London, England: Sports Marketing Surveys (SMS), a sports specialist market research consultancy with global reach and 35 years’ experience, has joined the Asian Golf Industry Federation (AGIF).

Since its establishment in 1984, SMS has produced fresh information that has underpinned the growth of some of the most successful brands, retailers, events and federations in the sporting world.

Comprising teams in the United Kingdom and United States, as well as a network of consultants across Europe, the SMS client list includes global sports brands like adidas, Head, Giant, Mizuno, Nike, Trek, Specialized and Wilson. SMS also works with events operators including Wimbledon, Roland-Garros, The Badminton Horse Trials, and the ATP Tour.

In golf, SMS works with all the major equipment manufacturers across a full range of qualitative and quantitative research. Recent global projects undertaken for the USGA and The R&A – The Rules Modernisation, The World Handicap System and the current Distance Insights project – have included working with golfers and stakeholders throughout across Asia.

SMS also produced a seminal report on the economic impact of golf in Europe for the PGA of GB&I, looking at the direct and indirect benefits of golf to the European economy in 2013, and has established The Golf Actives programme with the European Tour and The R&A.

This looked beyond the traditional definition of a golfer on a full-length golf course, and covered all forms of active involvement in the game, including Adventure Golf, golf simulators, driving ranges and video games. A second wave of the research was commissioned in tandem with The R&A in 2019, covering a range of additional sports in addition to golf.

SMS is an official partner for research services with the European Tour, England Golf, FFGolf, and The Swedish Golf Association and works closely with The R&A, and the European Golf Association to monitor the key trends affecting the sport internationally.

Richard Payne, Director at SMS, said: “Our research is output oriented. Whether it’s off the shelf statistics or bespoke work specific to a business, that means fully understanding a client’s objectives and designing an approach that will deliver the insights that they need.

“We’re excited about the opportunities for SMS in Asia and, as a member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation, we believe we’ll be in a strong position to expand our footprint in the region.”

The SMS team is trained in the full range of market research approaches, whether that be qualitative or quantitative, face to face or online, in app, via website, email, social media or telephone.

“The range of techniques we can use may be complicated, but the overall approach is simple. Find the right type of investigation, analyse the data to draw out the relevant insight, use those findings in the context of your sport to suggest relevant, achievable action,” said Payne.

Eric Lynge, the Asian Golf Industry Federation’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Over the course of several decades, Sports Marketing Surveys has been widely praised for its work within the golf industry in Europe.

“With SMS as a Full Business Member of the Federation, we look forward to working with Richard and his team to launch some great research projects for the benefit of the golf industry in Asia.”

*To learn more about Sports Marketing Surveys please visit www.sportsmarketingsurveys.com or contact richard.payne@sportsmarketingsurveys.com