I cannot remember my last post but I hope to make blogging a habit now. Of course, it all boils down to my work schedule at Golf Digest Malaysia.
The contents and information I give are personal experiences and my very own opinion. That is that.
Since the third quarter of 1999, I have been pursuing my passion of working in the golf industry. And, I am still as passionate as ever.
My "official" start though came after my last set-up of Brunei's only second daily English language newspaper called News Express. There was no position available at The Sun newspaper after we returned and the hard-earned savings accumulated from the short four months stint in Brunei was drying up.
I had two mouth's to feed and decided to apply for a job as PR & Sales Manager at AFamosa Golf Resort in Melaka. That major step, a crazy career change from the comfort and protection of being a journalist in a leading newspaper, now a distant memory.
Enter Mr. Lim Hock Seng, my first sifu in the golf business. "Always remember that we are not just selling tee times and golf event dates. The most important thing is remembering your clients. Relationship comes first", were his words of wisdom to me.
While Lim's words have been keeping me well connected and networked, the other thing I learned there was paperwork. Correspondence with members, clients and endless proposals were piled 12-inch high on my desk every week.
It was also at AFamosa that I discovered how ugly golfers can be. They had an abundance of wealth, yes, but no, they were no angels.
It seems that the human trait has an ugly side in golf when it comes to honesty and integrity, values and traditions that flow in the very vein of the game. (Hopefully, it still flows!)
At golf events, Tan Sri's and Datuk's arrive in luxury cars. The first thing that they would enquire at the registration desk , "Is this all the goodies that we get?"
I had discovered that most hackers that pay a tournament entry fee of RM180.00 expect goodies that are worth more than RM600.00. My first shocking lesson in the golf biz.
After a few months, I had to leave the resort. It was a seven-day week and 5 hours of sleep on most nights.
My family was questioning where I was headed with this.
Then came an opportunity to join Golf Malaysia magazine. It was not as manic as working in a daily newspaper but it was a new lease of life - it was here that I dove deeper into the golf industry.
But again, something was missing. Many things and mechanisms were not piecing together.
I again filled my soul with a new challenge at a small custom fitting and repair set-up called 'JNG - The Golf Workshop'. Eye-opening was an understatement as destiny demanded every ounce of my energy and creativity to push this company run by two young, hardworking Australians.
This was where I discovered about the weaknesses of the golf retail business and its ugly side. There was money to be made but there was not enough consumers to go around.
The pie was not big enough and the price war, it seemed, started long before I stepped foot into the world of stock purchasing and inventory. Everyone was backstabbing each other like there was no tomorrow with great discounts.
It is still going on.
What I never, and still, could not understand was the lack of creativity among the top retailers. Even when presented with opportunities to grow the game with good product and below-the-line advertising and promotions campaigns, all they cared about was the bottom line.
All these exercised at the expense of great brands. Brand loyalty through seeding programs, consistent advertising and promotions, were non-existent even though international brand principals had allocated a yearly budget.
It is still non-existent and becoming a bad habit.
One other lesson I learned in recent years was about monopoly by big retailers. Buy container loads of stock at attractive margins and deny small retailers access to stock numbers and advertising support.
Barely three months later, these big retailers will give a hefty 25-35 percent discount on the latest driver or other clubs. The price goes lower during mega sales periods to clear stock.
Brand building? Or, creating a "pasar malam" status for the game?
And by the way, this monopoly spills over to their teaching academies. They send out messages to partner golf clubs that they have the best coaches and make claims that most of the top juniors were coached by them.
Hey hang on, what about the good genes and upbringing that the kids inherit from their parents? What about the foundation that sports activities in schools has had in their hand-eye coordination?
And, giving short golf clinics or camps before a major golf tournament to juniors or professionals does not work. It does nothing as a CSR strategy. Period.
Furthermore, I have had privy information that they have in the past poured sand into other teaching professionals rice bowls, threatening a club to withdraw business support or deals if the management does not sack qualified local or foreign teaching professionals.
They even go to the extent of telling a brand not to use other pros to conduct their demo days.
Why are these home-grown Malaysian companies killing the growth of the game here? Where is the law of free trade in a democratic country?
Let us pray...
The contents and information I give are personal experiences and my very own opinion. That is that.
Since the third quarter of 1999, I have been pursuing my passion of working in the golf industry. And, I am still as passionate as ever.
My "official" start though came after my last set-up of Brunei's only second daily English language newspaper called News Express. There was no position available at The Sun newspaper after we returned and the hard-earned savings accumulated from the short four months stint in Brunei was drying up.
I had two mouth's to feed and decided to apply for a job as PR & Sales Manager at AFamosa Golf Resort in Melaka. That major step, a crazy career change from the comfort and protection of being a journalist in a leading newspaper, now a distant memory.
Enter Mr. Lim Hock Seng, my first sifu in the golf business. "Always remember that we are not just selling tee times and golf event dates. The most important thing is remembering your clients. Relationship comes first", were his words of wisdom to me.
While Lim's words have been keeping me well connected and networked, the other thing I learned there was paperwork. Correspondence with members, clients and endless proposals were piled 12-inch high on my desk every week.
It was also at AFamosa that I discovered how ugly golfers can be. They had an abundance of wealth, yes, but no, they were no angels.
It seems that the human trait has an ugly side in golf when it comes to honesty and integrity, values and traditions that flow in the very vein of the game. (Hopefully, it still flows!)
At golf events, Tan Sri's and Datuk's arrive in luxury cars. The first thing that they would enquire at the registration desk , "Is this all the goodies that we get?"
I had discovered that most hackers that pay a tournament entry fee of RM180.00 expect goodies that are worth more than RM600.00. My first shocking lesson in the golf biz.
After a few months, I had to leave the resort. It was a seven-day week and 5 hours of sleep on most nights.
My family was questioning where I was headed with this.
Then came an opportunity to join Golf Malaysia magazine. It was not as manic as working in a daily newspaper but it was a new lease of life - it was here that I dove deeper into the golf industry.
But again, something was missing. Many things and mechanisms were not piecing together.
I again filled my soul with a new challenge at a small custom fitting and repair set-up called 'JNG - The Golf Workshop'. Eye-opening was an understatement as destiny demanded every ounce of my energy and creativity to push this company run by two young, hardworking Australians.
This was where I discovered about the weaknesses of the golf retail business and its ugly side. There was money to be made but there was not enough consumers to go around.
The pie was not big enough and the price war, it seemed, started long before I stepped foot into the world of stock purchasing and inventory. Everyone was backstabbing each other like there was no tomorrow with great discounts.
It is still going on.
What I never, and still, could not understand was the lack of creativity among the top retailers. Even when presented with opportunities to grow the game with good product and below-the-line advertising and promotions campaigns, all they cared about was the bottom line.
All these exercised at the expense of great brands. Brand loyalty through seeding programs, consistent advertising and promotions, were non-existent even though international brand principals had allocated a yearly budget.
It is still non-existent and becoming a bad habit.
One other lesson I learned in recent years was about monopoly by big retailers. Buy container loads of stock at attractive margins and deny small retailers access to stock numbers and advertising support.
Barely three months later, these big retailers will give a hefty 25-35 percent discount on the latest driver or other clubs. The price goes lower during mega sales periods to clear stock.
Brand building? Or, creating a "pasar malam" status for the game?
And by the way, this monopoly spills over to their teaching academies. They send out messages to partner golf clubs that they have the best coaches and make claims that most of the top juniors were coached by them.
Hey hang on, what about the good genes and upbringing that the kids inherit from their parents? What about the foundation that sports activities in schools has had in their hand-eye coordination?
And, giving short golf clinics or camps before a major golf tournament to juniors or professionals does not work. It does nothing as a CSR strategy. Period.
Furthermore, I have had privy information that they have in the past poured sand into other teaching professionals rice bowls, threatening a club to withdraw business support or deals if the management does not sack qualified local or foreign teaching professionals.
They even go to the extent of telling a brand not to use other pros to conduct their demo days.
Why are these home-grown Malaysian companies killing the growth of the game here? Where is the law of free trade in a democratic country?
Let us pray...
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