Telling It Like It Is: Gary & Todd's Official OpenSea Marine Log

The Infamous Consumer Boat Show

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:52:22 -0400

Todd and I, like most of you (both boater and marine business), have attended many a boat show. I got hardcore into the marine industry right out of college after a brief stint doing retail management with Boat U.S. And I gotta tell ya...boat shows are tough. And I did quite a few with my old marine friends. I can only imagine how much tougher they are these days with lower attendance ratings and less activity.

But like with most things marine, the consumer boat show (the single best opportunity all year to "talk" to a boater face-to-face) hasn't evolved all that much for either boater or business. OK, sure...I know. How many better ways can a marine business come up with to show their product at a show? I mean there it is...right? What more do you want me to do? And will a boater really do anything different or low and behold, actually buy something if I do try something radically new?

I always liked the consumer shows the best, but you know what? They were so boooorrrriiiinnnngggg. Back then and even today, when I'm at a show big or small, I see a bunch of "attendants" sitting around in their booth, talking to each other (not boaters), non-engaging, waiting for the world to come to them. And then when the show is over, I read the same storylines..."show attendance low...businesses pulling out...the world is coming to an end...blah, blah, blah." Boaters? Am I right or am I right? Uhhhh...maybe it's just me, but the headline I expected to see was, "inventive boat builder combats recession with clever show engagement campaign, sells 5 boats before show end." Hmmmm....she must have tried something new. Done something different. Not..."business as usual." Apple coined the tagline during the 90's..."Think Different." That statement should be ringing like church bells for every marine business on the planet right now.

So here's different. How about using Twitter at a show? Twitter works best in fast, lighting burst moments that have a definitive start and stop point. Like the start of a show and end of a show. Why? Because of the rapid nature of Tweets. They are ubiquitous. Now take something like Geocaching (Google it and you'll see what it is), combine it with Twitter and you've got a social media driven treasure hunt for tradeshow attendees. All of you boaters reading this, admit it, that would be fun.

First one to find all the treasure (bottle of Star-Brite Wax, new Garmin GPS, a map of Long Island Sound) wins. Prizes should be reasonably "worth it" for that level of effort. Where does Twitter come in? Every 30 minutes or so (depending how intense you want it) a Tweet hits the participants PC or more than likely their hand-held device (iPhone, Crackberry, etc.) with a hint or clue. This of course is after they "follow you" beforehand. That hint or clue guides them to the next step and then they're off to the races.

You know what it costs to run (outside of the prizes of course) an engagement campaign like this? Zippo. Twitter is free and you're already at the show. "Nuff said. When a boater goes home after the show, who do you think he or she is going to remember amidst the quiet solitude that is a "boat show." YOU! If you do something like this that's fresh, engaging, something that says "hey Jill Boater, did I just make it worth your while to be here or what?"

Moral of the story? Shake it up Mr. and Mrs. Marine Business. Get in the s**t. Boaters are out there and they're struggling too. Right guys? They want to work through this as much as you do. But, like everyone else, they are looking for something new too. Different ways of thinking. A new plan. And coming out of this mess...the different ideas always win.

Gary

Social Marketing and the Marine Industry

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:02:28 -0400

Seems logical for my initial and introductory log to focus on the higher level discussion of how the marine industry can save itself with social marketing and how boaters can benefit from that shift. Yes, you heard me right...save the marine industry. You have been reading the news haven't you?

How will you market your business tomorrow? How will you stay afloat next week, month, year? The number of business closings and shutdowns in the marine industry is a clear indication that like the auto industry, the marine industry and its businesses has lost its marketing prowess and moreover, lost that sought after brand connection between themselves and their customers.  In short, no more mojo.

The gap that exists between customer and manufacturer is so vast in fact, that if you asked me to name a "campaign" from any of the larger boat builders or major product manufacturers, I don't know if I could do it. Where's the sizzle man? Where's the beef? Are we really that bad at marketing ourselves to our customers? The NMMA's Discover Boating campaign is really the only campaign that jumps to mind as recognizable.  And that spells doom for marine businesses if you think about how much money is spent annually on more traditional marketing (i.e. ads, PR, etc.) and co-op programs. And the fact that the NMMA is a not-for-profit, well, you know where I'm going with that one. What does any of this have to do with social marketing?

It is time to change. And when I say "change," I don't mean a change in brand color or spending more money on PPC or hiring a marketing consultant to figure it all out for you. These days are different. Massively different. Scary different. There are discussions online about you or your biz right now that you don't even know about.  And I can tell ya, some of it ain't that good. How will you combat that? Prepare for it? Conversely, how will you initiate conversation in the future? There are people out there waiting to hear from you!!!! But not in an ad, not on "the wire." In a blog. In a forum. On this site!!!!

Social marketing is a true savior in that respect and it could not have come at a better time. Psychologically and tactics aside, social marketing allows you to get over yourselves (if you're so bold), 'cause I got news for ya, your customers have gotten over themselves. They're tired of the BS, they don't want to be "sold", they listen to their friends, not you... and most importantly they have become jaded in relation to "companies" altogether. Not everyone mind you, but I'd say the majority. The past year or so has done nothing but drive that mindset home even further.

Social marketing provides a blossoming platform of tools that allow boater and boat business to unite in a manner that is open, honest, heartfelt and trusting. In essence, human.  And when businesses (particularly marine) become more human and less whatever they are today (not sure if there's a name for it), that's when the common boater benefits and everyone becomes happy again. Because as we know, a happy boater is a loyal boater. An unhappy boater will rip you a new one. That's the truth. Reaching the harmonization that I speak of is obviously the tough part. A marine business will have to be willing to give up a lot of itself in order to sacrifice for greater transparency. The boat customer, will then simply need to "buy it" and be willing to accept this new attitude and re-engage at a new level. And they will. In time, they will. Then and only then will the boater have what they have been searching for all along and what they expected to get when they shelled out thousands of dollars for that boat, engine or shiny new radar...a partner in crime. A friend they can trust.

Just one man's perspective, but if leaving the marine industry and then coming back all these years later has shown me one thing, it's that the marine industry hasn't grown up at all. Same as when I left it over a decade ago. But I have news for you, there is a brighter world out there for both the marine business and the boater. And together, magic can happen. An industry can be saved.

GD

Even Better Than The Real Thing

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:26:12 -0400

I am often reminded by my family and even sometimes my peers about the doomsday scenario that awaits us at the hands of the Internet and even more so these days...social networking. "Nobody talks anymore, nobody sees your face, nobody can relate anymore. Nobody communicates." I will admit that for some, this may be true. But I was reminded yet again this past weekend that just when I felt convinced that every boater I knew was sitting in front of a computer instead of sitting on their boat, I was again proven wrong. And man did that make me feel good.

It's been raining cats and dogs all summer in New England, but this past Saturday was just downright beautiful. Clear skies, warm weather, calm seas and everyone was out on the water. An endless cascade of wakes. After a day of tubing with the kids behind our 25' Sea Ray and all around fun on Long Island Sound, my family and I found ourselves back at the marina pool (Brewer's Yacht Yard at Manhasset Bay) for some winding down before steamers and lobster at Louie's (you may remember this restaurant from the movie Meet the Parents). Earlier in the day while getting gas, a nice couple on their 37 Tarton was pulling in and I helped them dock up. Grabbed the bow line, held her tight while the Cap backed it down and eased her in (brings back old memories of being a dockhand). Anyway, as we were packing up from the pool, that same couple comes out and we start talking. They happened to be the primary representatives of the Northeast's local Tarton Group. A group of around 40 boats or so if I heard correct. One thing leads to another and I mention that I'm co-running "this social network" site for the boating industry. They're fascinated about it and we talk some more. And more. And more. By the end of the conversation, they have my card, with the hope from our end that they will soon be members along with their close mates.

Why was this all so intriguing? It was my first face-to-face encounter with a prospective member of our business whom I didn’t already know. My first "offline" conversation with someone who would eventually be posting pictures, videos, and writing their own logs on our site. And you know what? It was a very amazing and unique experience. These were real people. Real souls. And they had a gorgeous sailboat. And they knew what they were doing. A pulse and everything. And there we were…face-to-face. A few feet away from each other. Very surreal. Two worlds colliding in one fell swoop.

Moral of the story is this. Don't forget that social networking is all around you. You have been doing it for years. Some have different terms for it...networking, conversing.....talking. Its offline and online and will never stop happening unless you Kazinsky yourself in some remote part of the world. So the next time someone tells you that society is going down the toilet thanks to Facebook, Twitter, TheOpenSea.com, etc., remind them that these are just new forms of what we as humans have done all our lives from generation to generation: Communicate. And no one has ever found anything wrong with doing that.

GD

Where is the value in Web 2.0?

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:16:44 -0400

We didn’t come up with this topic. A TOS member by the name of George did. Thanks George. He asks, “where is the value in Web 2.0…and where has the offline conversation gone….what happened to a handshake and a hello?” I am paraphrasing slightly George, so excuse that. All great questions, and at the pinnacle of this transgression that is taking place before our eyes with the advent of all these intriguing but sometimes ominous tools.

First off, let me offer this. Social marketing for business as it may, is not the end all-be all and it never should be. The moment we lose touch with being “human” in the real sense, is when the free-fall of society begins. I am a believer in that and I pray it never happens. So please don’t take my introductory blog as coming from that angle. Social dialogue with your customer is a supplement for when the “real” is not achievable at that moment or when it provides a more efficient path to an answer or question that would otherwise be difficult to obtain or institute. Nothing more. Same holds true for a boaters’ dialogue with you. The use of these tools is not and never should be a full-time gig or a replacement for our offline interactions. I mean, don’t we all just want to be on the water?

These “tools” are meant to “bridge” gaps, “connect” paths, and “leverage” the collective knowledge of those around you…in a way that is vastly more convenient than more traditional methods and when all face-to-face methods have been exhausted. But it’s when that convenience is taken to the extreme and becomes more than just a supplement, that what George is defining becomes more of the norm. When technology takes over you. And as a society, we don’t want that. Todd and I don’t want that.

So where is the value in these newer technologies? The value comes when we use these tools for “real” purposes. Not to be poked on Facebook. Not to be Tweeted, but a place to get real answers and move on. Solve a problem. Do your stuff. George is right. Most of us (I’m already there) will get tired of broadcasting our daily lives. I mean at the end of the day…WHO CARES? This is where (plug coming) TheOpenSea.com truly differentiates itself from everything else out there. Todd and I talk often about this being a site where “marine gets done.” Not a site for you to post pictures of you and your buddies wasted in Copper Canyon or to send gifts and hugs to long lost classmates. This site is meant to be a hard-core marine site where a business can reach a customer and a customer can reach a business. And both can mutually benefit each other with the courageousness of our questions and the depth of our answers.   This is the real future of what we’re all talking about, and we’re only in the bottom of the first inning.

So George, I agree with you. Stay in the real world first. Virtual world second. But use both simultaneously in a way that benefits you. This new-fangled stuff ain’t going away. In fact, it will get more intense before it becomes simplified. We at TOS are trying to start that simplification process.

GD

TheOpenSea.com on TV

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:59:43 -0400

So proof yet again, that all sorts of networking is good networking; networking to find out valuable information, learn something new or simply get hooked up by your local TV news station.

So there I am at my son’s second baseball practice of the Fall. I start chatting with a gentleman on the bleachers who also lives in my town (West Hartford, CT). I start filling him in on what I do with TheOpenSea.com and he starts to take an interest. Come to find out that he is a field reporter for the local Fox affiliate in Hartford. Jim Altman is a New York City transplant who finally wanted some face time on TV after being behind the scenes on 20/20 and Saturday Night Live and the local Hartford news-base was his shot.

Sooooo….we start gabbing away and come to find that one of his peers at Fox 61 does a Friday night piece called Rick’s RSS, run by Rick Hancock. Rick is a former weekend anchor now Professor at the University of Connecticut and he runs this weekly piece to call out and promote local businesses who have achieved success on the Web. Perfect! That’s us! We’re successful! Heart starting to race a little now. Gave Jim my card and a couple days later, I get the email. We're in. Video shoot will be this week. But where the heck do we do it?

Todd and I shot the clip at Seaboard Marina which is a local marina just south of Hartford on the Connecticut River in South Glastonbury, CT. Never knew Seaboard Marina was there until we needed to find a place to shoot the video. Todd and I actually ended up talking to the President of the marina, Michael Buenaventura for quite a bit after the shoot. Good guy who like most had stories of woe in the industry. But he also spoke passionately of his marina and his location. “Best striper fishing in the area” he said. I was like, “what?” And after he explained why, it made total sense. He also spoke of the accessibility to Hartford area residents and the deep draft. "Better than driving 40 minutes to the Sound" he said. Todd and I both agreed. And his location was gorgeous. Tucked away in a quiet, quintessential New England town…the drive in reminded me of a Norman Rockwell painting. Local crew was dropping their skulls in for an afternoon row and many were already on their boats getting ready for the coming Labor Day weekend. It was the perfect spot. Thanks Michael for your hospitality.

So long story short, the video piece was very well put together and ran this past Friday. See the link below and check it out. We’re famous! Well, almost. The moral of the story is networking comes in all forms. Online, offline, wherever you can find it and least suspect it. We are pretty proud to have been able to get this airtime and hope it continues. But we didn’t get this “connection” through TheOpenSea.com or through one of the larger more mass social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace. It came the old fashioned way; after work, before bedtime, when the sun was going down…on a little league baseball field.

As Todd stated afterwards…”way to work the little league bleachers."

TheOpenSea.com on Fox TV
http://www.fox61.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=091f1771-2819-4ad0-aea8-83a78933c0f6&src=front

And so winter begins...

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:58:25 -0400

The leaves are falling in New England and that can mean only one thing.

Time to start thinking about spring! Most of you in the south don't have to deal with the nonsense we go through up North. Although I suspect a few of you on the Gulf and in southern Cal are probably northeast or great lake transplants from an era gone by. For those of us that are left, out come the tarps, on goes the shrink wrap, and in goes the Stor-N-Start. Like a friggin' ritual. And once it's all done, we reflect. And after that 5 minutes is over, we auto-start thinking about next boating season again. With the boating winter season comes the viewpoints and expectations of those who boat and those who make boats coming at us in a series of massive waves. And in some cases, tsunami's. But this year, thanks to the recession, it will be different. Marine bizzes (the ones that survived) have some major points to prove and they will take some new steps to make them with more information than you will probably ever need. What is the best way to manage this coming "analysis paralysis?"

Todd and I wonder often about the natural course of information and the opinions of those whom we work with and deal with on a daily basis. Hey, it's part of what we do. We're social networking guys! Where is the best information found? Whose opinions really count? If a new GPS hits the market, who or what in the marine industry is the end-all-be-all of GPS existence? How can I be assured that Joe Smith or Jane Doe at XYZ company are wholly and completely up front with me? Because I know life has been tough on them the past few months, and I know they're trying to sell harder than ever. And rightfully so, they’ve got mouths to feed just like the rest of us.

Thanks to the recession, many marine businesses got their you-know-what's handed to them and are now being forced to rethink how they communicate with boaters, the media, et al. Therefore, how you used to get your daily waves of boating knowledge may now be compromised to some degree. The parameters of marine context have changed. We can no longer rely on the more "traditional" means of product information dissemination and trade-show hand-shakes that we are normally used to. I was recently quoted in an article by Senior Editor Liz Walz over at Boating Industry Magazine about the expectations of boaters for the next few years..

"Remember, boaters don't just boat. They're from all walks of life, they buy non-marine things, they are part of other hobbyist groups, and they will be using social networking in other capacities outside marine. Eventually, they will ask themselves, "Why isn't my dealer using this stuff?" When they ask that question, it's already too late for Joe Dealer.

The point here was that those who barely skirted by these past few months better find better ways to work and communicate with their customer; the boater. And I think they will, which means Joe Boater needs to find better ways to digest what they're dishing. The boater needs to be able to consume the points of views of more people in a shorter period of time, and do it faster and more efficiently than they did before.

In today's world with the Internet this, and digital that, we as boaters and marine folk need to become really good (and I mean really good) at weighing public and private opinion. Goes without saying for everything we do I suppose, but come this winter into spring, the way you consume your boating information will arguably change a little. And as boaters with a slightly more expensive hobby than others, we need to be extra careful and objective when it comes to what we read and hear.

The marine industry is about to change (albeit moderately) around you. If you take anything away from this post, let it be this. Be aware. Be aware of what you hear, see, taste and smell. The logic of the boating business has been altered dramatically over the past year, which means we must all be cautious and even more pragmatic then we as "traditionalists" were before. And also, be aware that there are alternatives to finding the information you need. Lean on your peers opinions more than ever, talk often to your trusted mechanic or local dealer. And use the tools that are available to you. Social networks, forums, mobile apps, etc. Not only will you be better at staying in the know, but you will find yourself consistently one step ahead of the industry as a whole, and come springtime, that'll be a great position to be in.

My best,