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

[WestNCDiver]

What is your website address?

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DEMA needs to just go away, so the manufacturers can concentrate on the local shows. The local shows need to be bigger, on par with BTS and OWU. The public will not bail DEMA out, for the simple reason that it's hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. I go to DEMA with a different game face than I do at a consumer show. I look at badge color at DEMA, because I don't want to give wholesale prices to retail customers. I don't want to have to ship as much wholesale material as I do retail material. At BTS or OWU, I am prepared for the retail customer with a few pieces of wholesale material. If you don't know who you are dealing with, the wrong person gets the wrong info.

DEMA needs to be 4 days long. I do far more business at the TDI (used to be RBW) tech party, the Diver's Direct party, the HOG/EDGE whatever you call it (it goes beyond party, but stops somewhere short of jail) than I do on the show floor. Without 4 days, I wouldn't know which party to go to.

Yeah, I hear and agree with you Wookie. I do think though there is still a huge amount of value in the Dema name and what it represents, but just feel its been resting on its laurels for too long, been slow to adapt to the rapid market changes and doesn't seem to understand the market very well anymore.

That said, I think it still has a place and a role to play, but something has to change, if it thinks it can continue on the present path it will just get smaller and smaller and eventually disappear, I hope that doesnt happen but the 2007/8 crash changed the recreational scuba market dramatically, probably forever, theres few, if any players who are still here today who can say the crash didnt hurt them, we lost a massive slice of our market and it will take decades to rebuild it, and without taking the public into our confidence, making them an all inclusive part of what we do, giving them the tools and the platforms and the opportunities to interact with their choices of gear manufacturer, resort operators, training agencies, holiday destinations etc, etc, I am not sure we will ever do it.

 

[SeaHorse81]

DEMA needs to just go away, so the manufacturers can concentrate on the local shows.

How might it work if all of you who are so disenchanted with DEMA simply stopped going, and did focus on the local consumer shows that get you a better return for less expense anyway?

I still don't get how a show that excludes consumers is a good idea. Seems counter-intuitive.

 

[Doppler]

Have just arrived home after three weeks in Europe. While there, visited <me mum> but also attended two dive-related shows: one in Paris and the other in Dusseldorf. My feeling is that North American shows (DEMA in particular but several consumer shows too) have it all wrong. We have so much to learn if we want to get things back on their feet here.

Observations from Europe.

Stacks of punters... several times at BOOT it was tough to move against the flow of people there were so many.
Younger crowd... I am used to seeing folks my age and only slightly younger at dive shows. The average punter in France and Germany looked to be mid-thirties, was well-dressed (none of that bag of **** tied in the middle with string look that prevails at many American crowds), asked questions and wrote things down, and obviously had some disposable income because they were BUYING STUFF! Yes, imagine, a show that also serves as a market were money and goods are exchanged! ALSO, both events were family affairs with activities for kids to enjoy.

Fully half the exhibitions were for travel and travel-related products and in-bound operators from half-way around the world added seasoning to "local" dive operations.

The shows were both fun to be at. Hard work, but fun.

Now, I am looking forward to TekDiveUSA this spring and EuroTek this fall... I honestly believe that this type of show has some promise but is not a panacea.

And DEMA is unlikely to change. It is too steeped in its own bull****. Sadly, things have become so bad that perhaps the only way to get DEMA to listen is to stop attending. I have recommended to the dive companies that I consult for to take the money they would have wasted on the Vegas show and invest it in different tactics.

 

[clint@uniquescuba.com]

Is it bashing when you point out the obvious? I've been accused of being a DEMA basher. I would wager they've done more to try and damage ScubaBoard than any competitor we might have.

The only other person trying to do anything is Gene Muchanski and his Dive Industry Association.

If I were to say "The Houston Texans are Very Bad" would I be bashing them?... or stating the obvious? Like you say Pete, pointing out the obvious is not bashing

 

[The Chairman]

OK, you don't like the Texans. Do you go out of your way to misrepresent them? It's one thing to point out a flaw in any organization. It's quite another to make an obsession out of besmirching that organization at every opportunity and often over nothing worth even commenting on. Me? I don't like DEMA. I don't like the "Good ol' Boys" network it represents. I don't like that conflicts of interests are embraced and encouraged within their BoD. There are specific things I don't like about them, but I restrict my comments to specifically those items. I don't find fault with their name and I even applaud the DEMA show. Not that it's perfect, but it's the best we have at the moment. i have even pointed it out when I thought people were being disingenuous about their opposition to DEMA. There's no malice since I don't wish DEMA harm: I just wish them different.

If I were to say "The Houston Texans are Very Bad" would I be bashing them?... or stating the obvious? Like you say Pete, pointing out the obvious is not bashing

 

[HowardE]

I still don't get how a show that excludes consumers is a good idea. Seems counter-intuitive.

That is what most people call a "Trade Show"

It's open only to those who are "In the trade"

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

OK, you don't like the Texans. Do you go out of your way to misrepresent them? It's one thing to point out a flaw in any organization. It's quite another to make an obsession out of besmirching that organization at every opportunity and often over nothing worth even commenting on. Me? I don't like DEMA. I don't like the "Good ol' Boys" network it represents. I don't like that conflicts of interests are embraced and encouraged within their BoD. There are specific things I don't like about them, but I restrict my comments to specifically those items. I don't find fault with their name and I even applaud the DEMA show. Not that it's perfect, but it's the best we have at the moment. i have even pointed it out when I thought people were being disingenuous about their opposition to DEMA. There's no malice since I don't wish DEMA harm: I just wish them different.

I am kind of curious about the "good 'ol boy" network and what they do specifically that people feel there is cronyism there. Do they exclude manufacturers that are in competition with the big boys?
I had an interest at one time to possibly get involved with the show to promote the Freedom Plate, but after years of selling them locally, then over the internet, I got a chance to see what the market was and who was interested. I decided that the DEMA show wouldn't do me any good because dive shops and "the insider trade" industry wouldn't have any part of it. If it was open to the public then I would probably consider it because I could sell directly to the public and do a show and tell seminar right at the booth, and I could have show specials if customers bought then and there.
I'm still considering the Long Beach show since it is a consumer show.
The small regional shows are much better for a little guy like me.

 

[The Chairman]

I am kind of curious about the "good 'ol boy" network and what they do specifically that people feel there is cronyism there.

Let's start another thread in the B2B forum for that.

 

[Julieofthesea]

Content Marketing is the Key

Without getting all Tony-Robbins on everyone, here’s how I see it. The scuba industry hasn’t kept up with how consumers are buying these days. In the past our customers would digest whatever we put out. An ad would say… Buy This. It’s The Best. An you would buy it. And that worked. Then.

These days, with the resources available on the Internet, buyers want to learn and research every purchase. Many times a consumer arrives at a store knowing more than the fella behind the counter.

Companies should be the resource of information.




Companies need to switch their resources and start churning out content. The content needs to be useful and free. Your scuba business website needs to be a valuable information resource for your customers. This is different than having a “brochure style” website. I’m talking about honest problem-solving content.

When companies can demonstrate they understand the customer’s problems by being useful, people will trust enough to buy. When companies make themselves known and liked, people will trust enough to buy.

Luckily, it’s getting easier for companies to use media to become known, liked and trusted.

Just like Frank and Mark (and others) have shared with us (via the media of scubaboard) what they think about marketing and owning a scuba business, we have learned to like and trust them.

Every scuba business owner needs to be doing the same thing -- and while the most obvious tool is the company website-- social media, blogging, email marketing, podcasting, videos are other media platforms.

Consumers won’t believe you if you simply tell them you’re great. Pick a platform and demonstrate your expertise. Provide useful content to pull strangers over from thinking about being a customer to actually BEING a customer.

Are you wondering what I mean about content? A dive store owner can think about this… a prospective student, has tons of questions about learning to dive. Won’t my ears hurt? Is this safe? What if I wear glasses? If someone asks these question on Google, will your page be an option? If they are already on your webpage, is their a place to ask these common questions? Do you have a place in your marketing for the buyer who is thinking, but not ready to talk to a sales person? How about an ebook called “Every Question You Ever Had About Learning to Dive" (As a by-product, this is great for SEO)

This "UtilitarianismMarketing" is a way of thinking about strengthening customer relationships. One great way to be of use to your customers is to entertain them. That can be as simple as telling a great story. I have a feeling the scuba industry can excel at this. Let customers get to know you and learn to like you through stories on your blog.

Of course, you have to do this while remembering it’s not about you, it’s about the customer.

So if everyone in the scuba industry becomes a valuable information resource through their own media platform, what will happen? Won’t everyone in the industry benefit? Eventually, maybe. If you’re website is the go-to resource, won’t you benefit?

Thanks to everyone for the comments on marketing.

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I haven’t officially launched my website but, just for you scubaboard peeps, you can see it now if you want. Since I’m saying businesses should demonstrate how they can help, I need to do the same. I’m working on creating my own content over the next few months.