James Nolan Associates Inc.

The recent decision by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) to redirect most of the funds allocated to the Grow Boating Initiative (GBI) has created a great deal of discussion.   The rationale for this decision was given in a letter dated October 16 sent by Thom Dammrich, President, NMMA to NMMA boat and engine manufacturer members in which he said “Grow Boating receipts from the engine assessment were declining due to declining industry sales.  Grow Boating receipts for 2009 were expected to be $7.5 million – well below the nearly $12 million spent annually in the first three years of this effort.  There was concern that this level of spending was below the minimum our marketing experts felt was needed to continue our momentum.  It was determined the industry would be better served by redirecting this reduced assessments toward a combination of efforts designed to immediately increase dealer sales while maintaining some momentum of the Discover Boating Campaign through a few core programs.”

The practical implication of this is that 85% of the assessments will be redirect to manufacturer-specific marketing efforts to assist dealers in moving products while the remaining 15% will be invested in the public relations program, support of DiscoverBoating.com, interactive and online efforts, Marine Industry Dealer Certification plus other core programs.  Only the television advertising has been cancelled and if you ask Thom Dammrich about the implications of this he says “Grow Boating is more than just a 30-second commercial.  The ads are important but so are the other elements of the campaign which will keep spreading the message.” There is some evidence that the industry will step up to help spread the message as is evidenced by the Boats.com and YachtWorld.com recent announcement that they have donated 1 million banner advertising impressions per month to Discover Boating.