TaylorMade Golf

Digital Product Design and Strategy
2012-2014

Challenge

TaylorMade was king of the hill among golf brands in 2012, but they recognized they had a lot of room to grow in digital. They turned to us to help with a series of important product launches for spring of 2013, with the prospect of a multi-year engagement hanging in the balance.

We knew that we needed to educate customers—but before we could do that, we had a client to educate. TaylorMade primarily thought of digital as a place to generate hype. Over the course of two years, we were able to nudge them into viewing their digital offerings as a place to provide, rather than merely persuade.

Digital Product Launches

Our initial research indicated that customers who tried out clubs were much more likely to purchase them. With this knowledge, we sought to turn each product page into a space where customers could both learn about the technology and experience the benefits of the clubs. We made sure that these virtual driving ranges were available to customers, no matter the size of their browser.

Mobile App

To fully flesh out our vision of providing rather than persuading, we created a companion iOS app for TaylorMade's flagship product, the R1. As a tunable driver, many golfers had no idea what to expect or how to use this new type of product. Using our companion app, golfers would be able to input the settings of their club, the flight of their shots, and then receive recommended configurations.

UX Audit and Roadmapping

At our suggestion, TaylorMade chose to spend the remainder of their budget on a UX audit and roadmapping exercise. The culmination of this process marked the first time that TaylorMade thought about their digital presence beyond the next season's product launches—and a book of recommendations that they referred to as "The Bible."

Reengagement and Responsive Redesign

Recognizing a trend of much greater site engagement via mobile, TaylorMade chose to reengage with us for a responsive redesign. They were so pleased with the results that they implemented the redesign across all of the golf brands in Adidas (Adidas Golf, TaylorMade, and Ashworth).