Probably. The gear was neon.
Marketing: Are we ok, or do we need help?
- Thread starter Julieofthesea
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Maybe try to get a look at the new stuff and not the outdated video.
As long as no one is acting goofy I might.
I think you will be pleasantly surprised. It is very different from what you critiqued. If you do get the chance to see it, it would be nice to update your post.
I'll end the "highjack" now.
It will probably be a while since PADI isn't very popular here. But, if I walk into a store I'll ask to see the video if I'm waiting for fill.
Lack of time: In that study by the Outdoor Foundation 40% of young adults said they are too busy to enjoy outdoor recreation.
I think this issue has been addressed by the diving industry by reducing the amount of time needed for training. 3 days classes are becoming more prevalent. When dive shops and clubs run trips, they often run week-long trips to resorts, weekend trips in their region or plan activities for an entire day.
In Brockville, Ontario, Tom Scott of Underwhere? Charters runs 6 P.M. trips during the week in the summers to the wrecks and walls in the St. Lawrence. You get one hour of run time on your dive. He does "Newbie Tuesdays" where the trip is most often to a calm 60 foot deep site like the Robert Gaskin wreck. "Tech Wednesdays" will take divers to deep drifts such as the wreck of the J.B. King in 170 feet. If you are later than 60 minutes with a little 5 minute fudge factor for deco, Tom will toss golf balls at you. Divers are able to make the boat right after work, get to the dive site within a few minutes, dive for an hour and get back to the dock and be on the road in 20-30 minutes. This allows many people to squeeze in dives during the week despite family and work pressures. It's incredibly popular.
Maybe what we need in the industry is adequate training time to create skilled and comfortable divers, but then find more opportunities for local diving where divers can get dives in after work or not need to dedicate a whole day or weekend to diving? One morning dive and be home for the spouse and kids by lunch. I realize some areas would lend themselves to this, while other places just couldn't because boat rides are too far out or the drive to a shore dive is just too far. But, maybe shops and clubs could turn diving widows into diving mistresses instead?
I think this issue has been addressed by the diving industry by reducing the amount of time needed for training. 3 days classes are becoming more prevalent. When dive shops and clubs run trips, they often run week-long trips to resorts, weekend trips in their region or plan activities for an entire day.
In Brockville, Ontario, Tom Scott of Underwhere? Charters runs 6 P.M. trips during the week in the summers to the wrecks and walls in the St. Lawrence. You get one hour of run time on your dive. He does "Newbie Tuesdays" where the trip is most often to a calm 60 foot deep site like the Robert Gaskin wreck. "Tech Wednesdays" will take divers to deep drifts such as the wreck of the J.B. King in 170 feet. If you are later than 60 minutes with a little 5 minute fudge factor for deco, Tom will toss golf balls at you. Divers are able to make the boat right after work, get to the dive site within a few minutes, dive for an hour and get back to the dock and be on the road in 20-30 minutes. This allows many people to squeeze in dives during the week despite family and work pressures. It's incredibly popular.
Maybe what we need in the industry is adequate training time to create skilled and comfortable divers, but then find more opportunities for local diving where divers can get dives in after work or not need to dedicate a whole day or weekend to diving? One morning dive and be home for the spouse and kids by lunch. I realize some areas would lend themselves to this, while other places just couldn't because boat rides are too far out or the drive to a shore dive is just too far. But, maybe shops and clubs could turn diving widows into diving mistresses instead?
Trace - you're trying to take YOUR VISION of what scuba diving is... and fit into the available time of people who don't currently want to dive. The way to do this is to discover the potential audience's vision of what scuba diving could be TO THEM... and then market it to them thusly, within the constraints of effective training that yields safe divers.
For instance, when scuba diving was growing like mad... there weren't that many people who dived locally, here in NJ anyway. In fact there are far more now. So when diving was growing like crazy it was mostly vacation divers. By putting the emphasis on local diving and gear purchase, are we innadvertantly scaring more people off than bringing in? (See my post in Basic Scuba Discussion http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...arent-more-people-taking-up-scuba-diving.html)
Whatever the story is, we need to get away from the classic error of trying to tell potential divers (prospects, we coldly call them in the ad business) everything they need to know in order to get interested, trained, be good at diving, buy gear, dive often, locally, for the rest of their lives, upgrading training and gear all along the way... as an expected price of entry. The correct way to motivate people to action is to tell them only what they really need to know in order to be motivated to take particular action at each of the five steps along the buying process...
(1) Awareness: prospects come to know about a product but lack sufficient information about it;
(2) Interest: they try to get more information;
(3) Evaluation: they consider whether the product is beneficial;
(4) Trial: they make the first purchase to determine its worth or usefulness;
(5) Adoption/Rejection: they decide whether to make repeat purchases of the product... or not
So, if someone is not really aware of scuba diving - including people who are "aware" in general of scuba diving's existence... but don't have "top of mind" awareness of scuba diving. The "gee, I never really thought of taking up scuba diving" group - you don't need to hit them over the head with the need for rigorous training, how time intensive the sport is, and how much gear/cost is involved. You merely need to motivate them to move to the "Interest" phase where they will seeking more information. Trying to do more than move them to "Interest" will actually DECREASE the appeal and the number of people who will move to the next phase - it's like going on a first date and talking about getting married, buying a house, and how many kids you want to have. Will scare more people away than attract them.
A good marketing strategy will start with a broader, universal appeal at the awareness phase. For instance, Millenials are very into experiences rather than products, especially experiences they can share with friends. I'm completely making this part up, but positioning scuba diving as something that "you can try with your friends for an experience that you will all always be able to talk about for your whole life" might be sufficient to get them interested in finding out more. I would go as far as not even defining what that experience might consist of... pretty fishies, far off travel, wrecks, caves, under ice, once a year, once a week, or once in a lifetime... let the audience imagine and dream what THEY want to be. We can help them sort that out in the Interest and Evaluation phase...
Etc, etc,...
More details available to anyone who wants to sign a non-disclosure/non-compete agreement...
RJ,
I wasn't saying that is the way to get people interested in diving. My point was that might be how to keep those who are interested and start diving from killing themselves through adequate training and keep their wives from killing them for mentioning the word. That was more about retention.
By the way, I think I know where you might be headed with that conversation you want to have.
I wasn't saying that is the way to get people interested in diving. My point was that might be how to keep those who are interested and start diving from killing themselves through adequate training and keep their wives from killing them for mentioning the word. That was more about retention.
By the way, I think I know where you might be headed with that conversation you want to have.
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