| Creating a better image: Dale Hill signs up with Eagle!
Image is fundamental to marketing, and when a visitor drives into a club he or she is forming all sorts of impressions, consciously and unconsciously, from what they see and experience: the entrance as they drive through it, the road and signs on the way to the car park and clubhouse, the state of things generally, and of course the journey from the clubhouse to the first tee. Those first impressions will be determined to a surprising extent by the quality and impact of the signage.
Get it right, and you create the impression of a quality experience, a club and course that is managed professionally. Get it wrong, and all the hard work you may do elsewhere to make things look smart will be undermined…
Signage and image
Dale Hill GC, part of the Leaderboard Group of Golf courses, is located in the Sussex Weald midway between Tunbridge Wells and Hastings.
It is a story of constant development and improvement, reflecting the way in which golf in the UK has been changing. Originally 9 holes, then 18 and a hotel, now 36 holes, it competes with a lot of other courses for the corporate, society, casual visitor and membership business.
Positioned as an upscale golfing experience, looking the part is even more critical. |
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Realising that the old signage was simply inadequate and creating a poor impression, Dale Hill wanted to develop a much better image, along with better information around the clubhouse and course for golfers.
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Sonia Lewis, Golf Office Administrator and person charged with the responsibility for the signage project said, “The course is a constantly developing thing, and signage is a key aspect of that. But besides making a quality impression, we wanted longevity.
With careful maintenance we’re expecting around ten years or so from the new signs, which should be more than enough with the rate of change we envisage in the future.”
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Why Eagle?
“Obviously we’d heard about Eagle, but we looked at several other companies’ offerings as well. The first thing I did was to check out the websites, and these often tell you a lot about a company in terms of creating an impression, although it may not be the kind of impression a company wants! Eagle’s was professional and easy to navigate around.”
“We then arranged for the companies to show us an example of their signage in situ. We got our Senior Management Group and sponsors involved, and it soon became clear which company we wanted to go with, even though Eagle was more expensive than others. The service we got from the first call through to installation that we got from Eagle’s chap, Tim Reed, was very supportive. Nothing was too much trouble.”
Reinforcing this last point, Eagle were able to adapt the design of an information sign for Dale Hill that would meet the requirements of the club, one of the club’s sponsors, and still incorporate a clock.
The net result works well in its location near the first tee, and while achieving all the original design and information objectives, still feels an integral part of the Dale Hill signage system. |
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“Now that the signage is installed, we can see that it’s all been a very worthwhile exercise. The signage has dramatically improved Dale Hill’s image, which is exactly what we wanted to achieve.”
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