Rewarding Cross-Town Rivalries with Swag Golf

INDUSTRY:

Retail

LAUNCH TYPE:

Online

CHALLENGE:

Bots and Resellers

Meet Swag Golf. These guys have taken golf gear to the next level with innovative design and unrivaled quality. Their claim to fame? Bold, limited-release designs that stand out on the course, and sell out in seconds.
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What happens when you get the hottest brand in golf collaborating with some of the largest sports franchises out there? A passion-filled frenzy. The team at Swag Golf isn't new to this, having worked with WWE & MLB in the past. But this time it was different.

We’re based in Chicago, so these teams are part of our culture. Given how limited this collection was, we really wanted to make sure they got into the hands of local fans.
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Andrew Jones, Director of E-Commerce

The Challenge

This launch represented a celebration of a historic Chicago rivalry: the White Sox vs the Cubs. Swag designed a limited edition set of headcovers taking a riff off of their popular Royal King theme by featuring the King of Diamonds (a nod to the baseball diamond) holding a baseball bat. The launch was set to go live during the two-game Crosstown Classic series, maximizing the energy of both teams’ fandoms.

As a result, this drop naturally caught the eye of thousands of franchise fans and golfers alike. This also meant it attracted plenty of bad actors looking to exploit the opportunity and turn a profit. So the big question was - how can Swag ensure that fans of the two storied teams are the first to get their hands on the product?

chicago white sox 'king of diamonds' driver cover

The Fix

To get more out of their launches, Swag Golf partners with EQL for their limited release products. This time around, they tapped into EQL’s newest feature – the ability to prioritize entrants based on location. Running a locals-first launch gave them the control to prioritize any entries they got from Illinois-based fans. Prioritizing locals is one of the many ways EQL allows retailers to improve the fairness of raffles by tilting the scale towards real fans.

Setting up local first was very intuitive. It was so simple and only required defining a local radius around our headquarters . The EQL system takes care of the rest!

Andrew Jones, Director of E-Commerce

chicago cubs 'king of diamonds' driver cover

The Outcome

The MLB licensed collection was ultimately a very successful launch for Swag Golf, with the local entries successfully prioritized to win. Despite the worldwide demand and high resell potential, Swag was able to deliver an excellent experience to fans and prevent operational chaos. Ultimately, the launch saw incredibly high conversion rates and hype.

19x

Number of entries compared to inventory

4.9/5

Fan satisfaction score

Majority

of product landed in the hands of local Cubs & White Socks fans

"This launch definitely exceeded our expectations. Local fans were very excited they had a higher chance of winning, and we saw positive community feedback across Facebook, Instagram, and Discord."

More about Swag Golf Swag Golf has been producing precision milled putters, unparalleled headcovers, accessories and apparel since 2018. With a Don’t Give A Putt™ attitude, Swag has built a reputation for high-end precision and continues to be one of the most sought-after companies in the golf space. With a typical sell-out time of mere minutes, Swag has a loyal following and continues to expand its presence in the golf community and beyond.

‍Shop Swag Golf here.

Before EQL, managing our lottery-style launches was highly manual. It was an all day affair waiting for invoices to be paid to get all the units allocated. With EQL, the process is automated and seamless. It has saved our team a lot of hours of manual work.