Sales of Nike Golf clubs have lagged behind other brands, despite high profile sponsored athletes like Tiger Woods and major ad campaigns. To launch Nike’s new VR-S line of clubs, we had to come up with a new way to drive sales of the clubs and turn doubters into advocates.

We needed golfers to somehow experience Nike Golf clubs first-hand, without relying on well-trodden methods like demo days or golf course co-ops. We also needed to amplify the experience in a big way to go far beyond the number of participants we hoped to engage in person.

Nike Golf Speed Trials: A head-to-head distance challenge pitting your current clubs against the new Nike Golf VR-S line. Speed Trials events took place live at 650 retailers across North America, where we tracked every shot. Meanwhile, a companion digital experience showcased the results and amplified the experience far beyond the 14,000 participants who ultimately took part.

Over 200,000 golfers visited NikeGolf.com to learn about the new VR-S clubs and the Speed Trials events. Over 14,000 golfers took the Speed Trials challenge at a local retailer, pitting their clubs against VR-S. Average yards gained with VR-S: +36. Total yards gained: +206,000 and change. Sales increase: +57%. Purchase intent: +42%. Likelihood to recommend Nike Golf: +76%.

Key PR elements: By turning avid golfers into grassroots evangelists for these new Nike Golf clubs, we accomplished what even Tiger Woods could not: A measurable change in perceptions about the product and a huge sales boost.

Social media and word-of-mouth drove golfers to NikeGolf.com to learn about the new line of VR-S clubs and the Speed Trials challenge. After locating a Speed Trials event, golfers showed up to pit their current clubs head to head against VR-S.

Over six weeks in the Spring of 2012, 650 events were staged in 150 cities across North America. Shot by shot, we tracked each participant’s yardage and posted it to our Speed Trials leaderboard on NikeGolf.com. The digital experience allowed participants to compare the performance of their current clubs vs. the new VR-S line, and against other golfers across North America. Average yards gained and total cumulative yardage was tracked day by day as the Speed Trials event went on, with social media fueling the results. The campaign in North America was so successful, the client chose to expand it to areas of Europe, Asia and Australia as well.

Over 200,000 golfers visited NikeGolf.com to learn about the new VR-S clubs and the Speed Trials events. Over 14,000 golfers took the Speed Trials challenge at a local retailer, pitting their clubs against VR-S. Average yards gained with VR-S: +36. Total yards gained: +206,000 and change. Sales increase: +57%. Purchase intent: +42%. Likelihood to recommend Nike Golf: +76%.