Enhancing Customer Experience with Verint Community

Building On Brand Equity By Enhancing Customer Relationships

Titleist has always been very active and at the forefront of trends in interactive marketing. It sees significant value in providing brand loyalists with access to Titleist on a more personal level, which is why it wanted to identify another vehicle to build upon its commitment to brand enthusiasts.

The interactive marketing team worked closely with senior management to build the case for a branded online community that would serve as a central destination for Titleist enthusiasts to engage with the brand and their golfing peers online. Its brand loyalists were connecting on Facebook and other golf communities, and Titleist wanted to bring them back to Titleist’s website as a central hub for golf and Titleist fans. 

Titleist wanted to establish even deeper relationships and enable personal, impactful conversations between avid golfers and Titleist associates. The end result was Team Titleist – an online community of Titleist brand loyalists, avid golfers and partners.

Launching The Team Titleist Online Community To Engage Brand Enthusiasts  

From the onset of the project, involving key stakeholders and decision makers across numerous business units (senior management, marketing, advertising and sales) was paramount to the community’s success. Titleist employees built the case together to establish clear goals and consensus before launch. Titleist created a high-quality, branded experience for its customers to maintain the look and feel of the brand. Team Titleist also pulls in its social interactions from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to create an integrated online social experience for customers. Brand enthusiasts actively contribute to both social media sites and the online community.

 “We interact with our brand fans across all channels,” says DePaolo. “We take a multi-layered approach to our engagement to ensure that we are communicating with our audience in the channels where they are most comfortable engaging. Our ultimate goal is to always bring our fans over to the Team Titleist community as it provides more opportunities to engage with them at a deeper level than the other channels.” 

“Our overall view is to deliver timely and relevant content to our fans that is exciting and captivating. While we know that there is a better chance of creating a deeper, more immersive connection within Team Titleist we don’t want to miss opportunities to start the relationship with a potential lifelong brand fan in another channel. Hopefully, we can show the value, commitment and authenticity in those channels that will inspire the fan to engage with us on Team Titleist.” 

The Team Titleist community provides golf enthusiasts with a direct link to product experts – fellow golfers and Titleist employees. Members can share their golf stories, discuss tips for improving their game, ask questions about products and talk about golfing events.

Consumers also use the community to research products. Golfers are spending more time reviewing available products and asking peers and experts for advice before purchasing. Fellow golfers respond and share their advice and product reviews. This way, customers spread helpful information and positive word-of-mouth about Titleist gear with avid golfers, which helps buyers make informed decisions and ultimately supports sales.

Team Titleist is a central hub for golfers to improve their golf game. With a suite of tools designed to help golfers improve their game, Team Titleist members can track their key golf statistics and explore a library of video tips from some of the world’s best players and instructors.

The community opens the doors to ‘behind the scenes’ information at Titleist that brand loyalists desire. Team Titleist members can talk to product experts, participate in R&D test panels, provide feedback in surveys and attend exclusive live webcasts and special events. This keeps Titleist up to speed on what its enthusiasts want from a product and engagement perspective, and ensures customers can contribute feedback. 

Members can access the community via Titleist’s iPhone app, which is a one-stop destination for everything Titleist. Members can tune into Titleist’s social stream for news and updates, check out an expansive library of videos, find golf shops and fitters in their area, track key golf stats and record their swing to compare it to a Titleist Brand Ambassador’s or create a library of their own swings to view side-by-side.

Strengthening Customer Relationships And Increasing Brand Awareness 

“Team Titleist allows our brand loyalists to experience inside the ropes access, connect with other avid golfers and share their stories and passion for golf,” says DePaolo. Team Titleist members have the opportunity to join R&D panels, provide feedback in surveys, participate in exclusive live webcasts, attend special events and more. 

“Through Team Titleist, we are strengthening our connection with the golfer by building brand awareness and loyalty,” says DePaolo. “We are also seeing golfers spending more time researching equipment prior to making any purchases. This community is intended to provide Titleist enthusiasts with a direct link to our product experts and brand ambassadors while opening the doors to as much ‘behind the scenes’ information as possible. Since the launch, site activity and engagement has surpassed our expectations.” 

Enhanced customer experience: Titleist receives a lot of positive feedback from customers regarding the online community and social experience it provides. Engagement levels and loyalists are increasing as it continues to enhance its presence and implement new strategies.

Titleist is also bridging online social experiences with in-person events. “We recently provided a member the opportunity to caddy for a PGA tour player, which is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a golf fan,” says DePaolo. They also hosted sweepstakes where the winning member got to bring a friend to the Titleist Performance Institute in California – the same facility where many of the best players across the professional tours go to get dialed-in with their equipment – where they were both professionally fit for a completely new bag of Titleist equipment. 

Stronger brand loyalty: Brand enthusiasts and golfers are building stronger relationships with one another and Titleist team members. The popularity of the community resulted in 500 percent membership growth within the first year, and the community doubled in size the following year. Even with that success, Titleist nurtures a “fan base, not a database” of loyalists and focuses on building meaningful interactions with customers. “We add value for our loyalists with our community and always put ourselves in our customers’ shoes to make sure we are providing the absolute best experience,” says DePaolo. 

Building upon a leadership position: Titleist has noted a shift in consumer purchase habits and the amount of time people are spending online researching products before making a purchase. Customers openly share positive word-of-mouth feedback online about their favorite products and tips about which gear meets a golfer’s needs. By integrating product information with online customer discussions, videos, and links to social media conversations, the Titleist online presence is helping move the needle in the right direction.