Product & Positioning
Product Summary
ProGrip owns a revolutionary golf grip that significantly reduces the shock and vibration that results from striking the ball or the ground. The grip has been designed to dissipate the pattern of vibration specific to golf clubs before it reaches the hand, as opposed to dampening the vibration between the grip and the hand. The ultimate effect is a preservation of the "feel" of the club and the sense of control, while reducing injuries and stress that can result from profound continuous impacts. The sections below explain the various grips that will be offered and how they will be positioned in the market.
The Impress Grip
The physical principles and behavior of the Impress grip are identical to the anti-vibration grip developed for hammers by Dr. Williams, although the design takes on a different form. The Impress grip uses the physical structure and properties of the club shaft to absorb specific frequency vibrations within the grip itself, while still transferring other frequencies so that the "feel" of the club is not sacrificed. This design-based solution to shock and vibration provides a number of distinct advantages over other products, including:
- A significant reduction of harmful shock and vibration felt by a golfer. In the trial tests for the Impress grip, golfers found it reduced shock and vibration 87 percent more than standard grips.
- The ability to create an anti-vibration grip with conventional manufacturing methods, using any commercially viable materials, and for any type of club (graphite or steel, wood or iron). This will provide flexibility in manufacturing and help keep costs to a minimum. This benefit also expands our market beyond a single type of club—Ultra is only used with steel shafts.
- The grip is nondestructive and noninvasive to the club, and it is installed like any other grip. The Ultra product requires the use or purchase of steel shafts. Other solutions introduce additional devices onto the club.
- A significant decrease in cost to the consumer from many other nongrip anti-vibration solutions. The Ultra product costs over 3 times more than a premium golf grip. Oversized club heads are even more expensive.
- An introduction of a completely new concept to the grip market, Precise Shock Reduction (PSR). This refers to ProGrip's ability to manufacture grips that have anti-shock qualities of varying degrees, customizable to suit the particular grip characteristics desired by a diverse market.
These improvements strongly differentiate the Impress grip from its competition. The Impress grip simply makes golf more enjoyable for the average player. Since the Impress grip works on all clubs and is installed in a normal fashion, it may address both the OEM and re-grip markets.
The innovative design of the Impress grip allows the company to manufacture and offer the product with a wide range of materials without losing its anti-vibration qualities. Golfers prefer grips with a distinctive set of features, including: size, texture, comfort, materials, durability, and tackiness. ProGrip's grip technology is extremely versatile and will allow the company to offer products that best meet the specific needs of golfers.
The company intends to provide consumers with the concept of Precise Shock Reduction (PSR), an option that is available to golfers only with the ProGrip grip. With PSR, players will have the ability to choose a grip with the level of vibration absorption that best suits their needs, in the size and style of grip that they prefer. Specifically, for men and women, standard size grips will be initially available as well as a men's mid-size grip, with the golfer's choice of three levels of PSR. A total of 18 SKUs will be introduced initially, at an average retail price of $5.00. Eventually, men's jumbo and women's mid-size grips will be introduced, increasing the total number of SKU's to 30. By comparison, Flynt has 54 SKUs, of which 37 are non-putter grips, and GolfMax reports a total of 64 models.
Positioning
The Impress grip will be positioned as a premium product competing with standard and high-end grip products in the re-grip market, and later in the OEM market. ProGrip's various product offerings will be promoted as high performance grips based on a revolutionary design that significantly reduces shock and vibration, has a comfortable feel, mitigates the risks of sports-related injuries, and that can improve a player's performance and enjoyment of the game. ProGrip is currently in the process of developing unique looking designs for the Impress grip and also choosing the most appropriate materials with which to make the grip that will provide a unique feel and a high degree of durability. The company will always maintain itself as a provider of premium products that innovatively meets the needs of its customers.
