The Global Pandemic has caused widespread lifestyle modifications and cancellations of things we have long assumed to be “annual traditions”. Family vacations, sporting events, company outings have all been paused and cancelled as we are all encouraged to keep our distance from one another. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention and in recent times companies have had to think creatively to use these uncertain times to not only survive, but in some cases even thrive.

A key pillar of this creativity is rooted in technology and finding clever ways to either achieve what we have done in a physical capacity and morphed it to being executed in a virtual capacity, or more simply to show the person on the other end that they are valued and that you still wish to give them a high-level experience even if you can’t completely replicate the same experience as pre-pandemic.

As it relates to golf events, particularly corporate outings and pro-ams, many have struggled with the notion of how to provide a high-level execution that shows a representative value to the high paying and often times VIP guests that participate. In some cases even having the tournament is not possible based on various government or corporate polices and in others, pre-event registration, post round dinner and prizes, and anything else that requires large groups to gather simply can’t be pulled off in a memorable way.

Levelwear recently partnered with the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship on the Champions Tour to solve one of the key elements of their event, the Championship Pro-Am Gifting Experience. Conducting a sports event surrounded with this much uncertainty requires the event organizers to have contingencies for everything and always be looking to mitigate their risk while still executing at a high level. That’s where Levelwear and their new Digital Retail Platform (LDRP) came in. Instead of running the 225 participants through a conventional gifting experience where there would be a swarm of people in close quarters, touching and grabbing the same items, the two entities created a custom website where participants could go through their gifting experience from the comfort of their own home. Each participant was sent a link to the website where they selected the size and color of each pre-determined item in the offering and it was delivered right to their door in a timeframe outlined by the event hosts.

This experience not only replaced what could not be done prior, it elevated it for both participant and host:

For the participant they enjoyed the ability to select the product in the color and size they wanted, not a generic offering meant to appeal to everyone. It saved them time on the event day by not having to go through a line, made product selections, return it to their cars, all while trying to get ready for the round ahead. It also allowed teams to do fun things like coordinate their items and if delivered ahead of the event essentially be wearing “team uniforms” or select items that tied back to the corporate colors of the company they were representing that day.

For the event hosts, it was truly a turnkey service and significantly minimized the workload and stress leading up to the event. Not only was there nervousness around logoing product and the possibility of the event being cancelled, they didn’t have to order extra product to account for size uncertainty amongst the field (this can be 10-15% of the total buy alone), there was no staffing or packaging requirements on event day so there was considerable labor savings and a lower stress level on event day. They organizers simply approved the orders that were submitted and confirmed the players participation and Levelwear took care of the rest.

David Utlak, Tournament Services Manager with the PGA Tour and the Bridgestone SENIOR PLAYERS said "The Online Gifting Platform with Levelwear was an extremely seamless experience for drop shipping Pro-Am gifts.  I would recommend using this platform to anyone that is looking for a digital gifting platform.  

Not only was the interface tastefully done, but its ease of use was well regarded by our amateur participants."

One other unique approach that the event took in these uncertain times was the attitude that if for some reason the event was cancelled that they were still going to offer their guests the gifting experience as sign of appreciation for their intent to participate in the event leading to what they believed would be a deeper degree of loyalty for the event and making the return registration the next year that much easier to lock in.

The Levelwear Digital Retail Platform (LDRP) is a multi-faceted solution for their clients. In addition to the event gifting example mentioned above, there are LDRP solutions for customer branded drop ship websites (online pro shops) that give the retailer the ability to sell 24/7/365 as well as have a continuously fresh offering of new and unique products without a pre-commitment to the inventory, and also as an event retail solution which Levelwear partnered on recently with the Rocket Mortgage Classic on the PGA Tour and where both sides were thrilled with the ability to sell a significant amount of product in an event with no fan access. On the product road map for the LDRP is a fundraising solution where events will be able to drive funds for their team or organization as well as a team sports solutions where players, coaches, and fans of youth teams will be able to have a full selection of team branded wearables. Both the fundraising and team sports solutions are slated for deployment in Q4, 2020.