2PM - No. 756: THE RESURGENT GAME

Golf is gaining momentum / CNBC: More than 24.8 million people played golf in the U.S. in 2020, up more than 2% year-over-year and the largest net increase in 17 years, according to the National Golf Foundation. The sport also saw the largest percentage increase in beginner golfers and youth golfers since 1997.

2PM Insights: The long-tail effects of the pandemic involve everything from where people live, to how they work, to where and how they socialize. Thanks to limitations and health concerns around typical activities, like going to bars and theaters, millennials and Generation Z picked up the sports that are otherwise associated with retirees and they aren't putting down the clubs. Pickleball is now one of the fastest-growing sports in the country. Bocce is seeing a boom in sales of at-home sets. More people are picking up tennis. And golf is having a moment among both Gen Z and millennials, with tee times filling up across the country. Golf equipment is selling at 13 year highs:

For the businesses surrounding golf, the most important adopters just might be the HENRYs, or high-earners-not-rich-yet. This class of consumers are willing to spend on equipment, clothing and rounds on the course and, hopefully for courses, memberships to certain clubs. Crypto may be introducing a Web3 version of the country club, but offline, there’s a chance millennials picking up new hobbies will revive the golf club membership. This has implications for the brands and retailers who now have an opportunity to score this customer long-term: CNBC reported this weekend that Callaway and Titleist have gotten a boost. It’s an opportunity for emerging brands as well to put a fresh spin on apparel categories that have long been catering to older customers: Casablanca, Alex Eagle Sporting club, and Manors are leading the way in modernizing golf and tennis fashion. Not to mention, Fairgame a new brand founded by Wondersauce founder Eric Mayville and Hodinkee founder Ben Clymer is taking advantage of the upswing in golf popularity in millennials and Generation Z. Clymer is keeping the company’s next steps close to the vest.

Tech is driving new energy into golf as well. This week, the Ryder Cup will take place with some tech spins on traditions, according to the Wall Street Journal: "Those include real-time stats and scores, live maps and other interactive data points." It worked, viewership was up (the blowout win helped). Off the course, techie entertainment hubs like TopGolf are introducing more people to the swing in a less intimidating setting. The number of those retailers have grown despite pandemic restrictions and construction delays. While many pandemic-era hobbies were picked up then abandoned, these revived sports offer different ways to socialize, stay outdoors, and build long-term healthy habits. They may stick around. 

By Web Smith and Hilary Milnes 

Macklemore's Bogey Boys golf brand opens flagship store

Relevant / Forbes: The new store open now through at least the end of the year, will feature the latest Bogey Boys collections along with a 1,500-square-foot putting green on the street level. In a nod to restoring the memories of his youth, Goose Magees Vintage Mall, a vintage thrift store will occupy the bottom level providing the newer generation a glimpse into the past.

Walmart does away with layaway, announces new buy now, pay later program

eCommerce / Business Insider: Unlike layaway, purchases made with Affirm may charge customers interest. Although Affirm does not charge any hidden or late fees for using its services, customers can have an APR rate on purchases of 10-30% depending on their credit and 0% for select promotional items on Walmart.com.

Editor's Note: keep an eye on default risks. We published this one on China's consumer credit bubble in April 2020 and we may see a similar story here. 

China power crunch is next economic shock after Evergrande

Economics / Bloomberg: The crackdown on power consumption is being driven by rising demand for electricity and surging coal and gas prices as well as strict targets from Beijing to cut emissions. It’s coming first to the country’s mammoth manufacturing industries: from aluminum smelters to textiles producers and soybean processing plants, factories are being ordered to curb activity or — in some instances — shut altogether. 

Editor's Note: pay attention to this even if you don't care about manufacturing, logistics, or international commerce. Here's a quick blurb from yesterday that could provide perspective. 

DATA DRIVEN GROWTH: Learn more about the good and the team's knack for helping brands convert more visitors into buyers. Widen the bottom of that sales funnel and get more customers through. Actually, we could use this. 

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A former J. Crew store employee is now one of its star collaborators

DNVB / Retail Dive: When Echevarria was still an undergraduate at the Fashion Institute of Technology, he worked at the J. Crew Liquor Store, a concept in Manhattan that recently closed, and caught the attention of J. Crew's then-CEO Mickey Drexler. Eventually Drexler tapped him to help out with the brand's In Good Company effort, where J. Crew explores collaborations, to help scout potential brand partners.

Golf clap, Chris Echevarria. 

Goldman Sachs, Ozy Media and a $40 million conference call gone wrong

Media / New York Times: When YouTube learned that someone had apparently impersonated one of their executives at a business meeting, its security team started an investigation, the company confirmed to me. The inquiry didn’t get far before a name emerged: Within days, Mr. Watson had apologized profusely to Goldman Sachs, saying the voice on the call belonged to Samir Rao, the co-founder and chief operating officer of Ozy, according to the four people.

Editor's Note: What? 

Updated September 27: The revamped list (500+ brands) has some major movement this week. At the top of the list, two Rihanna Fenty owned brands and two Kardashian-owned brands are in the top 25 for the first time. Executive Members have access to the full list here. 

How CPGs can crack the code

Practical / McKinsey & Company: Although they may already leverage data analytics and other technology to personalize marketing for various segments or initiatives, these efforts are not sufficiently pervasive to drive sustainable growth. It isn’t enough to optimize a few demographics or key campaigns. Truly sustainable, marketing-led growth has to be granular, focused, and scaled across the entire marketing organization, delivering “the right message to the right consumer, at the right moment, at the right place — all the time.”

Luxury consumer brand advertising on LinkedIn growing

Advertising / The Drum: Audi, Cartier, Kate Spade, Louis Vuitton and Mercedes-Benz are just a handful of high-consideration consumer brands now engaging with LinkedIn’s 774-million users. The allure? “LinkedIn members are high-income earners, with the highest median household income of any platform’s user base,” says Ann Lundberg, senior director, strategic accounts, LinkedIn Marketing Solutions. Lundeberg was brought on two years ago to build a team aimed attracting aspirational consumer brands.

Editor's Note: here's a potential solution for brand founders who've been impacted by Facebook's lacking performance as of late. 

Facebook is delaying an Instagram app for users under 13

Social Media / New York Times: Facebook said it still wanted to build an Instagram product intended for children that would have a more “age appropriate experience,” but was postponing the plans in the face of the outside criticism. “This will give us time to work with parents, experts, policymakers and regulators, to listen to their concerns, and to demonstrate the value and importance of this project for younger teens online today,” Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, wrote in a blog post.

When Assembly, the eCommerce software and data platform, announced a strategic investment from Advent International and PSG last week, it made little noise in the news. Neither did its more than $1 billion valuation, five acquisitions, 30-plus product launches, or the $55 billion in gross merchandise value that the SaaS company helped its users earn since 2019.

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