PING is making a serious splash in the YouTube space, revealing the company has signed YouTube creator Ben Hadden to a new brand deal. It’s a big move, particularly given that Callaway seems to be taking a step back after its marketing controversy with Good Good Golf.
PING wrote in an announcement on Friday, “Built on a shared passion for the game. 🤝 We’re excited for what’s ahead.” Ben Hadden added the tagline, “HUGE. Dream partnership.”
PING Stepping Into The YouTube Space?
PING has historically been a tour-player brand. Its signing announcements for years were about college standouts and tour pros. Viktor Hovland, Tony Finau, Wyndham Clark, and Sahith Theegala are among the bigger names associated with the company. All are PGA Tour golfers. Creator deals have traditionally been a smaller part of its strategy.
This move with Hadden suggests the company is taking a more serious step into the YouTube space.
The timing is intriguing. Callaway appears to be stepping back, which has left the YouTube golf brand-deal landscape fairly open for Takomo to gain a foothold. The company’s growth is closely tied to YouTube golf and creator culture, and it sells clubs at lower prices than the established brands. It has signed deals with prominent creators including Grant Horvat, the Bryan Bros., Luke Kwon, and Bob Does Sports.
In fact, Horvat reportedly has part ownership of the Takomo brand.
Who Is Ben Hadden?
Hadden is a good fit for PING’s more performance-oriented image. He turned professional in 2018 and earned playing status on the PGA Tour Canada. His early mini-tour career was rough, but he has since built a following across Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
He was recently a Wild Card pick on the YGT series, hitting an incredible shot to help his team pull out a victory in the first-ever video for that company.
It will be interesting to see if PING tries to reach out to Good Good Golf now that they’ve got no major sponsor. With their new series 50 States in 50 Days, they’re putting themselves back on the map in a big way, digging themselves out of a hole they created with an advertisement for a co-branded Callaway driver that was seen to be in poor taste.
Perhaps the Hadden deal — well deserved if you read many of the comments on the announcement — is the first of a bigger play to attract a very large YouTube golf audience.
What’s In Hadden’s Bag?
Hadden released a follow-up video, confirming he’s signed and then he went through what clubs he’ll be putting in his bag. He wrote on that Instagram post:
“So humbled to be a part of team PING. This feels like a massive step for me in my golf journey, getting to work with a company like @pingtour to maximize my game.”
My full specs list:
- S259 60t.6
- 56*55 s.12
- 50 s.12
- Blueprint T P-5
- Blueprint S 4
- All @kbsgolfshafts $taper 130
- i540 4 iron Ventus black 10x
- Hybrid 17* g440 ventus black 9x
- Mini driver 13* prototype titan black 8tx
- G440 9* LST Titan Black 7TX
PING Makes Big Splash, Signs Popular YouTuber To New Brand Deal