Chicago, IL - Discover Boating recently unveiled its new creative and 2007 marketing campaign strategies during the Grow Boating All-Industry Update meeting in Miami, before a standing room-only crowd of more than 500 industry stakeholders and marine media.
This year’s campaign kicks off beginning the first week of March and runs through the Memorial Day holiday, largely considered the official start of boating season. The media mix remains relatively steady, incorporating national cable, magazine and internet advertising, but with a few new twists on the successful components of 2006—including new television, print and online creative executions, increased frequency and more value-added opportunities.
Several value-added vignettes, produced at no additional cost to Discover Boating, were negotiated along with the cable television media buy. They include: A “Best Boating for Families” segment on the National Geographic Channel; CMT’s “Top 20 Countdown” filmed at the Miami International Boat Show; and customized Discover Boating messages based on local weather conditions courtesy of The Weather Channel.
In print, Discover Boating will likewise use the “Dogs” theme to draw attention to boating messages, along with two additional ads called “Kids” and “Generations,” which reinforce the philosophy “Life’s Better on a Boat.” The Discover Boating print campaign will run prominently in the March through May editions of 11 major magazines: Popular Science; Popular Mechanics; Family Handyman; Men’s Journal; Golf, Field & Stream; Outdoor Life; Motor Trend; Family Circle; National Geographic Traveler; and Real Simple Travel.
In addition to the ads, 18 million business reply cards encouraging consumers to request a free copy of the “Get Started in Boating” DVD were negotiated as part of the print campaign at no cost, a total value of approximately $475,000. These cards, found in the May editions of several national publications, will help Discover Boating not only drive, but also track consumer leads.
Internet advertising is also ramping up this year, with more than 180 million banner ad placements being served on more than 400 websites, including Weather.com, Discovery.com, CNN.com and AOL.com. Keyword advertising on search engines like Google, Yahoo! and MSN will continue year-round in 2007, a significant change from the 2006 internet strategy. Discover Boating will also advertise during online broadcasts of the NCAA Basketball Tournament in mid-March. Last year, the NCAA online broadcast was the largest live video-streamed event in history, with more than 30 million individual video streams recorded. In 2007, that number is expected to grow even larger and surpass the 2006 total.
Negotiated as another value-added bonus, the Boat Selector Tool—one of DiscoverBoating.com’s most popular features—will be imbedded in the editorial sections of a handful of popular websites, including AccuWeather.com, ESPNOutdoors.com, OutdoorLife.com and Weather.com. This piece alone is expected to create more than five million consumer impressions for Discover Boating in 2007.
For more information on the Discover Boating advertising campaign, visit GrowBoating.org or contact Carl Blackwell at (312) 946-6277.
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