Bill Murray & Bros. (Caddy) Shack Up With NBCU To Swing E-Retail Golf Site
By Barry Janoff
March 28, 2019: You can’t think of golf without “Caddyshack” and you can’t think of “Caddyshack” without Bill Murray.
Murray was the disheveled, gopher-hunting Carl Spackler in the classic 1980 movie (with a screenplay credit by his brother, Brian Doyle-Murray).
But he and his five brothers are taking their decidedly much-more upscale line of clothes, William Murray Golf, to the new Shop with Golf e-commerce destination, launching under the auspices of NBCUniversal and its Golf Channel.
According to NBCU, the e-commerce venture “offers brands an exciting alternative to reach massive and targeted audiences while presenting shoppers with a new way to engage with their favorite brands, shows, personalities, players, and network.
“The content commerce space will become a new incremental revenue source for NBCUniversal and allows direct-to-consumer retailers to interact with a whole new audience through premium content and a trusted shopping platform.”
Shop with Golf launches with a selection of 30 brands, including William Murray Golf, Linksoul, J. Lindeberg, Foray Golf, Criquet and Rhone.
Additional brands will also be joining the site over the course of its first month, including EleVen by Venus Williams.
Shop with Golf will also provide special pricing for members of GolfPass, the just-launched digital membership in collaboration between NBC Sports Group and top-ranked golfer Rory McIlroy, along with founding partner TaylorMade, which offers rounds of golf, videos, exclusive golf-related deals and access to pros and instructors.
“Golf is unique from many other popular televised sports because fans who watch also play,” Mike McCarley, president-golf, NBC Sports, said via the company.
“Golf is a lifestyle and fans engage with the game in many ways from travel and instruction to equipment and clothing. Shop with Golf allows one-stop-shopping for high-quality but previously hard-to-find brands for all golfers.”
The Murray Brothers — Andy, Bill, Brian, Ed, John, and Joel — are part of intro marketing support as the stars of Shop with Golf’s “Murray Up: Stay on Course,” an offbeat music video that would have fit nicely into the irreverent parameters of “Caddyshack.”
It shows the brothers on a golf course, wearing William Murray Golf fashion, at times playing golf, but mostly driving a golf cart outside the lines, imbibing with favorite alcoholic beverages, playing instruments and singing “Stay on Course.”
Of course, the song includes such lyrics as, “When life starts getting you down/You gotta get up and play a round/Grab your sticks and a couple of beers/And surround yourself with a jury of peers/Find a fairway without no cares/Life’s so much better when my balls are in the air.”
To which a nearby golfer yells, “Enough about your balls . . .there are kids here!”
Shop with Golf will offer such shopping experiences as Shop by Destination and an on-site shopping magazine, The Links List.
Shopping categories include apparel, accessories, beauty, home, wellness, and travel in support of customized original content franchises and video series.
According to Josh Feldman, evp, head of marketing and advertising creative, NBCUniversal, “On this platform, golf fans can engage with their favorite content and brands like never before, while companies can reach their consumers at scale and drive impact.”
Rory McIlroy, NBC Sports Form GolfPass
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