Why are clones cheaper?
(Excerpts from an interview with Pinemeadow Golf)
Previous: Where are clone golf clubs assembled?
Guy Mount III: The brands pay for millions of dollars of advertising in golf magazines. If you take a look at the money that Callaway spends with Annika Sorenstam...when you take a look at their facilities and the way they promote their product, well, that sells product - it sells a lot of product for them. It's great marketing on their part.
Nike signed Tiger Woods. Why are they paying him millions and millions of dollars? Because when people see him play a Nike club, that translates into sales. But there's a cost associated with that. You cannot do that without having to put that back into the price of your clubs.
Bryan O'Doherty: If we were doing that, then we'd be at exactly the same price. And their marketing model is fantastic - they're a lot bigger than we are!
Guy Mount III: You're talking TaylorMade, Callaway, Ping, Nike, they all do it. And their clubs are all similarly priced. One of those guys isn't taking a $500 driver and selling it for $1000. They're all about in the same price range. You take a look at clone makers, and they're all in the same (lower) price range.
Your marketing budget is going to be a % of the price of your product - the price covers the high-priced adverstisements on the Golf Channel when the US Open is on. We do none of that. We do not run any trade magazine publications, we do not pay anybody to use our clubs. That's why our clubs are cheaper.
Bryan O'Doherty: Our distribution channel - via the Internet- also helps, because none of the brands sell directly to the consumer on the web. Selling online drives a tremendous amount of cost out of the marketing of products; savings which we pass on to the customer. It's just a different way of doing it.
