NMMA’S Grow Boating Changes Made to Support Industry

NMMA’s recent decision to make changes to Grow Boating for 2009 were in the best interests of the industry, said Sail America Board Member Sally Helme.

Helme, who chairs Sail America’s marketing committee and is Sail America’s representative on the Grow Boating Marketing Committee, reported that current economic conditions led NMMA to announce that 85 percent of the Grow Boating assessments incurred by boatbuilders will be redirected back to boatbuilders to help them assist dealers in making sales at the retail level. The remaining 15 percent of the assessment will fund essential Grow Boating initiatives.

Helme wrote, “The decision to make these changes came about because it's clear that current market conditions will yield greatly reduced Grow Boating assessments in 2009, which would make it very difficult to produce an effective national Discover Boating advertising campaign similar to the highly successful campaigns of 2006-2008. It's also clear that what the industry needs now is help moving product at the dealer level.”

“The goal for Discover Boating in '09 is to maintain a base level of our industry-wide ‘missionary work’ of increasing awareness about boating, while shifting most of the available resources towards squeezing the bottom of the purchase funnel and moving boats,” said Helme. “Please be assured that Sail America's Marketing Committee will continue to work closely with Carl Blackwell and his team at NMMA to maximize sailing's presence and profile in all the 2009 Discover Boating efforts, regardless.”

In a recent “open letter” to the industry, NMMA President Thom Dammrich said industry reaction to the NMMA move has been overwhelmingly positive; but he said some have misinterpreted the decision to mean the end of the Discover Boating campaign, which is not the case.

In his industry letter, Dammrich said, “We won’t be advertising in 2009, but we will be spreading the message of the positive benefits of the boating lifestyle nationally though our PR efforts, interactive marketing and DiscoverBoating.com, and will continue to support and grow product certification, dealership certification and our focus on improving water access. Assuming we see some improvement in the boating marketplace in the next nine months, we will start collecting 100 percent of the engine assessments paid by boatbuilders again next summer so we can be ready with a new national advertising campaign for 2010. We are adjusting in this economy the same way you are adjusting in this economy: We’re doing the best we can to grow interest in boating and help sell boats with the funds we have available.”

Helme asks that if any Sail America members have further questions about what’s happening with Grow Boating and Discover Boating, to please contact her at 401-845-5105.

Go Back