New Zealand Women’s Open wins global LPGA award

Lydia Ko in the New Zealand Women’s Open "in our own backyard" advertising campaign.

The Ladies Professional Golfers’ Association (LPGA) has awarded The Clubhouse, organisers of the McKayson New Zealand Women’s Open, the gold driver award for best advertising campaign and promotional plan.
The advertising campaign, featuring Kiwi golf sensation, Lydia Ko, set out to promote the first ever LPGA Tour event in New Zealand.
The award recognises the campaign and marketing plan as the best in its class and further supports the success of the New Zealand Women’s Open held at Windross Farm, south Auckland, where more than 30,000 fans were in attendance.
The Clubhouse managing director Michael Goldstein said: “We talked at length with Augusto about our desire to connect some of the world’s best golfers to everyday golf fans in New Zealand. Having Lydia come home to play with her friends on tour really resonated with all of us around the table and the ‘world’s greatest in our backyard’ creative stemmed from this message.
“So to see the concept come to life and be received so well by the public, our sponsors and the LPGA Tour is really cool.”
Augusto creative directors Matt Sellars and Rich Robson were excited by the prospect to work on one of New Zealand’s biggest events.
Sellars said: “We opted for an unorthodox approach with a fun and entertaining campaign that saw ‘Lyds’ playing right here in our backyard. It saw her hitting over fences, down footpaths, through kids’ sandpits and taking a local neighbourhood by surprise.’’
The campaign included social video content, print and event collateral which helped spark interest in the event and promote the tournament, which attracted numbers that LPGA senior officials said were equal to some of the biggest crowds seen on tour in the United States.
The marketing plan was supported by fantastic media partners for the event including New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME), Sky television, Chinese Herald, Korea Post and New Zealand Golf Magazine.
Goldstein added: “It’s rewarding to have won this award and it is a testament to Augusto for their creative abilities and our team for an awesome job. But most of all it is an award that we must share with Lydia who was an outstanding tournament host.’’