Small Spend Yields Big Results Through Multi-Channel Event Marketing
Within a four week period Adreka developed and implemented a full marketing and media campaign that took the Georgia International Boat Show from Concept to Deployment. Adreka’s marketing campaign reached millions of people within Georgia and surrounding states. Thousands of affluent and intrigued luxury and recreational boat buyers flocked to Lake Lanier for The Georgia International Boat Show three day event.
The Situation: A Sinking Marketplace
According to the December issue of the Monthly Shipment Report (MSR) released by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), powerboat wholesale shipments have declined 13% since 2007 and luxury good sales are continuing to decline as much as 23-35%. The decline in sales is partly due to the slowed economy as well as the lower than average lake levels that plaque watercraft usage in Georgia.
Seeing the declines in their sales, The Georgia Boat Row (GBR), an association of 14 local boat dealers residing on a two mile stretch of Holiday Road in Buford, GA, realized they needed to pool their resources together in order to promote their local market. Combined, the GBR had over $75,000,000 in inventory representing the top 50 boating manufacturers, making them the largest concentration and representation of watercraft within the southeast. The opportunities were clear, but the method to reach the marketplace was not.
The Approach: Setting Sail
Innovative. Bold. Scientific. Adreka set out to create a marketing campaign that best represented the multiple demographics, given the variety of price points and watercraft available. Based on consumer research, findings indicated that like automobile sales, boat purchasers are very price sensitive. However, consumers were more impulsive in making boat purchases and boat financing terms can be longer than auto financing, making the overall monthly payments seemingly lower versus its auto counterpart. Additional consumer research from over a dozen databases not only revealed the geographic and demographic data of the GBR’s perfect customer, but also the most cost effective media networks to deliver their message. The research provided the information needed to create the necessary media schedules to best reach the targeted consumer. Additionally, Adreka’s media tracking technology was implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of both traditional (TV, Radio, Print) and interactive (Internet, Mobile, Blogs) marketing.
The Result: Full Speed Ahead
Over a two week period, the GBRA reached over 1.3 Million households, aired over 4,000 TV commercials on 28 networks, 78 radio spots, 100 IP radio spots, 154 blogs, and generated over 1,800 potential customers downloading or phoning in for directions to the 3 day event.
Using Adreka’s media platform the GBRA received 1600% more media placements than originally contracted. The effectiveness of the spots were amplified using a variety of tracking methodology that was inclusive in Adreka’s offering.
The Bottom line: Initially, the Georgia International Boat Show acted as a catalyst in kick starting growth for a declining industry and opening a pipeline of sales that will sell millions of dollars in boating inventory for years to come.
For More Information Please Contact John Cataldi
John Cataldi | Media ROI Evangelist | Adreka
o 678-804-7144
m 404.849.0065
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