In the lingo of golf addicts, Raymond Floyd hasn’t won a nickel on the senior tour in 1997.
Not exactly. Although he’s far down the list of top winners, No. 25 currently, he has pocketed $410,000 so far this year on the PGA Senior Tour, less than one-third of Hale Irwin’s $1.51 million.
Hitting the green doesn’t always involve two shots on a long par-4 hole for the pros. The green stuff that matters for Floyd and others involves endorsements and outside work, including designing golf courses through a management company under his name based in Palm Beach, Fla.
Floyd, who turned 55 on Sept. 4, has appeared in print ads for Advil and Lexus.
Closer to home, he’s been doing promotional work for Hyatt Hotels Corp., having signed on in 1995 as GolfHyatt spokesman and touring pro.
Check out his golf bag and, sure enough, there’s a Hyatt logo on it.
Chicago-based Hyatt confirms it is in the process of re-signing Floyd to a multiyear, multimillion-dollar deal, which means he will appear in Hyatt’s advertising and marketing materials.
“We’ve gotten excellent feedback from Floyd’s connection with us,” says Tom O’Toole, Hyatt’s VP-marketing.
Perhaps he displays a mild image, which comes across positively with Hyatt’s customers, golfers included. But anyone who has seen Floyd on the links or on the tube knows he has a hawk-like presence when marching up the 18th fairway, especially when he’s nailing down a win.
In case you’re wondering, Floyd pulled down $1.04 million last year in golf winnings money, and that wasn’t his best season.
Many more bucks are involved in Hyatt’s commitment to using golf as a vehicle to drum up business.
Hyatt has decided to become a sponsor of both the PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour.
Additionally, Hyatt just launched a Kids Golf Free program, and recently reached an agreement with Jack Nicklaus and the Nicklaus/Flick Golf Schools, to host 3-day sessions in October at the Hyatt Regency Cerromar Beach in Puerto Rico.
Also, Hyatt last week signed on Wyse Advertising in Cleveland to develop an integrated marketing program geared to its golf marketing.
Hyatt currently spends $550,000 annually on golf marketing, but that budget can expand substantially based on what Wyse comes up with for recommendations.
Wyse will have a lot to work with, because Hyatt now has 16 golf courses near or adjacent to its resorts in the U.S. and Caribbean.
Hyatt’s regular ad agency is Cramer-Krasselt Chicago.
Hyatt’s O’Toole says its first computerized PGA promotion will be on-line at pgatour.com.
As for those Nicklaus schools, O’Toole says “we’ll try them out at Cerromar Beach and if we have enough interest, we’ll have them at other resorts as well.”
Why is Hyatt making this fuss about golf? “People who watch and play golf on weekends often are the same people who travel during the week on business,” says O’Toole.
McIlwain moves up at Y&R: Young & Rubicam Chicago promoted Kary McIlwain, a senior VP, to director of client services. She reports to Pat Cafferata, president-chief executive officer of Y&R Chicago. Other appointments and agency news: Leo Burnett Co. elected these new VPs: Toby Sachs and Michael Peters, both account directors, and David Dabill, director of corporate financial strategy. . . . Grey Advertising in New York picked up the $40 million ad account of Six Flags, a Parsippany, N.J.-based operator of theme parks, including Six Flags Great America in Gurnee. Grey succeeds McCann-Erickson Houston, which worked on media.
– Cox Enterprises’ Cox Interactive Media in Atlanta signed a multiyear contract with Chicago-based Information Inter.Clear to produce a minimum of 1,500 Web sites annually for use by Cox primarily in its city directories. Cox doesn’t have a presence in the Chicago market. Information Inter.Clear, which will host and maintain these Web sites, said this is the largest such order so far.
Strictly Personal: Birthday greetings to Alison Sparks, 37; Harry P. Adams, 41; Gary Ricco, 43 (Chi Quest Ltd.); Harvey Wittenberg, 60; and Liz Rooney, 38.
Midwesterner Tim Callahan moved up to executive VP-general manager from VP-marketing at Kraft Foods’ Post Cereal Division in Rye Brook, N.Y. Callahan, 37, a native of Milwaukee, earned a bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame and an MBA from J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He reports to Ann Fudge, newly named president of the combined coffee and cereal unit at Kraft.
