Dennis Allen, VP&MD, Asia Pacific Region, TAYLORMADE, on the Golfing Market in India

NDTV: How big is the golfing market in India?

Dennis Allen: The size is very difficult to quantify as it is a really new sport. We can talk about how many golf courses there are. The size of Korean market is huge. It is bigger than India. The way to look at it is we are the only golf company. The population base here in india is huge and so China and India are our huge base markets and we are coming here. It is the biggest potential market also and you look at the fact that we were a 60-70 per cent of the market our sales have grown up 500 per cent from a very small base but we have been growing and we are investing in long term. Of the 13 countries in Asia that I cover India has shown the most promise. In 2008 the profits here eclipsed. When your sport is small, not much reasearch is done. The opportunity is because of land, population but because of economic downturn it's a little bad. There are plenty of people who want to invest in India.

NDTV: Is there a lot of potential that you see in india in terms of Golf?

Dennis Allen: There is lot of potential. It is one of the sports country. The passion for cricket is tremendous. Our dream is to have every young child hold the golf club. The potential is tremendous but the challenge is the awareness of the sport, the price of golf and we are working all on that. We would really want golf to be the sport of the country.

NDTV: Is amatuer golfing a fad of sorts in India?

Dennis Allen: Golf itslef has become a lifestyle they want to be associated with the game. A lot of Indian cricketers want to play the game. They enjoy it - it is challenging. The most interesting thing is during a cricket match you cannot have a business discussion going on. The ball will hit you. In golf you have four and half hours and if I want to close a business deal. it can happen there. It is a wonderful place, there are a lot of things drawing people to the game right now in the amateur level. We are most interested in the kids. If we get the kids interested the parents would be too. Before you know it, it would be snowball effect.

NDTV: It is an expensive sport - is that a myth?

Dennis Allen: No I believe it's a reality. And we have to deal with it everyday. And I would love to wave my magic wand and make everyone play them. Can we do that? No...India has a fast developing economy. Then people will have the money to splurge on the game and can aford it. And when that comes together then golf is going to take off. That's what we are working on today.

NDTV: Define brand Taylormade?

Dennis Allen: First and foremost it is a performance brand. The best players in the world use our products. We believe that if our R&D team can make the best products that people who make their livelihood and they use our products, then we can make products for everyone and that's our bench mark. If you can make for Arjun Atwal, then you can make the products for the average golfer also. It is certainly a premium brand and the issues we deal with is we want the brand to retain their premium nature in countries like India and emerging markets. We want it to be more affordable - we will never give up the premium nature of the brand. Shoppers are very brand savvy. During these times a shopper goes back to brands they can trust and we want to be one of them.

NDTV: There are tie-ups with Adidas and other brands and now Ashworth. Explain the tie-ups?

Dennis Allen: Taylormade started up in 1979. Gary Adams did that and came up with a metal wood. It was only natural that we tie up with Adidas. The apparel background of theirs was only to get the business bigger, so we have Taylormade golf and Adidas. We can clothe you and put the best footwear on you. This is a product for us. The apparel used to be cotton polo's - we were getting performance oriented and we wanted Ashworth and they are a nice brand to be associated with. They have been catering to golf business in many years now.They are more of a lifestyle and Adidas is performance oriented - they are also lifestyle but more performance. It is possibly looking at different demogarphics. And Ashworth goes way back and has a broad portfolio.

NDTV: Please elaborate about the new golfing experience that you are trying to give Indians?

Dennis Allen: One of the reasons is we have one in South Korea and Hong Kong and we are not retailers. But we feel it is very important to show consumers how our product should be displayed. It's very easy to say that buy our new product. But we would prefer they go beyond that and explain the technology. With the golf school we have gone one step further. People like to feel that it's theirs. It is very easy for us to sell stock product. We are going to watch the way you play and those questions will allow us to get better fit for the products. It's not like coffee. You are investing a lot of money in that and that's why we have select fit and school for the people to test our products. And someone who has been trained also. The golf school is part of our ongoing push to grow the game. Back to the children. Only mall that has the bunker. Children have never seen golf sets and clubs in India and we need to make sure it's fun too.

NDTV: How do you see the brand grow in India? Especially during the slowdown?

Dennis Allen: We are very fortunate as little competetion we are working with partners.We have the best dealer relationships. The brand will grow generically. The flipside is since we do not have any competetion, is you need to have to look around and benchmark yourself. I would prefer some competition. When you are chalenged in all walks of life, you perform the best and I think over a period of time when competition comes in, we want to stay as the market leaders. But we want to make sure that as Indian golf grows Taylormade Adidas is not the only option. Now you may think that's strange. It's not fair to the consumer.

NDTV: How difficult is it to sell a golf club or a kit to an Indian golfer?

Dennis Allen: Right now...very easy and difficult. It's easy because the golfers that exist are very passionate. They come for the brand. They are paying attention to the website, they are truly loking for the next best product. So for those people it's easy and fun. The person who walks into a store today wondering what these things are. If you walk into a shop in US they would walk you out. Our attitude here is, if we have to spend an hour here we would do it, because if someone gets excited they will tell their friends and then things will start to happen. Selling to those people will not be fun. There will be no aaah factor.But it's a challenge. We are passionate. We go to schools also. But once you get them how to grab the club and they smile - that's as good as the money coming in.