The exclusivity of Masters Merch has to be credited for the estimated $1 MIL sales every hour. Not only are tickets to the tournament hard to come by, Masters swag is only sold on the grounds during Masters week at Augusta National. I mean the Garden Gnome, a real status symbol sells out within the first hour of every morning during the week. There aren’t many garden gnomes sales that I follow, but I feel strongly this has to be one of few with such high interest. The secret nature of Masters product only being visible to those in attendance causes family members and friends to send wish lists with those in attendance.
So what’s the secret to Masters Merch success? I’d venture to say the brand matches the perceived value of Augusta’s pristine course. There’s no detail missed and the traditions never waver. There are few brands that hold the same weight as the Masters, but the few that come to mind all have one thing in common – consistency. The branding is as close to perfect as humanly possible.
Our president, CFO and a few of our Sales Executives were invited by one of our suppliers after hitting a certain sales goal for 2024. After all, aren’t the biggest business decisions made on the golf course? Our president remarked on what stood out to him the most on the grounds of Augusta – “All of the apparel is higher end that is geared to Summer and Winter options and people eat both up. Plus they have unique Master slogans on T-shirts that people go crazy over. The patterns or styles are unique to the Master’s which makes it appealing to purchase as you don’t typically see these colors or patterns in the retail environment. All of the drinkware is what’s trending and high end. Bags are a major seller. This year’s bag to be purchased was a colorful Jute Style bag that was retailing for over $20 and nobody blinked an eye because it was very unique looking and felt extremely high end.”
I’m left thinking as it relates to City Paper’s branding, I’ll forever be chasing The Masters brand as the ultimate goal. Not so much that I want our clients to spend $10 MIL a day on City Paper slogans (it wouldn’t hurt though), but ultimately that it’s recognized with the synonymously with consistency, the highest perceived value and above all else coveted.