Get To Know: PGA Tour Superstore CMO Matt Corey

Matt Corey is the chief marketing officer for PGA TOUR Superstore. Owned by The Home Depot founder and Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, PGA Tour Superstores are among the largest brick and mortar stores in the US, with the golf and tennis retail locations averaging 50,000 total square feet. As CMO, Corey oversees all marketing […]

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Matt Corey is the chief marketing officer for PGA TOUR Superstore. Owned by The Home Depot founder and Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, PGA Tour Superstores are among the largest brick and mortar stores in the US, with the golf and tennis retail locations averaging 50,000 total square feet.

As CMO, Corey oversees all marketing strategy in addition to managing PGA Tour Superstores ecommerce business.

He started his career building internet business strategies for BellSouth and Home Depot – establishing new business models at the dawn of the internet when brands were lobbying just to put their URLs on TV commercials.

Corey has more than 20 years of marketing experience in sports marketing, retail, ecommerce, digital and social media marketing. Prior to joining PGA TOUR Superstore last fall, he was the chief marketing officer for Mass Relevance, a social media curation company in Austin, Texas. Before Mass Relevance, Corey spent seven years as the chief marketing officer for golf retailer Golfsmith.

Specializing in marketing and operational strategy, Corey also served as VP of marketing for The Bombay Company, and managed ecommerce for The Home Depot.

“My personal goal is to make the brand that I work for – directly or in an advisory role – better than it has ever been,” says Corey, “And to inspire our associates and our customers and to make our brand meaningful and relevant in their lives.”

Get To Know:

Matt Corey

CMO @ PGA Tour Superstore

  • Age: 47
  • HQ: Atlanta
  • Apple or Android? Apple
  • First Job: Paperboy
  • Hobby: Tough Mudder races
  • First Car: Ford Mustang

What mobile device can you not live without?

iPhone – it has everything on it!

Can we take a peek at your phone’s home screen?

Matt Corey's phone

Which apps do you use most often for work?

WAZE to get me to and from work without getting a speeding ticket.

What social media network or website do you frequent most when you’re not working?

AdWeek and Mashable for inspiring marketing and branding ideas.

What’s the first thing you check on your phone in the morning?

P90X app to see what the daily workout is.

Take me through your typical workday.

While I’d love to say that I have a tee time every day, it’s retail so not a chance!

If I’m not traveling to visit our stores or our vendor partners, a typical day is spent reviewing the prior day’s sales results, working on future campaigns, strategizing on key local marketing opportunities, fielding PR opportunities, and continuously improving our website from a content, design and UIX perspective.

What has been the most exciting work development during the past year?

Taking this new job. I joined PGA TOUR Superstore in August of 2013. We are growing incredibly fast and the future is very bright.

How many miles have you traveled in the last 12 months?

Probably about 100,000 miles, good enough for Platinum, but not quite Diamond on Delta.

On a recent trip to visit vendor partner Golf Pride, I got to go to Pinehurst – which is just steeped in history and tradition. Pinehurst is the home of the 2014 US Open coming up this June. It’s a beautiful golf course and resort.

What work challenge keeps you up at night?

Preparing for massive growth. We are going to double our business every three years, so for the next six years that means quadrupling the number of stores we have.

Preparing the organization by finding great people, inspiring them and driving a strong brand and marketing strategy to support that growth are all top of mind – day and night.

Can you tell us about a campaign or work project you’d like to do over?

Since I just recently started at PGA TOUR Superstore, I don’t have an “do-overs” yet.

As a marketer, you learn from every campaign and build on it; there’s always room for improvement.

Tell me about the people who have been most influential in your career.

My mom who passed away when I was 29. She set the stage for my entire career by giving me some great advice. She had what she called the “10 Year Rule” which was that if something at work – or even in your personal life – is stressing you out, you have to stop and ask yourself if you are going to remember this “thing” ten years from now. If yes, then maybe it is worth a little bit of stress.

If you will likely not remember this 10 years from now, what are you stressing about? Awesome. I’ve used this with every direct report I’ve had in the past 20 years.

What traits does a person need to succeed in your position?

No. 1 is passion. Are you truly excited about what you do and do you inspire others around you?

No. 2 is energy. You have to bring it every day.

No. 3 is creativity. In marketing, if you don’t have new ideas, you don’t have a job very long.

No. 4 is that you have to be collaborative. Everyone is a marketing genius and you have to be willing to listen to opinions, seek others’ input, be open to change and then make the decisions.

Can you tell us something about yourself that your team would be surprised to know?

I’m a pretty open book…maybe that I talk during scary movies.

Why did you go into marketing?

I started in communication – public relations – due to a fascination with how brands drive home messaging and how they position themselves to the world. This fascination lead to marketing, both traditional and digital and social.

What other career would you like to try and why?

None – I’m in the perfect job, and career path, for me.

What does your office look like – any sentimental objects?

I don’t spend time in an office, and frankly don’t believe in offices or walls.

I have some great autographed pictures and tennis racquets from Roger Federer and Pete Sampras at home, and some awesome golf stuff too from Phil Mickelson and other pros.

I do have one sentimental item. It’s a stuffed animal – a meerkat – that three of us got together when I worked at Golfsmith. Meerkats stick together, they are a pack. They have each others’ backs no matter what. That is the way good teams should function if they want to be amazing.

What’s the last business book you read?

The Ultimate Question by Fred Reichheld. It’s a good read and keeps the philosophy of business success very simple.

Outside of your company’s efforts, what ad campaign or video caught your eye recently?

I love what Delta Airlines has done with its in-flight safety videos. They have decided not to take themselves so seriously and have created some very fun, quirky videos that travelers actually pay attention to.

Too many businesses in our world think that if you are having fun you must not be working hard enough. It’s the opposite. If you can have fun at work and with your brand, you can inspire customers and create raving fans for life.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Amy Gesenhues
Contributor
Amy Gesenhues was a senior editor for Third Door Media, covering the latest news and updates for Marketing Land, Search Engine Land and MarTech Today. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs, SoftwareCEO, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.

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