Uniquely clever products seem to attract each other and Yes! Golf quickly saw a synergy with CleanStrike Sporting Products.
By Dominic O’Byrne
Dublin-based CleanStrike Sporting Products Ltd never intended to attend Golf Europe 2007 and only made a decision to exhibit at Munich fairly late in the day. Before lunch on the first day, however, the five month-old start-up Irish business had attracted the attention of Yes! Golf, makers of the C-Groove Putter – the brand that has taken the golf world by storm in the last five years with 2 US Open wins (among many other victories) and so is no stranger to rapid progress itself.
Uniquely clever products seem to attract each other and Yes! Golf quickly saw a synergy that isn’t so obvious.
“The CleanStrike wet wipes present a unique opportunity for us to add value to the purchase of C-Groove Putters the world over,” explained Yes! Golf CEO Francis Ricci. “The black / white / yellow grip is very much a signature for our brand and makes for immediate recognition both on TV coverage of the Tour players who use the putters, and also in the retail environment, where competition for catching the customers’ attention is very tough.
“Like all club grips, though, dirt and grease quickly builds up and affects the feel and effectiveness of the grip, as well as its appearance. What we saw in CleanStrike was a simple and effective solution to the problem that all our customers will appreciate.”
CleanStrike came to Munich with the 50-wipe canisters as their main product for exhibit. In addition, though, just as interesting to the trade were a handful of pre-production CleanStrike Pro-Packs that were being shown around. These will contain ten wipes, designed to fit in the pocket as well as in the golf bag, and keep clubs in good condition for a single round of golf, and probably retail at around £2.99 / €3.99.
It is the Pro Pack that attracted Yes! Golf’s attention, as an added-value product that can be included with every new putter sold. More importantly, perhaps, it’s planned that Yes! Golf in the USA, UK & Ireland and continental Europe will offer the wipes in one form or another as a maintenance solution to existing customers on the databases.
CleanStrike directors Vincent Ryan and Martin McQuaid are delighted at the new direction in which this kind of strategy will take CleanStrike so soon after the product’s European debut. Says McQuaid, “We realized there was potential in this kind of positioning of CleanStrike but frankly we thought it was something the trade would only switch-on to much later.
“All the regional directors of Yes! Golf together, though – USA, British Isles and the EU… even the inventor Harold Swash – immediately saw the commercial advantage they would gain in the market by offering this to their end-users and the trade.
“They are the first club manufacturer to offer after-sales service like this. That doesn’t create just commercial worth or long-term customers… that creates a benchmark.”
Yes! Golf www.yesgolf.co.uk
CleanStrike www.cleanstrike.ie