The Discover Boating Update brings you all the news from the Grow Boating Initiative and its six task forces: Marketing & Communications, Dealer Standards & Quality, Product Standards & Quality, Sales Statistics, Water Access and Funding.
In an effort to communicate with all industry stakeholders, we ask that all boat manufacturers pass this newsletter along to their dealer networks, and that all recipients forward it on to any and all industry colleagues they feel would benefit from the included information.
Look for your next issue of the Discover Boating Update in late September.
New DiscoverBoating.com Website Under Construction
As NMMA begins to collect the engine assessments from boat and engine manufacturers in September, boat builders can anticipate receiving requests for information that will allow them to manage leads expected to be generated from DiscoverBoating.com.
“The entire marketing campaign will be directing consumers to visit the new DiscoverBoating.com website [under construction now],” says Grow Boating director Steve Tadd. “We want to make sure that everyone supporting Grow Boating benefits from its programs with increased sales.”
Boat Manufacturer CEOs will be asked to designate key contact(s) for lead and content management on DiscoverBoating.com. These key contacts will in turn provide various pieces of information that will allow manufacturers to showcase their brands and generate sales leads. Only manufacturers that contribute to Grow Boating through the engine assessments will be eligible to participate.
In addition to promoting the boating lifestyle and providing information to facilitate selecting and purchasing a boat, the website will allow consumers to request information from specific manufacturers or all manufacturers within a specific category segment. The new DiscoverBoating.com will be launched later this fall.
Public relations efforts heated up the summer boating season with consumer media coverage reaching a record 51 million impressions from May through August. The boating lifestyle was promoted in such media as the Fox & Friends national morning show, Forbes, Popular Mechanics, Money Magazine, the Washington Post and countless television and newspaper outlets in popular boating markets from Boston to San Francisco.
The PR push focused on driving positive messages about boating, encouraging consumers to experience boating during the summer months while reminding them about the many benefits of the boating lifestyle. PR activities centered around major summer holidays including Memorial Day, Father’s Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day. In addition, pulses of news designed to leverage the fun to be had on a boat were executed all summer long in conjunction with the Discover Boating & Take Me Fishing Tour.
The public relations team is currently focused on wrapping up the summer season while creating and executing fall and winter PR initiatives. Contact Ellen Hopkins with any questions at (312) 946-6249; ehopkins@nmma.org.
Mobile Tour Stop is Off to Record-Breaking Start in Minnesota
More than 26,000 people visited the Discover Boating & Take Me Fishing Tour during its first four days at the Minnesota State Fair in Minneapolis. What has been the best event on the tour schedule the past two years keeps getting better.
More than 8,500 people submitted entries in the tour’s boat-giveaway contest providing key demographic information for future marketing initiatives. The Discover Boating staff at the event have generated nearly 60 hot leads—individuals who want dealers to contact them, so that they can purchase a boat—while participating local dealers gathered names and numbers from more than 100 more individuals.
“This tour stop is producing unprecedented results,” said Discover Boating project manager Maryanne Bradford. “The display has performed at capacity for much of the stop, and the team is ecstatic.”
The Discover Boating & Take Me Fishing Tour will be at the Minnesota State Fair through September 5 then heads for Hampton Bay Days in Hampton, VA from September 9-11. For more information on the Tour click here, or contact Maryanne Bradford at (312) 946-6227; mbradford@nmma.org.
Boat/Engine Manufacturers Encouraged to Show Grow Boating Video at Dealer Meetings
All NMMA boat and engine manufacturer members should have received the latest Grow Boating update on DVD that was distributed earlier this month. This informative video outlines the benefits of the Grow Boating initiative and was produced specifically for presentation at manufacturer dealer meetings. Any manufacturer that needs to receive the video is encouraged to e-mail their request to Katie Edling at kedling@nmma.org.
For information, e-mail Edling or call (312) 946-6274.
A new dealer certification program is closer to reality following the launch of the Dealer Certification pilot program in Chicago. Thirty-three representatives from 21 dealerships across the country met to review draft Marine Industry Dealer Certification materials that have been developed for the expected complete rollout of the program in the fourth quarter of 2005.
Dealer certification is being developed to provide a matrix of best practices that can be employed to help raise the bar on interaction between marine products retailers and the consumer, and ultimately improve the customer experience with boating.
“This is absolutely a valuable program,” says Brian Cunningham with Vero Marine Center. “We are selling fun and with a set of standards and requirements for both manufacturers and dealers alike, we should be able to create an exciting, fun image for boating.”
NMMA’s Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) program has been enhanced.
CSI now includes new functions to help participating marine industry manufacturers and dealers to better track their customers’ satisfaction level. With the new enhancements, participants can have access to real-time reporting, as the survey data received is uploaded to the CSI website within 24 hours. Other enhancements added to the newest version of the CSI program include: expanded demographic reporting; trend reporting; survey notification; non-response reports; downloadable reports and more.
“No other satisfaction index program provides industry, manufacturer, model, system and dealer level satisfaction data with real-time reporting,” says NMMA CSI director Terry Leitz.
Twenty-eight industry leaders recently met in Chicago to address the issues limiting water access and to discuss what role the Grow Boating Initiative has to undertake in dealing with the situation.
“This is one of the most important issues facing our industry today,” says Tom Errath, chair of the Grow Boating Water Access committee and general manager of Water Access at Brunswick. “In order to make a difference, it was imperative that the industry back the committee’s efforts, and judging by the number of members we have, it is clear we have the industry’s support.”
At the meeting, the group determined that it will focus on four areas that have the greatest impact on water access: permitting, policy reform, land use issues and compiling data and outreach efforts to change access issues.
Long Term Funding Model Introduced; Invoices Being Sent This Month
The NMMA Board helped make the Grow Boating Initiative a reality at their latest board meeting, approving a mandatory assessment for all NMMA member boat and engine manufacturers. A $16 million annual budget has been established for Grow Boating beginning in 2006. With an initial commitment of three years, this adds up to nearly $50 million!!
NMMA boat manufacturer members are being assessed based on the horsepower of engines they purchase for their boats. Engine manufacturers will invoice NMMA members for the Grow Boating assessment based on the number of engines they ship to boatbuilders.
Engine manufacturers are being assessed on all loose engines shipped to dealers, and will be required, as a condition of NMMA membership, to report their total shipments to dealers on a monthly basis and remit the Grow Boating fee to NMMA for these engine shipments.
Through this assessment, it is expected that between $12 and $14 million will be raised annually to fund the Grow Boating campaign. In the coming months, accessory and trailer manufacturers, marine trade associations, retailers, marinas and boat yards, bankers, insurance providers and other industry segments are expected to announce how they will support the ongoing campaign. We’ll keep you posted in the Discover Boating Update!
Manufacturers and Industry Leaders will gather at the International Boatbuilding Exhibition (IBEX) on October 19-21 in Miami, FL. Along with the presentation of several prestigious awards, Grow Boating will be the main feature of the IBEX Industry Breakfast, being held Friday October 21, from 8:00-10:00.
NMMA President Thom Dammrich will present Grow Boating to the industry. The “progress report” presentation will include key updates including the Dealer Certification Program, revised Discover Boating ads and the unveiling of the new Discover Boating logo. Dammrich will also introduce the governance model for Grow Boating at the breakfast.
Following the Breakfast, there will be a series of Task Force Question and Answer Sessions. Stakeholders are invited to hear brief presentations from Task Force Leaders before getting their program specific questions answered. These sessions will take place from 10AM-1PM. For more information, contact Tadd at (312) 946-6246; stadd@nmma.org.
With a focus on the needs of dealers, various industry leaders will present the Grow Boating Initiative and the Dealer Certification Program to attendees of the annual MRAA Convention, being held November 8-10 in Las Vegas. Attendees will hear from the program’s first round of certified dealers, and gain a better understanding of how they can benefit from becoming certified. For more information, contact Steve Tadd at (312) 946-6246; stadd@nmma.org.
Tadd Takes on New Role as Grow Boating Director at NMMA
NMMA has promoted Steve Tadd to the newly created position of director of Grow Boating to provide internal leadership and support for the industry-wide Grow Boating Initiative.
Tadd will become the primary liaison for NMMA staff members and the six committees of the Grow Boating initiative as well as the industry as a whole. Previously the Discover Boating program director at NMMA, Tadd will leverage his extensive understanding of the industry to enhance communications within all areas of the Grow Boating Initiative, ensuring all parties are knowledgeable on the latest efforts and developments. In addition, Tadd will work with the various industry segments to develop new funding models, develop a governance model and create a long-term strategy for Grow Boating.
For those unfamiliar with the Grow Boating Initiative, NMMA has put together a series of answers for the most frequently asked questions. Click here to find out more about Grow Boating, or visit the website at www.GrowBoating.org.
Grow Boating Director: Steve Tadd, stadd@nmma.org, (312) 946-6246 Marketing Task Force Contact: Carl Blackwell, cblackwell@nmma.org, (312) 946-6277 Sales and Service Task Force Contact: Terry Leitz, tleitz@nmma.org, (312) 946-6212 Standards and Quality Task Force Contact: Tom Marhevko, tmarhevko@nmma.org, (312) 946-6213 Water Access Task Force Contact: Jim Frye, jfrye@nmma.org, (202) 737-9773 Timely and Accurate Sales Statistics Contact: Jim Petru, jpetru@nmma.org, (312) 946-6202 NMMA President: Thom Dammrich, tdammrich@nmma.org, (312) 946-6220 MRAA President: Phil Keeter, pkeeter@mraa.com, (918) 481-6871
Alert to all NMMA Members Gulf Coast Hurricane Relief Efforts Need Boats
The Louisiana Governor's office has requested NMMA's assistance in providing boats for search and rescue efforts. Outside of medical personnel, the biggest need right now is for watercraft. If your company is in a position to help, please contact NMMA. As you can imagine, communications in the area are difficult, so NMMA will put you in touch with Louisiana Fish & Wildlife if you can help.
Please contact Matthew Long or Elinore Boeke at NMMA with a contact name, phone number, and email address. Thank you for your generosity!
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