Marketing: Are we ok, or do we need help?

[RJP]

I'm sure we need to do something to make scuba more visible and more appealing across the board.

No matter how good a national or international marketing campaign for diving is, it will founder if the experience the customer has with shops and charters is negative.

You do raise a good point, but do you think the success of the MilkPEP campaign (or most any campaign) is dependent upon the business practices and attitudes of the people employed on the retail front lines? I've never worked on a campaign where people said "How are we gonna sell more beer -- everyone knows that bartenders and liquor store employees are sort of dopey, annoying people" or "Who's gonna buy lottery tickets - no one wants to shop in a convenience store." People don't buy billions of gallons of Coke, Pepsi, etc because they like the pleasant attitudes of fas-food servers and grocery-store cashiers. (I know these are very different cases, and LDS's should be more adept at customer service, but the point is that in any line of business, high demand for a product makes a lot of other business problems go away, while making the other problems go away will NOT create higher demand.)

If there were to be an effective campaign to market scuba, the creation of demand - and itch the consumer wants to scratch - will drive people to go find a different shop or put up with the BS of a convenient shop because they want to dive so damn badly...

 

[Trace Malinowski]

Lynne's post just gave me that "Ah-ha!" moment about this entire thread.

After 33 years in the diving industry, growing up at PDIC HQ, sitting on 5 industry-insider boards including the RSTC and WRSTC, holding over 100 certifications from almost every agency except SSI and IDEA, and being a dive shop patron more times than I can count, I believe the answer that you seek is ...

YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID. And, the diving industry is on the short bus.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

You talk about a "dedicated community of explorer types" and "suggest it is best if we keep it that way." That's a lovely thought, but don't let the way you'd like the world to see you cloud what the world might actually want to see in scuba diving. Bear in mind, this discussion is about what the scuba industry can do to help itself grow and expand. It's not about how current customers can hold on to some irrationally romanticized opinion of themselves. Hell, I'd bet that part of the problem the scuba "industry" faces is that it misguidedly zigged down the "adventure/explorer" route when it should have zagged down the "serenely commune with nature" route.

I think you are reading some very wrong meaning into my use of the word "explorer types." I was not using the term to refer to testosterone driven underwater Rambos that we occasionally see on dive boats who dive wearing Rambo knives. Marketing scuba industry to those would cause it to shrink IMHO because the demographic for the "Extreme-sports" crowd is lesser in age and therefore poorer.

This is why instead of using the word "adrenaline" or "extreme-sports" in diving, I prefer a more intellectual term, "Explorer." The word appeals to a slightly older demographic and has full potential to accommodate all of your "zen-crowd" seeking inner exploration or peace. The same word also has appeal to those who love to see themselves as doing something intelligent / academic. People who seek Scuba specialties that sound like they were University courses "PADI Shark Conservationist" or "PSAI Underwater Archeology" etc.

Bear in mind, this discussion is about what the scuba industry can do to help itself grow and expand.

OMG I had no idea.

 

[RJP]

I think you are reading some very wrong meaning into my use of the word "explorer types." I was not using the term to refer to testosterone driven underwater Rambos that we occasionally see on dive boats who dive wearing Rambo knives. Marketing scuba industry to those would cause it to shrink IMHO because the demographic for the "Extreme-sports" crowd is lesser in age and therefore poorer.

This is why instead of using the word "adrenaline" or "extreme-sports" in diving, I prefer a more intellectual term, "Explorer." The word appeals to a slightly older demographic and has full potential to accommodate all of your "zen-crowd" seeking inner exploration or peace. The same word also has appeal to those who love to see themselves as doing something intelligent / academic. People who seek Scuba specialties that sound like they were University courses "PADI Shark Conservationist" or "PSAI Underwater Archeology" etc.

Agreed - but the problem with any sort of communications is that "words mean things" and explorer means "a person who investigates unknown regions" and an awful lot of people are very afraid of the unknown. So, positioning scuba as being "for explorers" will severely limit the potential target audience.

Wasn't trying to bust your chops, merely pointing out that any selection of words might work for some people, but be an absolute turn-off for others. To wit PADI's "Adventures in Diving" might turn off people who are looking for an easy, relaxing hobby rather than "an adventure."

 

[TSandM]

I agree that sufficient demand will overcome obstacles in fulfillment. But my other experience is with horseback riding, which has a similarly limited demographic and is far more expensive than diving. Tack shops are almost without exception cheerful, attractive places, and customers are welcomed. Displays are done with an eye to making goods attractive, and there is often a lot of animated conversation between store staff and customers (and among the customers!).

Contrast this with the typical dive shop, where little effort has been made to make the shop attractive (or sometimes even clean and orderly). Inventory is frequently small and rarely presented with any attention to asthetics. Honestly, a lot of shops aren't even very well lit!

It occurs to me, as I am typing this, to make a very sexist observation . . . diving is still predominately a male sport, although women represent a growing proportion of divers. Riding is so overwhelmingly female as to make the guys feel odd. Women think about lighting, color, cheerfulness, and building community. (Shoot, we're almost always the only people bringing food on a dive boat!) Women run tack shops and make them inviting. Men run dive shops, and often don't . . .

 

[scubamarketing]

 

[DiveNav]

.....And further at issue is that today's 25yr old - Gen Y, Millenial, whatever you want to call them - are different 25yr olds than Baby Boomer 25yr olds were when they were 25. They want different things, they want them in a different way, and ........

....they all have smartphones / tablets

.........Interestingly, there is a key insight about what Millennials seek that scuba could be well-positioned to satisfy. If only there was an organization in "the industry" with the vision to hire someone who knows what that is...

How much would be to hire your?

Alberto (aka eDiver)

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Agreed - but the problem with any sort of communications is that "words mean things" and explorer means "a person who investigates unknown regions" and an awful lot of people are very afraid of the unknown. So, positioning scuba as being "for explorers" will severely limit the potential target audience.

Wasn't trying to bust your chops, merely pointing out that any selection of words might work for some people, but be an absolute turn-off for others. To wit PADI's "Adventures in Diving" might turn off people who are looking for an easy, relaxing hobby rather than "an adventure."

Yeah you'll never get the Hobbit crowds. Unless they have Took blood in them.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

Strangely, I am so proud of myself for not having any idea what Jim Lapenta just said.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

You need to expand your literary boundaries my friend. Tolkien is all I'm going to say.