Air Force One Golf – Take Two

By: Chris Nickel

Depending on how closely you follow companies not named TaylorMade, Titleist or Callaway, you may have some vague idea about Air Force One. Chances are, any association you do have is tied to a company that rhymes with Schmowerbilt. So let’s set the record straight.

Air Force One equipment was previously released under the PowerBilt Brand, a licensee of Hillerich and Bradsby. Now, Air Force One is both the brand and licensee and the PowerBilt name is no longer. As in, it’s gone the way of the dodo bird and Taylor Swift songs which are actually country.

That relationship is over. Done. Finito. Kaput.

Awesome, but what is Air Force One?

The name doesn’t exactly conjure up nostalgic memories of persimmon woods and leather wrapped/hickory shafted mashie niblicks. Truthfully, it doesn’t conjure up much of anything to do with golf.

And therein lies the basics of the problem, one which CEO Ross Kvinge (pictured above) is working to resolve by re-launching Air Force One as its own entity. On paper, Kvinge’s original 2009 plan seemed to make a lot of sense. Take the heritage and credibility of the PowerBilt name, add in some 21st century compressed nitrogen technology, and presto, you have a high-performance golf company (Air Force One) with built-in brand awareness and a positive history steeped in a rich tradition of quality product (PowerBilt).

The problem was consumers never got this message.

“The first problem is perception. You had the golfer who knew PowerBilt as a premium name releasing more budget friendly clubs.Then you had younger golfers who had no idea who Powerbilt was.” - Ross Kvinge

It didn’t matter that PowerBilt was in the bag of more than 120 PGA Tour winners like Chip Beck, Frank Beard, Fuzzy Zoeller and Grant Waite. The history of the company as one of the oldest (est.1859) and most reputable companies meant nothing to a generation of golfers raised on titanium heads and solid core balls.

Conversely, those who count a dusty Louisville Slugger and trusty PowerBilt three wood as valuable family heirlooms couldn’t quite wrap their collective heads around the uber-affordable pricing structure of this newfangled N7 nitrogen-infused technology. Economists refer to “prestige goods” as items which require higher prices so people believe they’re purchasing something of quality. The AFO DFX premium driver starts at $249, and in this case a lower price works against perception of the brand.

Call it a lose-lose.

But as of now, that complicated relationship is in the rearview, although some objects are still closer than Kvinge would like.

DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK

So, Air Force One is back. Again. For the second time. It makes sense from an economic standpoint, as Kvinge states “It costs ten times as much to resurrect brand as it does to launch one”, and it makes sense from a brand clarification perspective. It’s much cleaner to sell your product when you only have a single, focused story to tell.

But, like any relationship gone sour, there’s some scar tissue. Google “Air Force One Golf” and you’ll be hard pressed to find the homepage for the newly single Air Force One. In fact, if anything, it’s reasonable to think Powerbilt and Air Force One still have a bit of thing for each other. If I’m interested in the product, I’d prefer not to have to search that hard to find the homepage to get more information.

The question is, what do you do about this? Succeeding in an online environment is absolutely critical, and if Kvinge really wants to establish Air Force One as a distinct brand, he’ll have to figure out a way to remove unnecessary roadblocks.

Same Performance. Less baggage.

If a brand is going to exist for any period of time, it has to “win” somewhere. Because retail space is controlled by the behemoths of the industry, you won’t see Air Force One fighting for space at your local PGA Superstore.

Instead, Kvinge sees a distinct home court advantage with professional fitters. In this context, the player isn’t as brand conscious and may even be resistant to the often unfulfilled promises from less than honest marketing efforts of large OEMs.

"What you see in that environment is people who are ultimately focused on performance. Brand awareness still plays a role, but not it’s not the deciding factor. Ultimately this is the combination that wins."

The lynchpin to this entire model is you have to make clubs whose performance is equal to if not better than competitors and provide the customer the type of value for which they’re looking. For Air Force One, this translates to nitrogen charged, distance-oriented clubs and moderate cost. 

 

Do They Work?

I’m not the target player for the AFO AFX Game Improvement iron ($499 for a set of 8), but I was pleasantly surprised at how reasonable this iron feels and how well it performs. The AFX checks all the boxes for a great Game Improvement iron. They’re hot (I carried the 6 iron 205 comfortably), they launch high and they’re extremely forgiving. The sweet spot is as big as anyone reasonably needs and this particular iron has no problem going up against any distance iron from any OEM, big or small.

The performance of the AFO DFX driver is well-documented and the recently released DFX-Black fairway is quickly becoming a clubfitting favorite; in turn, Kvinge has reason to be optimistic. “We’re already seeing reorders from some clubfitters….which is generally a good sign.” Clubfitters may place an initial order based a hunch or relationship, but they don’t re-up unless the product is generating sales.

Have we answered anything?

It’s muddy, but this much we know: Air Force One is not Powerbilt. Powerbilt no longer has anything to do with Air Force One. Capiche?

Air Force One is a company whose success rests on the shoulders of their proprietary N7 Nitrogen Charged technology, which for my money is most effective in woods and hybrids, where everyone is looking to gain distance.

It makes sense the current lineup is anchored by two drivers (DFX Tour and DFX MOI), one fairway wood and one hybrid, all of which boast N7 technology. Just for good measure, there’s two sets of irons - one aimed at better players (Pro Series) and the other focused on game improvement. Prices are generally half of what you’re used to seeing from major manufacturers, but you might be surprised by how much ball speed these clubs produce.

No doubt it’s a work in progress, but the technology is legitimate, and with a more defined purpose and cleaner focus, there’s no reason Air Force One won’t establish themselves as a premier option for players who care more about their pocketbook than the brand of clubs in their bag.

For more information about the new Air Force One, visit the company website.