Throughout March and April Cobra demo day reps embarked on what is believed to be the biggest blitz of demo activity ever seen in the UK. To mark the launch of the new King Cobra Inertia Series irons a team of 8 specially trained Cobra demo day reps travelled the length and breadth of the UK and Ireland in 32 days conducting more than 160 demo days. Thousands of golfers tried the new irons and the results have been very encouraging for Acushnet’s resurgent brand famed for producing high quality game improvement products for the everyday golfer.
The Inertia Series irons are the most technically advanced irons Cobra has ever produced and the aim behind the promotion was to get the new irons into the hands of as many golfers as possible at the start of the season and ultimately accelerate early season sell-through for specifically selected retail partners. The Demo Blitz initiative was backed by a national and regional press campaign as well as specific promotional literature.
Simon Boulden, a Cobra staff player from Maes Du golf club in Wales has enjoyed lots of interest since the demo day. He says, “The 3400 is flying as a result of the Demo Blitz. We sold quite a few sets on the day and have had plenty of orders since. It’s good to see a brand work so hard to help sell-through the product.”
Cobra stockist Mark Overton from True Fit Golf Centre near Warrington was delighted with the focus on irons the Demo Blitz created. “The Demo Blitz day was a great success,” he said. “The key was to get lots of people trying the product and also make people aware that Cobra doesn‘t just sell drivers. My Cobra iron sales so far this year are up massively as a result of the day.”
Geoff Morris at Harewood Downs in Chalfont St Giles was delighted with the reaction of his customers following the Demo Blitz visit. “The event provided the impetus for my customers to come out and try the new product resulting in orders for at least six sets as a result of the day. It has certainly kick started my Cobra business for the year.”
Nick Tempest Cobra’s UK sales director is very satisfied with the outcome of the promotion, “The high profile presentation of the event created a great talking point around most Cobra Demo Blitz venues and clearly the word of mouth resulting from product trial is generating plenty of sell-through.”
Aside from the anecdotal evidence of high demand for Cobra’s new Inertia series, the success of the demo blitz and subsequent demand is already showing through in the March 2005 retail audit from Sports Marketing Surveys which shows that Cobra’s iron share in March has more than doubled compared to most monthly shares over the last twelve months.
The King Cobra Inertia irons, as the name suggests, have a high inertia value or ‘resistance to twisting‘ built into the design. This creates a huge forgiving ‘sweet zone‘ and greater accuracy and carry distance from all 9 points of the clubface. There are two models in the range, the flagship 3400 I/XH and the big selling 3100 I/H.
Cobra www.cobragolf.co.uk.
Cobra demo blitz sees iron sales soar
