CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- When it comes to marketing, there's no end to American ingenuity. A non-traditional, patented branding program named Ad In The Hole (AITH-USA) is capturing the interest of national corporations and leading golf courses coast to coast since its recent U.S. introduction, providing an effective medium for high-end marketers to reach targeted upscale consumers.

Based on the simple principle of placing an ad at the bottom of the cup on each golf course hole, AITH-USA cannot be missed by golfers, who comprise an affluent, educated, decision-making market segment. According to Dr. Bruce Merrill, Director of Research for the Walter Cronkite Media Research Center at Arizona State University, AITH creates more than 50 ad impressions per round, per golfer, and a retention rate of the ad impression estimated at 91 percent.

Surpassing the success of its European counterpart, which hosts advertisers on more than 1,000 golf courses in nearly two dozen countries, AITH-USA is spawning new creative, customized strategies for marketing and promoting American brands.

Corporations owning multiple golf resorts nationwide and golf course enclaves such as Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach and the Carolinas, along with winter destinations such as Florida and the Southwest, are seeing the value in cross-promoting the brand of all their destination courses, generating repeat business between properties, along with promoting select amenities within individual resorts.

"Where else can you preoccupy the attention of an affluent consumer for several hours but on a golf course?" said Doug Malecki, of AITH-USA. "Ad In The Hole provides unequaled recall rates, tremendous frequency and a completely uncluttered environment, making it an excellent medium for marketers rolling out new products targeting the golf marketplace or high-end consumers in general."

U.S. Golf courses themselves also are diverging from the traditional AITH business model of advertiser contracts, especially courses having an abundance of monthly corporate and charitable events. Some courses are utilizing AITH-USA as a value-added feature offered to event sponsors, providing repetitive marketing exposure for local and national businesses which frequently support golf outings. Capitalizing upon this concept, national outdoor advertising companies, special event producers and media buying firms also are aligning AITH-USA in their promotional packages offered to major national brands for their annual marketing campaigns.

Ad In the Hole has enabled many of the world's most prestigious corporations, including Fortune 500 companies, to capitalize upon its brand-building capabilities. Leading firms in the fields of automobile manufacturing, banking, investment/finance, credit cards, air transportation, computer technology, breweries, distilleries, carbonated beverages, sporting equipment and telephone companies have become AITH advertisers.

Since its U.S. introduction, golf clubs have joined AITH-USA nationwide, including courses in the primary golfing and leisure recreation states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, New Jersey, South Carolina, Texas and Washington, among others.

For information, contact AITH-USA at (980) 235-9898; e-mail: advertiser@aithusa.com or visit www.aithusa.com.

CONTACT:
Teddie O'Keefe
800-222-0461, ext 104
tokeefe@hospitalitygolfmarketing.com