Arnold Palmer Enterprises (APE)

Project: Development of all five Arnold Palmer web properties

Solutions: Web site brand design, content management, email marketing and e-commerce

Industry: Sports Marketing / Entertainment

Web sites: www.arnoldpalmer.com | www.bayhillinvitational.com | www.palmerdesign.com | www.latrobecountryclub.com | www.bayhill.com  

Background:
Arnold Palmer is one of the most revered sports legends in history. Many consider Palmer to be the father of modern sports marketing - it was with a handshake that he and the late Mark McCormack, founder IMG, developed the advent of sports marketing and set the stage for a multi-billion industry. Arnold Palmer was also one of the greatest golfers of all time. Winning 92 PGA tour events, 9 major championships and being designated as the athlete of the year for the decade of the sixties. As business transforms to the internet APE needed a plan to take their current businesses and more importantly his legacy to the web.

Challenge:
The APE portfolio includes five websites featuring different brands and missions. The challenge was to implement a consistent yet property unique online brand managed by one scalable content management platform that would allow content authors from many different offices and countries manage these web sites while delivering content, video and products the fans wanted. They also needed a web partner who was versatile, scalable and understood the complex and competitive sports marketing business.

The Process:
After reviewing several solutions they selected Tenth Floor as their partner. With Tenth Floor’s team of experienced sports marketing designers, strategists and web content management (WCM) software including a fond respect for Arnold Palmer it became a good partnership.

The Tenth Floor design team worked with the different brands to develop a creative yet consistent design across all web properties. BASE-10 WCM software addressed all the requirements for security via Active Directory integration, scalability, ease of use and workflow processes, while being reasonably priced.  BASE-10 is developed in the Microsoft .NET framework and is fully supported by a team of seasoned developers. Other aspects of the system, include digital asset management, email marketing and e-commerce modules were utilized to accomplish the daunting task of providing vast amounts content, images, video, blogs etc to AP fans.

Web sites were all implemented into BASE-10 within a 90 day period.  The system was in place, on time and within budget. All content is searchable through a robust search on the public side of the website and multiple templates can be developed and implemented into BASE-10, allowing various business units to implement their respective design specifications. We also deployed a workflow supporting internal processes, policies and procedures and implemented the Email Marketing module allowing them to proactively keep current and prospective customers interested in their vast array content.

Results:
Developing a site fitting of the King was a daunting task. How do you create web properties that convey the essence of this great athlete yet make it versatile enough to scale as he leaves his legacy on the game he transformed. The project was demanding but based on our sports marketing knowledge and experiences a tremendous success!