Discover Boating’s new agency

With the news this week that Grow Boating, Inc. has selected OLSON as its agency-of-record for the re-launch of the Discover Boating marketing campaign, here’s some more information on the Minneapolis-based marketing firm that will be helping direct the effort to get more people on the water. Read more >>

Our Top 100 reviews begin

As I write this, Matt, Mike and I are sitting in a cabin in northern Minnesota watching the sun go down as we take a break from reviewing our fifth Top 100 application of the day on our fifth day of the review process. Read more >>

Oil spill survey: a closer look

This week the National Marine Manufacturers Association released the results of an online survey of 178 chief executives of member boat, engine and accessory manufacturers on the effects of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on the recreational marine industry.

These numbers were the most widely reported:

– 3 of 5 recreational marine businesses have been affected by the oil spillage.

– Nearly 4 of 5 companies anticipate some effect from the oil spillage on their business through the remainder of the year.

– 68 percent of companies were told that a cancellation was directly due to the oil spillage.

– 76 percent of companies had forecast sales growth in 2010 prior to the oil spillage.

– 70 percent of companies have downwardly revised their 2010 sales projection as a direct result of the oil spillage.

But here’s a look at what else the survey found: Read more »

E12: Ethanol’s back-up plan

With the Environmental Protection Agency soon to decide whether to grant a waiver that would allow fuel containing ethanol blends of up to 15 percent to be used in newer road vehicles, at least one company with a strong interest in the decision has a back-up plan in case the ruling doesn’t go its way. Read more >>

Summer 2010: How’s it going?

An estimated 65,000 to 70,000 people, and 7,000 boats, attended the AquaPalooza 2010 Signature Event near Austin, Texas a couple of weekends ago. Held on Lake Travis, and hosted by Sea Ray Boats and its dealer Sail & Ski Center, this year’s Signature Event was the most well attended ever, proving that despite the down economy, people will still show up if you offer them a good time. Read more >>

Analysts weigh in on the recovery

The year 2010 will represent the low point in new unit sales as a percent of total unit sales for the industry and a recovery in new powerboat unit sales, estimated at 10 percent, should begin in 2011. Read more >>

Online presence: How do boat dealers compare?

Fill in the blanks to this statement: “The boating industry lags behind the _______ industry by ___ months/years.”

We’ve all heard people talk about how far behind our industry is compared to others when it comes to sales this or manufacturing that: You can pretty much fill in the blank there too. So, as I was looking through a list of powersports dealers yesterday that one of our sister magazine’s had compiled for a directory it is putting together, I was interested to see how favorably the boating industry compares when it comes to dealership websites. Read more »

’09 unit sales: Just how bad was it?

We’re wrapping up our annual Market Data Book this week, getting all the pages ready to send off to our printer so the issue can be mailed out at the end of July. As always, there are a lot of pertinent facts and figures. But having worked to help assemble this issue for the last six years, never before have some of the numbers stopped me cold when I first saw them like they did this year. Read more >>

More from Jacobs on Genmar bankruptcy

“I’ve had more sleepless nights between the beginning of last year and until the recent days of resolving this thing than I’ve had in all the rest of my life put together … I’ve never had anything affect so many people’s lives as this did. Until I finally got past that guilt stage, that sense of what I’d done, I found it very difficult to try and focus. Yet I had to every day.” Read more >>

Tax credit ends, home prices drop

Hopefully the timing won’t throw any cold water on whatever sort of recovery is taking place at the moment, but letting the home buyer tax credit expire just before the summer selling season didn’t do the boating industry any favors. Read more >>