InterContinental Hotels Group's Crowne Plaza has done a great job of aligning itself with golf and reaching golf travelers in the first year of its sponsorship of the PGA TOUR Crowne Plaza Invitational.
Crowne Plaza launched its first ever national ad campaign in April with golf-themed ads featuring national golf commentator/journalist David Feherty attempting to moderate an unscripted conversation among TV personality George Lopez, rocker Alice Cooper, golf legend Lee Trevino, LPGA star Natalie Gulbis and outspoke golf scribe Dan Jenkins. Not a bad crowd to hang out with. The commercials focus on the spontaneous dialogue of the group around topics such as golfing secrets, putters, and rules. According to USA Today, footage for the ads came from 18 hours of the cast ad-libbing. Crowne Plaza's tagline is "the place to meet," and golf has long been a great social activity for people, so it is a good vehicle for this message.
Up until recently, Crowne Plaza never even entered my mind when I thought of hotels, but now it stands out as one of the best brands that connects with golf fans. My favorite spot is the one that talks about golfing with wives. The spot opens with Natalie Gulbis talking about going on a golf date. Eventually George Lopez says, " I think my wife would understand that I'd rather play golf with Lee Trevino than my wife."
David Feherty responds, "I think my wife would understand that I would rather sleep with Lee Trevino than play golf with her. But that's not a negative comment against my wife."
You can see all six of Crowne Plaza's golf-themed ads, plus some nice bonus footage, at its golf site.
In addition to sponsorship of its PGA TOUR event, Crowne Plaza is sending 72 average golfers to play in a pro-style tournament called the Crowne Plaza Amateur Inviational at Colonial in Ft. Worth, Texas. It also sponsors LPGA golfer Natalie Gulbis, and has some presence in Major League Baseball through InterContinental Hotels Group's larger deal with MLB. Intercontinental Hotes Group also has deals with some MLB teams and Richard Childress Racing, in addition to some cause-related sponsorships, such as UNICEF and Big Brothers Big Sisters.