Kellogg nor Keebler were provided tickets to distribute to regional families in their own consumer databases, but Hersch is considering doing so for future events.
While the effort didn’t capture names and addresses right on the ticket, the Kellogg-Keebler Classic featured booths where respondents could give contact information.
It’s not the first time Gateway has used direct mail to promote this event. In February, to stimulate advance adult ticket sales, the company rented about 25,000 names, including those of Chicago-based merchandise buyers from LPGA.com and local Golf for Women magazine subscribers.
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