Wilson Staff returns to claim premium status
By Chuck Stogel | GolfWeb Equipment Correspondent
Wilson Staff is back. And its more high-tech than ever.
With Wilson Golf celebrating its 90th anniversary this season, the company is resurrecting one of its venerable labels as it looks ahead to the future.
Later this year, and heading into 2005, Wilson will reintroduce the Wilson Staff name and its familiar two-tone shield as the calling card for all its premium products: clubs, balls, gloves and accessories.
In a three-pronged approach to business, the company also will use a simple red, script Wilson label for its value-priced recreational equipment and a plain, boxed W for its casual, mass-market products.
The goal is to reestablish Wilson Golf as an aspirational brand, and to get us back to where we were a few years ago, said Angus Moir, global business director. Over the next three years, we want to rebuild our way back to profitability.
As a $200 million annual global business, Wilson has been losing market share to several freespending rivals in the past 10 years, especially in the premium segment.
We had pigeon-holed our company into developing game-improvement products for average and high handicap golfers, said Moir. Well continue to do that, but we want to target better players, too, with improved products.
Rolling out partially at the end of this year and everywhere by springtime, the new Wilson Staff lineup will comprise two high-tech, Nano Ti drivers, three sets of irons (the Fat Shaft is gone), composite fairway woods, hybrid utility clubs, a selection of tour wedges, nine putters and three models of golf balls.
Wilson Staff pros Jesper Parnevik and Padraig Harrington are already playing much of the new equipment on tour.
This will be the biggest launch in the history of Wilson Golf, said Mike Boylan, Wilson Golf clubs global business director.
All of the new clubs and balls will be alpha-numerically labeled--keyed to tour play, performance, distance--to help golfers discern which is best for them.
Heres a closer look at the Wilson Staff lineup.
