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3M Golf Glove

3M, one of the world's largest and most well known manufacturing companies, entered a new market in 2004 with the 3M Golf Glove. Utilizing a 3M proprietary technology, the Golf Glove featured a material called Greptile that aids grip in wet or dry conditions. The glove is a boon to all golfers – offering substantial performance improvements over traditional gloves – and it is particularly effective for those with diminishing grip strength.

While 3M nationally known in a number of industries, it suffered from a lack of recognition in the golfing community – a space where brand recognition is very important. Ruder Finn was charged with creating media and consumer interest in the Golf Glove and getting consumers to associate 3M with golf.

 

 

OBJECTIVES

• Create awareness of 3M's entry into the Golf Glove market.
• Highlight the technical innovation and tell the "Greptile story" about 3M's new product to differentiate it from traditional gloves.
• Appeal to a range of media and reach as many golfing consumers as possible.
• Garner more than 50 million impressions.

PROGRAM

• Ruder Finn arranged an opportunity for media trials at the Golf Club at Chelsea Piers where writers and editors had the chance to try the glove and compare it to traditional gloves to experience the 3M difference.
• The event was attended by a large number of media, with prominent outlets such as Esquire and Money. Additionally, Ruder Finn took the event on the road, visiting the headquarters of Golf World, Golf World Business and Golf Digest with 3M marketing representatives.
• To continue the buzz following the Chelsea Piers event, Ruder Finn joined the Golf Writers' Association of America and conducted mass outreach and product sampling with prominent golf media.
• Additional outreach included men's, women's, financial, travel, health/fitness and airline magazines, as well as major-market short-lead publications.

RESULTS

• The 3M Golf Glove was featured in such major long-lead publications as Money, Popular Science, Forbes and Reader's Digest.
• Additional short-lead placements included Newsday, Star Tribune (twice), Boston Herald and Seattle Times.
• The 3M Golf Glove was also featured online on Web sites including SportsIllustrated.com, Travelgolf.com, PGATour.com and a number of others.
• Ruder Finn's media campaign achieved in excess of 83 million impressions, far surpassing the goal set by 3M.