Lets see your boat/yacht & tell us about you.

Low Rider 48' Ocean Yacht

This should cause some discussion! This occured at the marina across the street from our office on the 18th of March. The owner went to bed on board at midnight and had to swim off the boat at 2am.

Follow-up on Ocean Low-Rider

I thought the owner might be mad when we started running this ad in national and regional publications only a week after his new boat sunk, but he told my kids that as soon as he has a boat that floats he is going to buy a VoiceAlarm system.

Rick,

Why don't you post your display ad and the picture of your "Low Rider" under the "Technical Discussion Forum" for prospective customers to see.

Also, post these shots along with some more information about VoiceAlarm under a new thread in the General Discussion Forum for others to see. Use a press release format or similar lay-out.

That's got to be one of the most effective display ads I've seen in years. Nice job!

Carl

Dave,

Nice air!!! If you were any higher, you'de be communicating with deceased relatives!

(By the way, were these "trophy wives"? )

Carl

Which Ad is More Effective

Carl,

Now which do you think is more effective?

Rick

Then I'd have to say... you won the grand prize! If ever I'm reincarnated... I wanna come back as you!

Rick,

I honestly think the Low Rider ad is a more effective, however there is no disputing the fact that "sex sells". No doubt, the "lines" on that model catch a consumer's eye, but a boaters worst nightmare is realized in the Low Rider ad.

There are two primary motivators behind purchasing decisions... Fear and Pleasure. The Low Rider clearly demonstrates the need without further review. On the other hand, the girl demonstrates another type of need...

That being said... a few years ago I owned a company that was the leading manufacturer of aftermarket components for Sea Doo watercraft. The magazines we advertised in were plagued with scantilly clad women promoting products. There were a number of complaints by readers about this.

It was my belief at the time, that if a product was truly superior, cutting edge, ahead of its time, etc... you should not need a bare naked lady to sell it. We decided to do a test...

I had a two-page full color display ad rendered. It featured a very sexy, "robotic" woman I had commissioned. The heading for the ad read... "Technology So Advanced, We Don't Need A Babe In A Bikini... But Just In Case, Here's Ours!"

Well... the phones lit-up when that ad released! Moral of the story... don't take my advice with advertising!

I'm not sure how this photo will come out, as I'm scanning it from a transparency taken at the original photo shoot. But this was...

K.I.W.A. (Kind of Intelligent Woman Android)

Marine Advertising

Our company, Marine Marketing, is 21 years old this year and has been using the "sex sells in the marine industry" for all of those 21 years. Our parent corporation has a fair size advertising department at our disposal and they measure effectiveness of each advertising campaign. The Low Rider ad is our first departure from "sex sells" in all of those years. Personally (from a business standpoint), I don't like the constant 21 years of selling marine products with sex, but it is very difficult to argue with the incredible success of those ads.

When we placed the Low Rider ad we received e-mails, letters, and phone calls from customers, general readership, publishers, editors, and even the mechanical layout guys at one publication. All of this input was negative. Everyone wanted to see the next "VoiceAlarm Girl". In total we received about 30 "complaints" in two weeks about the change of theme from skin to boats. To give you a gauge, in 21 years of using skin we received only 5 complaints. All of which we suspect came from 300# whales with the notable exception of a recent complaint from "Irv the Liquidator".

We have actually had publishers tell us that we are making a mistake changing this theme in publications whose demographics show 95% to 98% male readership with an average age of about 45. They have implied, and stated, that our ads bolster their circulation.

We have been contacted by doctoral candidates doing their thesis on the effectiveness of such advertising in male dominated industries and have been provided the resulting papers showing very strong physchological ties between sex and boating (as well as the same ties to drinking beer and sports in general). The consensus of educated opinion is that it works very effectively in sales, and the worst case scenerio is that it creates incredible name recognition.

Although advertising certainly plays a part in our success with the VoiceAlarm product line, one must consider that quality and features are the propellant that have made the product the best selling marine alarm system in the world with 119 dealers and distributors in 28 countries. This accomplishment took only 7 months from the release of the product last August.

Dave,

I agree with your comments.

The Low Rider ad made me stop and read the content and it immediately conveyed the problem and how the product addressed the same. In contrast to the girl laced with lines, I thought it was an ad for a line/rope manufactuer and would have skipped over it.

My .03 cents. (I'm upping Dave's bid!)

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program...

Maybe we can just get the girl on the half sunk boat and get the best of all world's! She can be the distraught owner.

Or better yet, you could put the girl on the boat next to it and the poor sad owner of the sunk boat on his. Mesage: keep your boat afloat and get the hot babe.

Problem -> Solution -> Bonus babe!

I'm afraid to ask how that boat sunk in the first place.

46 Ocean

My wife & I purchased our '83 Ocean 46 SS 3 yrs ago in Ft Lauderdale. After complete mechanical rebuilds and minor upgrades we ran it home to Suagatuck, Mi. Went via the Tenn-Tom and Mississippi to the Illinois and Lake Michigan. Have spent the last 3 yrs upgrading every system and refitting the whole interior. Heres our picture...
Steve & Tami

Hi Steve!

Welcome aboard! So... you took an "Ocean" up "river", huh?

I've always travelled in the opposite direction, in other words... I purchase fresh water boats up in your neck of the woods and cruise home to Lauderdale.

It's absolutely amazing... the condition of fresh water boats after 5 or 10 years. Still like brand new! In contrast to a boat that's been in salt water... looks like a grandmother in its teenage years!

Be sure to post some pictures of your Ocean in the "Ocean Forums". I'm sure in time, you'll meet fellow Ocean owners who'd like to talk to you about your refit/update.

Glad to have you onboard.

Carl

46 Ocean

Carl

That's right an Ocean up River! I will post some pics of the boat once I finnish up this spring. My wife & I have done the majority of our own work. We had all the exterior woodwork whited out except the covering boards and cockpit floor. Have removed all wiring from the panel and replaced all with new, all new plumbing, wall paper, carpet, removed all the headliner replaced all the old light fixtures with new flush mount low volt halogens, new flat screen TV, Bose surround sound with 4 zone outputs for independant volume in salon, bridge, cockpit and all staterooms. It has been more of a project than we anticipated BUT has been really fun and rewarding to do your own vessel YOUR way..

Steve & Tami

Hey Steve,

I feel for ya , bro! We've done the same on the Broward and enjoyed every minute of it, with the exception of "whiting-out" the tow rail. I never want to do that again! Sand-prime, sand-prime, repeat, repeat, etc, etc. The old toe-rails were varnished and while it gives the boat a classic look, it was becoming a pain to sand & varnish every year. We finally decided to update the look of the boat with painted rails, but a year later... the wood "bleeds" in a couple of areas. Now we've got to do it all over again! Kind of defeated the purpose.

Now... don't get me started on fighting the aluminum blisters on the hull near the toe-rail!

Ahhh... for the love of boating. Work 12 hours, cruise 2 hours.

Carl