Day Two - Liz Valicenti of Titleist

Good Thursday to All!

Today, the PGA Championship began at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota and we are blogging Day Two of my interview with Liz Valicenti, Senior Manager, Interactive Marketing for Titleist/Acushnet Golf.  Yesterday Liz talked about how she started at Titleist and how little golf she gets to play.  Here is the conclusion of my interview:

dwo34:  "I know the fans are chomping at the bit to hear about any new products that are going to be hitting the market.  I know I may need to upgrade my Driver soon.  What's coming up?"

Liz: "We haven’t officially launched our new products, but word has gotten out about the new Titleist irons.  We’ve been testing on tour and many of our players have put the new irons in their bags immediately.  Four models:  new Titleist AP1 Irons, new Titleist AP2 Irons, New Titleist CB (cavity back) Irons and New Titleist MB (muscle back) irons.  You can read more on the Titleist Tour blog ( HYPERLINK "http://www.titleisttourblog.com" www.titleisttourblog.com)  We will also have a new Scotty Cameron putter series as well as new Vokey wedges.  In January, we’ll announce even more new products at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.  While it’s not a rule, in general we see a two year life cycle for most of our products."

dwo34 "Liz, I know we chatted about this personally, but talk about Social Media and how it effects Titleist.  I find it amazing that we can now call each other friends and yet, we have yet to meet face to face."

Liz: " One of the things I’m so excited about with social media and Titleist is that because of these new tools, we are able to really communicate with our consumers.  Though it’s new technology, we’re really going back to grass roots or 1-1 marketing. If there’s one thing I know for sure it’s that our Titleist fans and loyal, passionate and they want us to know that and they want to know that we hear them.  In the past we really haven’t had the ability to open the dialog that is now available with web. 2.0 technology.  It’s allowing us to remove the filter between the consumer and the brand and really get a dialog going.  This helps the consumer because they feel empowered to tell us how they feel about the brand – what they like and what they dislike and we as a brand get the critical information we need about our products in order to continue to make the best performing, highest quality golf equipment available.

What’s also exciting to me about social media is that we now have the opportunity to connect with a younger consumer.. Facebook for example brings us a completely different pool of consumers at a significantly younger age.  We now have a direct line to talk to that younger group.  Ironically, a recent survey that we did among our Facebook group and our website database resulted in almost identical results.  Pleasantly surprising for me because it tells me that a Titleist fan is a Titleist fan – no matter what age."

dwo34: "Liz, you know I am a Twitter fan, and I favor this media over Facebook and MySpace. I think it would be great to talk about Twitter and it's power.  Some of my friend's are a little skeptical of Twitter.

Liz: "I don’t have to sell Twitter to you David, but Twitter is not only a place to communicate it’s a place to meet new contacts.  In the last year, 99% of all my new business contacts have been made on Twitter or Facebook.  . If it weren’t for Twitter, you and I would not in a million years know each other , but you are an avid Titleist fan and Titleist SHOULD know you, and if you are willing to share information, we should know what Titleist equipment you own, where you play, and we should be able to get products that will help improve your game, into your hands.  My hope for the Titleist brand is that somehow Titleist will have a connection, a communication or some kind of relationship through Social Media with all the David Ohara’s out there. I believe that It’s really all about TRUST.  Our fans need to trust that we are going to provide the highest quality, best performing golf equipment that’s made for their game."  

dwo34:  "Liz, the first round is in the books.  Tiger is on top of the leader board. What are your thoughts on the first round?"

Liz: "There is a lot more golf to play, and if you check the Titleist Leader Board, you will notice that the majority of the leaders are playing Titleist.  We have an outstanding chance to win the PGA. Should be fun."

dwo34: "Liz, thank you so much for your time and your insight. I have received so many emails with positive comments on Day One."

Liz "You're welcome David. Thank you."

My interview with Liz Valicenti was so much fun.  You see her excitement the minute you converse with Liz.  I get a clue why Titleist is one of the top brands in golf, it's great people like Liz who are compassionate and care about what they do.  I, myself am I loyal Titleist "Sunday" golfer.  My friend gave me a staff bag for a gift with my name embroidered on it (see photo), I play the Titleist Pro V1x ball, and I hit their clubs.  Titleist stands for quality in my opinion and you will not find a better quality person than Liz Valicenti.  Thank you again Liz and good luck this week at the PGA!

As a side note, leave your comments (about golf or Titleist) here or via email(dwo34@aol.com) and I will give away a couple of nice Titleist things.  I have some items that will make you a true Titleist fan, so respond and I will select the best comments.

It's August 13, 2009 and I am bullish on Sacramento

David Ohara

@dwo34

dwo34@aol.com

Liz Valicenti of Titleist

Titleist

Day One Blog Entry

I am so happy to have Liz Valicenti here to join us on the DWO34 Smooth Blog.  Liz is the Senior Manager, Interactive Marketing for Titleist/Acushnet Golf.  On the eve of the PGA Championship, the timing of her appearance here is perfect.  I interviewed Liz and here are some of the questions and answers from that interview:

dwo34:  "Hi Liz, please tell me how many years have you been with Titleist and how did you get started?"

Liz:  "18 years.  (in between did part-time and some at home while I had 3 boys. They are now 13, 11, and almost 9).  Everyone always asks – How can I get a job a Titleist – I really love golf.  Well, I honestly answered an ad in the Boston Globe for what was then Associate Manager of Marketing Services.  It took about 3 months from the time I sent in my resume until I was actually hired and I’ve got to say, this is very typical for our company.  You can’t give up.  I recall sending a three page letter to my supervisor why she should hire me.  She is still my manager today and sometimes threatens to bring the letter out just to torture me!

Way back then there was no internet and I was hired basically to put together our annual catalog and other promotional materials.  This was my first job after getting my MBA in Marketing @ Northeastern University and I’ve never looked back.  Moving from catalog production to online was a natural for me – it was such an exciting time in 1995/96 with the emergence of the World Wide Web.  In July 1996 after about 3 years of trying to convince everyone that we needed a website, we finally launched titleist.com.  I’ve been working on Titleist online and interactive since then.

dwo34:  "I know a lot of people are going to be curious about this. As an employee of Titleist, how many rounds do you get to play, what's in your bag now, and what's your handicap?"

Liz: "There’s a saying that once you start to work for Titleist you never play golf and if your handicap is going down instead of up – you’re not working hard enough. . . I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve only had 2 rounds in a year.  With three very active boys and a full time job -  it’s tough to find the time.  I’m about a 14 handicap. Well let’s just say that I’m a little behind in getting my bag updated, so let me tell you what I really WANT in my bag right now:

Pro V1x (contrary to what some think, you don’t have to have fast ball speeds or swing speeds).  I prefer the x over the Pro V1 because launch monitor results show that I have tons of spin off my driver and the Pro V1x helps me keep the ball straighter off the tee.  I really like the NXT Tour too. 909DComp (will get fit for a new shaft but I usually fit into a senior shaft) 909F2 Fairway  13.5 and 15.5.  909H Hybrid 17 and 21 degree. New AP1 irons 5-PW (same as above – you HAVE to get fit!)  I watched a few of our sales reps hitting the new AP1 irons that will be coming out mid fall and I was so impressed by the comments and think this is really going to be my new favorite iron! Vokey Wedges:  Spin Milled  52 and 58.  Putter:  I just got a 1996 Scotty Cameron La Costa restored!

dwo34:  "Liz what is your favorite golf course to play?"

Liz:  "New Seabury Country Club, New Seabury, MA (Cape Cod).  I grew up in the summers near the course and my brothers were caddies so we’d all go out at about 5pm after picking up the range.  There’s nothing like the front 9 of the Championship Course that overlooks Nantucket Sound – beautiful."

dwo34: "Talk about some of the Titleist Staff Golfers"

Liz: "I think the one thing about Titleist Brand Ambassadors is that they not only represent our products, they represent our brand.  We have such a great mix of US and ex-US players, different ages, different playing styles but the one consistent is they are all great representatives and ambassadors for the Titleist brand.  OK – I do have my favorites:  Davis Love III – such a gentleman; Brad Faxon – he’s local, a great guy and so loyal to Titleist.  Robert Karlsson, Adam Scott. "


dwo34: "Liz, tell us one of your most memorable and recent golf moments."

Liz: "Zach Johnson winning the Masters.  He’s just such a genuine, wonderful person.  He deserved it."

dwo34:  "Liz, why don't we save the rest for tomorrow. Good luck at Hazeltine National Golf Club this week"

Liz: "We have a good shot at one of our players winning. We are the number one ball on tour!"

Tomorrow Liz will talk about up coming products that Titleist is launching along with Social Network Marketing. It's truly amazing how we can connect.  I met Liz through Twitter and would not have been able to arrange this interview if it were not for these types of social media outlets.  I was able to get a photo of Adam Scott's bag ( pictured up above).  The Titleist site is very cool also, check them out at Titleist.com.