Golf Channel will be using parent company NBCUniversal’s ShoppableTV technology this week as part of a Fathers’ Day promotion to sign up dads as members of GolfPass, the digital membership program started earlier this year by Golf Channel and Rory McIlroy.
Viewers can also buy golf equipment and clothing and reserve tee times.
During Golf Channel’s Morning Drive show on Thursday and Friday, viewers will see a bottom-third of the screen graphic that includes a ShoppableTV QR Code that they can scan with the camera on their smartphones. The code will take the phone's web browser to GolfPass, where a viewer can sign himself up or “Give Dad the Gift of Golf” and signed them up.
It's one of the first times NBCU has employed its ShoppableTV technology.
Related: NBC Goes Retail With Move Into Shoppable TV
GolfPass, which costs $9.99 a month, $29.99 for three months or $99 a year. Members get monthly credits for a rounds of golf at thousands of participating courses, instructional videos and discounts on equipment and apparel. Annual subscriptions come with a dozen TaylorMade golf balls
“Golfers are passionate about their game and equipment, which also means they are also hard to buy for. You could spend time shopping multiple places for dad and still come away short-handed, or you simply can click to give him the perfect Father’s Day gift – automatically connecting him to his passion in all the ways he loves best,” said Amanda Norvell, VP, direct-to-consumer products/services, at NBC's golf business. “Actually, GolfPass is more than a gift because it keeps on giving with benefits added all year long, helping members play more, learn from the best teachers, watch exclusive videos, save on travel, and shop more than 70 of golf’s top brands through special member pricing.”
During the ShoppableTV segments on Morning Drive, GolfPass and four of five products will be highlighted. The on-screen QR code will take mobile phone browsers to a curated landing page featuring those products.
“The landing page operates like other e-commerce websites. You click on what you’re interested in, you select what you want to buy and you check out,” said Pepper White, senior VP, marketing, for NBC's Golf business. “The technology is a unique way that we’re going to expose this offering to the audience through Morning Drive.”
Brands on the site include Linksoul, J. Lindeberg and William Murray Golf from Bill Murray and his brothers. William Murray Golf is also available through Shop with Golf, another NBCU e-commerce platform.
GolfPass is also launching four new instructional series from Revolution Golf that are available exclusively via GolfPass.
- Breaking Par with coach Camerica McCormick
- Breaking 80 with Martin Hall, host of Golf Channel’s school of golf
- Breaking 90 with Martin Chuck, founder of the Tour Striker Golf Academy
- Breaking 100, featuring Andrew Rice, a golf teacher for more than 25 years.
Each of the coaches will be appearing on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive on consecutive days starting June. 3.
Another instructional series premiering on GolfPass is Coaches Playbook Be a Player. The series is from Golf Academy coaches Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott.
“The team of world-class instructors on GolfPass are experts at using video to teach and guide golfers toward personal milestones,” said Justin Tupper, executive VP, Emerging Businesses, at NBCU's Golf business.
NBCU announced ShoppableTV earlier this month as part of its effort to connect its ad sales efforts to product sales. Letting marketers appeal directly to the audiences on NBCU programming is expected to highlight the sales power of TV as it competes for advertising dollars with digital media.
ShoppableTV was tested on the Today show before Mothers’ Day. It generated 50,000 QR code scans and hundreds of thousands of dollars in incremental product sales, according to NBC.
