Experiences refined for people
The 2023 Masters tournament was the most-watched golf telecast in five years, with viewership up 19% from the year before. The Masters presents a unique opportunity for brands to reach an affluent and engaged audience.
As advertising interest peaks, now is the ideal time to tap into one of the year’s most watched and prestigious golf events.
Discover five innovative strategies to advertise during the 2024 Masters Tournament.
📅 2024 Masters Tournament Dates
Monday, April 8, 2024 through Sunday, April 14, 2024
CBS says the final round of the Masters averaged 12.058 million viewers, up 19% vs. last year and the most-watched golf telecast on any network in five years (2018 Masters Final Round had 13.045 million viewers).
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) April 11, 2023
The Masters is a prime advertising avenue for golf and non-golf brands wanting to appeal to a young, affluent audience.
There are many ways to advertise for the Masters, both for golf and non-golf brands seeking the tournament’s broad appeal.
More than 27% of PGA (including Masters Tournament) fans are more receptive to TV ads than 22% of all US adults. This makes CTV advertising a promising avenue for brands to engage with viewers through high-quality video content.
The inherent pauses in golf, such as the time between shots while players walk down the fairway, present ideal moments for Picture-in-Picture (PiP) advertising, a type of interactive CTV advertising.
Brands can capture viewer attention without disrupting the viewing experience, providing a non-intrusive way to present branded messages.
What’s the key to timing ads perfectly during the golf tournament?
“Finding the right moment to advertise during a golf tournament can be tricky. In early rounds, there are enough “stars” to follow on the course, and coverage often jumps from player to player while taking their shots, keeping the audience engaged. In the final rounds after the cut, they focus primarily on the tournament leaders, so there is more time between shots with video of the golfers talking to their caddies, walking down the fairways, or even searching for their ball after an errant shot.”
For example, using a branded frame, Rolex, an official sponsor of the Masters, placed a Branded Tune-In CTV ad during a lull in the tournament. Viewers were more likely to view the entire ad instead of skipping or ignoring it as they might during a traditional commercial.
This strategy isn’t exclusive to official sponsors like Rolex. Non-sponsors can still leverage the power of PiP advertising during game recap coverage and commercial breaks, providing a non-disruptive way to engage with the Masters’ audience.
As the Masters approaches, Golf enthusiasts seek out the latest news, tips, and insights into the tournament. Alongside this increase, the demand for PMP (Private Marketplace) deals on golf-specific websites skyrockets.
Successfully targeting golf enthusiasts requires understanding the broader audience’s lifestyle and interests.
Brands can target golf-related content while appealing to the younger demographic. Contextual keywords and targeting can engage golf enthusiasts across diverse platforms beyond just golf sites.
Using a service like Peer 39, advertisers can input keywords relevant to their target demographic—such as “golf tips,” “golf equipment,” or even broader lifestyle terms associated with golf enthusiasts.
Caption: Keywords are important in aligning ad content with user interests.
Example: While golf enthusiasts may frequent sports-related sites like Golf Digest, their online activities are not confined to such domains. They may also visit weather sites to check conditions before a game, financial sites to follow investments, or travel sites to plan a golfing holiday.
Contextual keyword targeting works with other strategies, too.
After identifying suitable websites, brands can create a whitelist for their advertisements. They can also engage in Private Marketplace (PMP) deals or native advertising with those websites.
How do PMP deals and contextual keyword targeting enhance audience targeting?
“For brands directly associated with golf or sports, PMP deals offer a direct channel to engage with their core customers through targeted, high-quality placements.
Advertisers from unrelated industries can also capitalize on the heightened interest around the Masters. The key to success for non-sports-related advertisers lies in creativity and relevance. Ads are targeted based on user demographics or behavior and placed in content environments that match the user’s current interests.
Brands must place their messages in front of the right audience at the right time and context, significantly increasing success. Combined with other strategies like PMP deals and native advertising, campaigns become more engaging and relevant to their target audience.”
Native advertising is designed to make ads match the look, feel, and function of the media format in which they appear. Advertisers can blend their messages seamlessly into a customer’s browsing experience, enhancing the likelihood of engagement without disrupting the content flow.
A native ad on Digg.com, a social news website. Notice how the content is subtly flagged as “sponsored” and “promotion” and blends in with the other blog posts.
Native advertising focuses on understanding the target audience and ad context, emphasizing user behavior and contextual relevance over specific domain placement.
For example, a golf club manufacturer might initially insist on placing ads only on golf-related websites, not considering that their target audience also frequents other types of content.
What is the most important element when crafting a native advertising strategy?
“Clients often mistakenly prefer ads on niche sites, but broader targeting based on user behavior yields more effective campaigns. At KORTX, we strive not to limit ourselves to specific domains. A successful native ad blends seamlessly with the user’s content experience, regardless of the platform.
A golf enthusiast does more than visit golf websites. They might check the weather before a game, making weather websites a valuable placement for our ads. This is why strategies like contextual keyword targeting can help expand relevant reach. The key is understanding where our audience naturally goes online, which might not always be the most obvious or expected sites.
Target people, not placements.”
To navigate this bustling sports calendar and maximize your advertising efforts, read our other specialized guides:
About 50% of U.S. adults use Instagram, with smaller shares using TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), and BeReal. Advertisers can use paid social media advertising to expand their reach and target specific audiences by platform.
Brands targeting the Masters’ audience, mainly males aged 25-34, should focus on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube due to their popularity and diverse content formats within this demographic.
📚 Related Article: The Only Paid Social Guide You Need + Expert Tips: Explore paid social advertising & how to appeal to the younger PGA tour demographic.
Content strategy should align with the Masters’ seasonal timing—spring—and tap into the interests that coincide with golf, such as outdoor activities, sports, and community. This doesn’t mean brands must strictly produce golf-related content.
Instead, they should weave themes related to the Masters and its seasonal context into their messaging, even if their products or services don’t directly relate to golf.
The goal is to resonate with the audience’s emotional state and interests during the Masters.
Brands should broaden their targeting beyond just age or golf interest, considering platforms like TikTok and influencers to attract younger audiences. This strategy aligns with the PGA’s push to engage younger fans, utilizing the Masters’ cultural appeal beyond golf.
The DUDE Wipes commercial, aired during the 2019 PGA Tour, is a great example of this, appealing to the Masters’ primary audience by using Jason Dufner, a well-known PGA champion.
Should brands advertising during the Masters tournament use social media platform algorithms or choose their own audience?
“Selecting a specific audience versus relying on platform algorithms (like Meta’s Audience Advantage Plus) depends on the brand’s familiarity with its target demographic and past campaign performances.
For new campaigns or those targeting a highly specific segment of the Masters audience, manual selection allows for more control and precision. However, brands with a history of successful targeting on these platforms might benefit from algorithmic suggestions, especially to uncover new or overlapping audience segments.
With detailed audience insights, advertisers can precisely target a specific subset of potential customers during the Masters Tournament, allowing for efficient ad spend allocation.”
Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters Tournament, also called the “Super Bowl of Golf,” is the first major golf tournament of the year.
In contrast to other major golf tournaments, the Masters is only played at one course, Augusta National, a venue distinguished by its selective membership and sponsorship approach.
Unlike the broader pool of sponsors associated with other events, only six official brands have the honor of sponsoring this prestigious event: AT&T, Delta, IBM, Rolex, UPS, and Mercedes-Benz.
Advertising for the Masters Golf Tournament, a Logoless Event
Unlike most PGA Tour events, where corporate symbols find their way onto everything from seating to sports equipment, Augusta National prohibits promotional displays on the tournament premises.
Augusta’s approach draws inspiration from the Olympic Games, where on-site branding is minimized to preserve the game’s spirit and integrity.
Despite Augusta National’s unique advertising restrictions, there are still many ways to advertise for this prestigious tournament. The strategies above are about reaching a broad audience and engaging with a specific, highly interested segment of golf enthusiasts in meaningful ways.
Drive your marketing efforts further with KORTX’s expertise in golf advertising.
James Webb is an Account Manager at KORTX. Before his work at KORTX, he acquired a bachelor’s degree in Sports Management and Golf Studies from Buckinghamshire New University in Wycombe, U.K. James spent several years working in the Golf industry before making the switch to digital marketing where he helped curate campaigns for marketers in all verticals. He enjoys playing golf, traveling, and spending time with his family in his free time.
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