Case Studies » Mayacama
Mayacama
Situation Analysis
Prestigious private golf clubs are marketing minefields, treacherous turf where even savvy pr strategists can meet unhappy ends.
Major news outlets steer clear of such places (why cover destinations that their readers can’t experience?). At the same time, members themselves often shy away from exposure. Their clubs are sanctuaries, and they bristle at the idea of selling out.
Such were the woes of Mayacama, a stunning golf and lodging club in Sonoma County, when C. Milan Communications came on board nearly two years ago. On the surface, Mayacama appeared to have everything. A prized location in the heart of wine country. A celebrated Jack Nicklaus Signature Course. And a membership roster that reads like a who’s-who of California winemakers: Bill Harlan, Helen Turley and John Wetlaufer, Bart and Daphne Araujo, and Steve Kistler.
What Mayacama lacked was a sound marketing strategy for its Lodging Club, a newly launched collection of three-bedroom Villas and four-bedroom Hillside Homes. Sales of the properties had been sluggish, and dark clouds on the economic horizon suggested that grim times lay ahead.
The challenge faced by CMC and Mayacama amounted to a private club’s Catch-22: How to generate press coverage from reluctant media without alienating members or compromising the refined and private climate that made the club so appealing from the start?
Solution
CMC Founder Charlotte Milan devised a plan as subtle and sophisticated as the club itself. It was built upon the idea of Mayacama as more than just a great place for golf. As Milan perceived it, the club could be positioned as the upscale embodiment of its surroundings—the sophisticated essence of wine country life. Membership not only gave you access to a course ranked #67 on Golf Digest’s Top 100 list. It let you in on an entire lifestyle, allowing you to mingle with Silicon Valley moguls or to sip wine with some of the greatest vintners in the world.
Drawing on her vast network of media contacts, Milan and her team began by introducing Mayacama to writers for the most prominent national golf outlets, including Golf Digest, Golf Magazine and Travel & Leisure Golf—publications whose coverage extends beyond the game itself to the luxurious lifestyle that the club represents. One connection led to another, and in less than a year, lifestyle and real estate features had appeared not only in golf publications but also in major outlets such as the New York Times, Robb Report and USA Today.
At the same time, Milan highlighted Mayacama’s Vintner Members to emphasize the uniqueness of the club. Where else could you play golf on one of the Golden Bear’s best, then retire to a private wine cellar to sample Jayson Woodbridge’s famed Robert Parker – rated 98 point “100 Acre” Cabernet Sauvignon with none other than Woodbridge himself? This wasn’t marketing of the heavy-handed kind disliked by Mayacama members. It was a celebration of the very lifestyle that had given rise to their cherished club.
As part of her plan, Milan also capitalized on Vintner Member events and an annual charity golf outing that attracted A-list celebrities from coast to coast. Such events caught the eye of society and lifestyle writers at leading local and national publications ranging from Travel & Leisure to the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Magazine.
Milan’s efforts struck another resounding chord in March 2009, when she and her team invested more than 400 hours working with a senior writer for Fortune Magazine, arranging site visits, wine tastings, vintner dinners and golf with foursomes of top vintner members and Mayacama owners. The work paid off with a glowing two-page feature spotlighting Mayacama as an elegant playground for discerning golfers and gourmands alike in Fortune’s March 2009 golf issue. That same month, Mayacama’s Lodging Club and new four-bedroom Hillside Homes were featured on the cover of the Robb Report.
Results
In the midst of a devastating economic downturn, at a time when private residence clubs around the country have been filing for bankruptcy, Mayacama has bucked all industry trends. As the real estate market sank from coast to coast, the club experienced a surge in sales. Over the past six months, Lodging Club sales have surpassed even the most optimistic expectations.