There’s no question that today’s boat buying market is intensely competitive. Given that the average buyer spends six months from the time they make the decision to buy a boat to actually making the purchase, there is incredible potential for turning prospects into brand converts. Not only do you and your dealers need to sell the benefits of your product, you also need to sell the advantages of boat owning as well, to make sure their interest carries through to their checkbooks. Read More.   Put the Marine Marketing Experts to Work for You. For nearly 25 years, Russell Herder has specialized in marketing for the marine industry. From major international watercraft brands to specialized boatlift manufacturers, our expertise has delivered powerful, effective strategies for our clients. With seasoned brand specialists and researchers, our staff has partnered with some of the most respected brands around the country.

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Boatlifts Cruisers Deck Boats Freshwater Boats Hunting/Duck Boats Inboard and Outboard Ski Boats Performance Fishing Pontoons Saltwater Boats

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TOP 10 TRENDS TO CONSIDER IN YOUR MARINE MARKETING

1. Green Is Good.
Eco-awareness is skyrocketing, in large part due to consumer demand. Manufacturers that realistically identify and tout their environmental initiatives will gain ground in 2008, as will those who help educate consumers about smart, easy ways they can make a difference.
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1. Green Is Good.
Eco-awareness is skyrocketing, in large part due to consumer demand. Manufacturers that realistically identify and tout their environmental initiatives will gain ground in 2008, as will those who help educate consumers about smart, easy ways they can make a difference.

2. Advertising Is Becoming More “Engaging.”
Media “engagement planning” is key in that ad dollar effectiveness can best be achieved by determining the most relevant touch points or brand intersections with potential buyers. For 2008, effective magazine ads will take a more comprehensive approach using strategies that create a continuous “conversation” with prospective spenders. That can mean above the line (traditional media), below the line (guerilla tactics) and new media (online videos, blogs, mobile). But to do it well, it’s mandatory to research and know your customers’ needs and behaviors.

3. Emerging Markets Represent Strong Prospects – If You Know How to Reach Them.
Affluent working women are growing in market strength, say the trend watchers. So is the sales potential with recent college graduates – some 2 million of them who purchase $40 billion in goods and services annually. While they have different purchasing motivators, the two groups share at least one thing in common: reaching them online is the way to go. According to “The Media Audit,” published by Texas-based International Demographics, Inc., some 94 percent of affluent working women with family incomes of $75,000 or more access the Internet during an average month. Nearly 80 percent of young college grads are online shoppers. It’s imperative marine industry manufacturers 1) know how to appeal to these emerging sectors and 2) revitalize their online initiatives to give consumers the information they want.

4. Loyalty Will Matter More.
In an ever-expanding universe of brand options, it is becoming even more important in 2008 to understand what your customers feel, want and do in their product decision-making. Three strategies are essential. Engage in dialogue-based marketing to deepen your market understanding and encourage two-way communications. Second, enhance the richness of your database and leverage it through personalization and experiential tactics. Third, clearly achieve brand differentiation. Understand your core competencies and how they are relevant to your target markets.

5. Power of Influence Will Deliver Sales.
Word of mouth marketing is one of the most effective marketing tools in recent history. In 2008, there will be a growing emphasis on reaching the “Social Persuaders” and “Influencers” among your target audiences. Who are they? They are at the top of the WOMM pyramid – some 10 percent of the population who influences the social choices of the remaining 90 percent because they are considered experts and well networked by their peers. How do you reach them? A recent national survey said these consumers read product reviews, visit Web sites, seek out information from employees and – once their opinions are formed – share what they have learned via e-mail, phone and at social events. Demographically, women and those earning $100,000+ are more likely to share a positive experience.

6. The New Luxury: Expertise vs. Prestige.
As high-end goods reach down to the masses, luxury is evolving to create a new elite consumer that values expertise more than prestige. Instead of looking to the wealthy for what to aspire to, this consumer looks to the experts as their role models. Rather than just going out and buying a ski boat, for example, these new luxury consumers are asking, “What are the best waterski teams using?”

7. Authenticity = Brand Soul.
Consumers are now in constant communication/dialogue with their brands and therefore are looking for authenticity – companies that share their values. Brand “soul” is usually related to ethics and integrity. Buyers are feeling more and more that brands without “soul” are those that rely on the hard-sell, pushy positioning statements and forgettable payoffs.

8. Get Social.
Wise marketers will capitalize on the growing appeal of social networks. Besides the obvious market leaders (MySpace and Facebook), social networks exist in niches from teens (e.g., Pizco and Tagged) to seniors (e.g., Eons) to photographers (e.g., Flickr), and even B2B (e.g., LinkedIn and Plaxo).

9. Focus on the Experience.
The need to focus on integrated marketing approaches is not new, but what will be new this year is how brand experiences will move to the top of the integration priorities list, becoming the driving force of marketing communications. Events and online initiatives were once treated as below-the-line afterthoughts, but marketers increasingly realize that interactive brand experiences can be far more effective than advertising and should be the starting point of a customer conversation.

10. Growth for Interactive Marketing.
Interactive marketing spending will more than triple over the next five years, reaching $61 billion by 2012, according to Forrester Research. To put this into context, interactive marketing, which currently accounts for just eight percent of all ad spending, will increase to 18 percent of marketers’ total advertising budgets in five years. Interactive encompasses new marketing channels such as e-mail and search marketing, online video ads and social media. Mobile marketing, also a form of interactive media, is getting hotter as consumers become increasingly comfortable using personal computing handsets. Other emerging channels, including game marketing, podcasts and RSS feeds, will claim increasingly larger shares of marketers’ budgets.

Source: CRM; Entrepreneur; Consumer Lab
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