Should Sea Ray still hold Aquapalooza?

The events are what led me into a 320. I had my eye set on a 340 - then at a event - I sat on a owners - 320 and they showed me the boat. That was what sold me on the 320. The events sell boats. A number of people have upgraded as they speak to other owners. That is how my 260 - sold before my 320 deal was done. People had been on it at Sea Ray events and they knew it was a nice boat.
 
To be honest, I'm a little surprised at the topic. As a business manager, my company has had to make many difficult decisions, and, yes, we've had employment, marketing, and other overhead cutbacks/reductions. But we are still trying to sell something and will wisely spend all dollars.

Sea Ray is a business and I am sure that just like any business in these "times", they have gone through a complete rationalization of revenues, expenses, etc...

I would assume that the management team has completed both top down and bottom up analysis of all costs and have deemed this an integral part of the business. If not, they would have cut it just they have had to, unfortunately, lay off many workers. What we must remember is that there are still people employed by Sea Ray and they need jobs. Without marketing events such as Aquapalooza, how else is Sea Ray to advertise that they're still in business? ...and what better audience to advertise to than those who are on the water?

My two cents
 
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If I were running Sea Ray, I stay skinny on every expense that was not directed at selling boats. If I could I double marketing and sales costs and host a Aquaplaoza every month. I'd spend it to get sales and just do it. That is THE ONLY way to assure employment for the rank and file and my shareholders return. The last dollar I had would be spent on getting a prospect to come look at my boats.

Stop selling and you close your own doors. I hear of this all the time, company's in a down cycle slash selling costs and hang onto the most stupid costs that do not produce sales.

Just curious, with all the clamity at SR has any one from the factory calle dyou to see if you were happy with your SR and would you respond to a hot deal from the local dealer if you got factory incentives and financing etc... Not me and I know I'm in their owner data base.

Numb skulls are not selling hard enough. Everyone at SR from the Janitor to the Suits should be on the phone to their customer base asking for business and making commerce happen.
 
Tough business times clean out the weak players. The weak players will not spend money on advertising. People will forget about thier products or not know the advantages of them so the people will not buy. When the ecomony returns to more normal levels the guys who did not advertise will not be able to capitalize on the markets because they will not have had the word out there. Aquapalooza should certainly continue on, perhaps it could be cut back in terms of "free" stuff but it should go on. Once money frees up again there will be a lot of people looking for boats and Sea Ray better have them lined up.
 
Because Aquapalooza is open to all boaters- not just SR owners- I'd think it presents a significant marketing opportunity. It's just another form / medium- of advertising.

I did notice that Marine Max here has eliminated their customer appreciation weekend at Caladesi Island this year, instead having a one-day event at a local State Park. Tough decisions on where to spend the money- attracting new customers, or wining/dining the current ones in the hopes they'll buy a new boat?
 
. . and this is where "customer service" at my local dealer comes into play.

I avoid my local dealer like the plauge. . I never added it up, but in one season I think they broke more on my boat than they fixed.

Driving 20 minutes out of my way one day to browse new boats at that dealer isn't on my list of things to do.

How's that for marketing?
 
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The signature event at Lake Martin, AL has nothing to do with MarineMax. It's Russell Marine who's the Ambassador dealer in that market.
 
fc3 said:
If they hold it, I'll go. It's not a hugely expensive thing. From what I saw here in NJ last year, it was a barge with a mediocre band and a whole lot of boats. Add to that a bunch of tee shirts and that's not a huge cost. Probably the only place they spent big money was in Tennessee where they hired some country singer to perform.

People who think business travel is "fun" need to try it. After a week of getting up at 4 AM, catching a shuttle flight, seeing clients for from 9 to 5, then taking them out to dinner, getting into the hotel at midnight, and starting all over the next day, they might have a different stinking opinion.
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I must be dellusional, I still love business travel after over a hundred nights in hotels last year, with nearly as many the year before. Ive done 10 this year and I keep asking for more...stupid economy.
 
mvoellinger said:
I must be dellusional, I still love business travel after over a hundred nights in hotels last year, with nearly as many the year before. Ive done 10 this year and I keep asking for more...stupid economy.
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You must be delusional. After doing well more than a decade of business travel and lots more than 1,000,000 air miles, the only way my wife gets me near a ##$%^ commercial flight is at gunpoint. ...but then the TSA guys intervene and I escape. Ha!

I haven't had to travel for business since '01 and I couldn't be happier. My wife has been burning off the half-million miles still left in my frequent flyer account, but I'm tempted just to donate them all so she won't use that as a lever to get me into another one of those damn greyhound buses in the sky.

Now, on the other hand, give me a Columbia 400, <long list deleted for brevity> for example, and I'll fly her anywhere.

Best regards,
Frank
 
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pwmarina said:
Sea Ray only hosts the BIG main event - The Signature event
http://www.aquapalooza.com/
All of us dealers host the other smaller, "Sea Ray" sponsored events.
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Now I know why I was charged $50 to attend last year. I was talking to the Sea Ray marketing guy at the NYC boat show and when he heard that, he went a little nuts. Oh well - Sales and Marketing must be in overdrive right now IMO.
 
If they hold it, I'll go.
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Frank, are you going to go in your Searay this year?

Aquapalooza is just one big commercial for the boating lifestyle and more specifically, Searay "living." It amounts to several huge in-water boat shows. Some would say it's "internal marketing" since attendees are already boaters - but I believe that internal marketing is one of the most important forms of marketing. Never alienate your customers.
 
comsnark said:
. . and this is where "customer service" at my local dealer comes into play.

I avoid my local dealer like the plauge. . I never added it up, but in one season I think they broke more on my boat than they fixed.

Driving 20 minutes out of my way one day to browse new boats at that dealer isn't on my list of things to do.

How's that for marketing?
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Now I love to "window shop" and dream. The trouble with dealers and this I guess goes with boats too. If you own a 2008 anything, they don't want to know ya. If dealers kept some parts around and don't give you the dirtbag feeling because you have an older model of what they sell, more people would get involved there. How many time have I seen a post here saying NOT to go to the dealer for a part because of a 400% mark up. They voluntarily send away buisness that way. On another thread sombody mentioned about an $18.00 SPARK PLUG!
 
skolbe said:
- not all marketing expenditures are good - sponsoring a NASCAR team may not have an ROI.
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I agree with most of the points in this thread. The above however, is not one of them.

Ask the man in charge of recruiting for our Armed Forces what the biggest ROI has been for him in the last 5-7 years. He will not hesitate.

As far as the auto makers, ever hear the phrase "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday"? Why did Toyota jump in with both feet?

As far as Sea Ray & the annual events go... I say its a no brainer. Hell I'll bet they get more good press than the same money would buy with more traditional spending methods.
 
It has already been said but I will say it again. The local dealers pay for Aquapaloooza not Sea Ray. I talked to the guy that owns my local dealership and he said all he got was some t-shirts and other small things. He paid for everything else.

I wish there were some boats at mine that would tempt me to upgrade but as it was, mine was the biggest there. They should pay me to go. :)
 
I've gone to them, and will go to them. They are fun, builds a stronger boating community, and I get to see a lot of different sea rays in one day.

It's a relatively cheap effective seller. It's not "advertising", it's much better than that. There is no better advertising than word of mouth and when you have an owner showing you his baby at a get together, no salesman/woman can compete with that.
 
One of our local boat dealers goes to events because it spurs used boat sales. People see the asking price of a new boat and they come around later to look for brokered boats. Boats are starting to sell again in our market. Hope it lasts but it's too soon to say how long the recovery will take. There is still a lot of strong medicine to swallow before things fully recover. I just bought a new Acura and the dealer was anxious to buy my 2007 TL Type S. He told me the used cars are selling better than the new ones and he did not have an S on his lot.
 
Pakmule said:
I wish there were some boats at mine that would tempt me to upgrade but as it was, mine was the biggest there. They should pay me to go. :)
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A 310 is the biggest boat at your local aquapalooza?!?!? Wow, you need to head to Algonac Michigan. We usually go all the way to the 600 SD.
 
mwph said:
I agree with most of the points in this thread. The above however, is not one of them.

Ask the man in charge of recruiting for our Armed Forces what the biggest ROI has been for him in the last 5-7 years. He will not hesitate.

As far as the auto makers, ever hear the phrase "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday"? Why did Toyota jump in with both feet?

As far as Sea Ray & the annual events go... I say its a no brainer. Hell I'll bet they get more good press than the same money would buy with more traditional spending methods.
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The sponsorship in and of itself - is not enough - the advertising during NASCAR race is what also makes the difference. Of course if they win - that will result in publicity.
 
Im dont want to sound like a NASCAR junkie but, forget the sales side of things. Sponsoring teams has a huge ROI when it comes to R&D. A large portion of what they used to spend on R&D they now give to a few select teams which in turn return a wealth of information back to the mfgs. This is the same reason Goodyear fights tooth & nail to keep any other tire manufacturer out of the game.

These types of "investments" (Aquapalooza included), pay back far beyond what we see on the surface.
 
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