Southern Company had long been the Official Energy Company of the PGA TOUR, as well as the sponsor of the Payne Stewart Award, named in honor of Payne Stewart, a man who exemplified Character, Charity & Sportsmanship.
Much like all its subsidiaries, Southern Company focuses its brand objectives on increasing awareness and connections back to the communities the organization serves, by supporting programs like The First Tee amongst many others.
However, the awareness of both its connection to the PGA TOUR and the values the award stands for had never been measured and rarely promoted. We embarked with the chance to deliver that promise through unique messaging that honored Payne and cemented the values the award holds dear.
After establishing the connection back to the award and Payne, it was then time to change clubs and move to the second phase of the advertising strategy. Using a national based strategy across high-profile traditional and digital channels we aimed to shoot straight and further align the values of Southern Company and the nonprofit support the company provides, while mixing in a little humor on the golf course.
Payne Stewart Award Results
Southern Company saw a 12% lift in unaided recall from respondents who could correctly name the sponsor of the Payne Stewart Award.
In terms of aided recall, Southern Company saw a 181% lift from pre to post survey when respondents were able to choose the sponsor of the Payne Stewart Award.
The TOUR Championship and Payne Stewart Award correlation significantly improved with a 365% increase from pre to post survey.
Official Energy Company Results
Southern Company saw a 15% lift in unaided recall from respondents who were able to correctly name Southern Company as the Official Energy Company of the PGA TOUR.
Respondents self‐identifying as monthly golf channel viewers showed a unaided lift of 278% naming Southern Company as the Official Energy Company of the PGA TOUR.
In terms of aided recall, from pre to post survey, Southern Company saw a 164% lift from respondents who were able to identify Southern Company as the Official Energy Company of the PGA TOUR from a list of energy companies.