Posted By Gail Kulp,
Monday, March 20, 2023
Updated: Tuesday, March 14, 2023
This year, we are showcasing each winner of the National Boating Industry Safety Awards via an individualized blog that answers questions posed to each winner. This will allow our readers to get to know each of the winners and see some of their winning materials, too.
The next Q&A blog in our winner series comes to us from Chubb Personal Risk Services and we talked with James Berthelon who is the Assistant Vice President and National Catastrophic Communications Manager. Our conversation is covered below.
Congratulations on winning the National Boating Industry Safety Award! Can you please describe your winning entry for our audience?
Thank you for the opportunity to share our story! We are proud to have received this award, showcasing our marine marketing, PR, and advertising efforts. Each spring, I work with our team of watercraft specialists to develop new content such as articles, blog posts, and videos that we share with our clients, agents, and boaters in general through a variety of marketing channels like email, social media, and web. We always cover a variety of topics and safe boating recommendations, and in 2022, our core emphasis was on marina fires, safe docking tips, and case studies involving major boating accidents.
How does winning this award help your company? What partnerships, media coverage or opportunities have you gotten because of it?
Receiving this award is one of those rare win-wins, where what we create helps protect individuals and their families while doing the thing many of us enjoy the most —spending time on the water with friends and family.Practicing proper boating safety obviously reduces the chance of an accident which also helps us as an insurance company. Our communications are designed to be purely educational for our clients, and when they’re done genuinely and with sophistication, they also help us build engagement, brand awareness, and loyalty. The feedback from winning this award has been nothing short of awesome. It has created an exciting buzz within our company and among our agents! Chubb championed this award not only across our personal lines division, but across all of our businesses. We are also proudly displaying this award in our upcoming spring mini-campaign for 2023!
What inspired you to promote boating safety?
While I am an inner-city kid from Brooklyn, NY, I’ve been around water my entire life as I grew up in a commercial fishing family out of Sheepshead Bay, NY. To this day, I spend many days on the water as an avid fisherman. I attribute much of my happiness in life to time spent on the water, but I am also keenly aware of just how powerful and unforgiving that same water can be, and how quickly accidents can happen, regardless of experience. Therefore, it’s crucial for me to promote boating safety, so others can enjoy being on the water as much as I do.
What it was like creating your award-winning project or campaign? How much time did it take? How many people were involved?
I love working with the recreational marine team here at Chubb — it’s always an exciting time, and they’re boating enthusiasts as well! Our campaign takes weeks to cultivate, from storyboarding concepts to developing assets. Then, we use omni-channel marketing tactics to promote those assets over a period of weeks and months. There are between three and five Chubb team members, including myself, who have a role in these campaigns in various capacities. We are all boating enthusiasts with a trove of knowledge who come from all across the country, each bringing a different perspective on boating on different bodies of water.
What did you learn from working on this project or campaign?
I’ve learned that boating accidents can happen at any time, under any conditions. For example, over 70% of boating accidents happen on clear, sunny days, and that over half of boating accidents happen on calm days when waves are less than 6”.
Are you working on any future boating safety projects or campaigns? If so, is there anything you can share about what you’re planning to do?
Yes! In 2023, we’ll likely focus on pre-storm preparedness through a variety of mediums and channels. If you’re not a Chubb client and want to keep up with our spring campaign, visit www.chubb.com/watercraft.
Congratulations again to Chubb on winning the 2022 National Boating Industry Safety Award as the 1st place Marine Public Relations, Advertising or Marketing Effort! You can watch Chubb accepting their award from October 2022 in the video linked below.
This year, we are showcasing each winner of the National Boating Industry Safety Awards via an individualized blog that answers questions posed to each winner. This will allow our readers to get to know each of the winners and see some of their winning materials, too.
The next Q&A blog in our winner series comes to us from Garmin International's Dave Dunn, who is the Senior Director of Marine and RV Sales at Garmin. We spoke with Dave recently and wanted to share our conversation.
Congratulations on winning the National Boating Industry Safety Award! Can you please describe your winning entry for our audience?
At Garmin, our mission revolves around creating products that fuel people’s passions within each of our core five business segments. In all those segments, it is also important for us to consider not only how our products can bring the customer more joy to their sport, but also how they can enhance situational awareness so they can continue pursuing those passions for many years to come. In the marine industry, it is especially important to consider how we can bring new innovative products to the market with exciting features and technology that also can serve a secondary purpose of promoting safety on the water. From Auto Guidance that helps keep you on the right path and avoid obstacles in our cartography solution, to live sonar helping you avoid obstacles underneath the water, and GPS handheld devices with inReach satellite communication technology to help you in case of distress and much more, all our product categories in marine help promote being a safer boater.
How does winning this award help your company? What partnerships, media coverage or opportunities have you gotten because of it?
It’s always an honor to be recognized for bringing innovation to different markets and winning this award is no different. It shows our commitment to not only developing high-quality products and services, but also thinking beyond a feature set and putting the customer and their needs first. This award has allowed us to work with different industry media outlets to continue promoting the message of boater safety by showcasing how our products can support greater situational awareness and peace of mind on the water. We also had the opportunity to attend IBWSS and speak with attendees about marine tech and the importance of safety innovations on and off the water.
What inspired you to promote boating safety?
As a company, we really pride ourselves in how our employees are already passionate about the industries we serve and use our products themselves every day. We cannot really get away from the “work” even when we are away from the office because it shows up in our free time as we are pursuing our own adventures. Many employees serving our marine segment around the globe have their own fishing gear, cruising and sail boats and spend their weekends out on the water. They see firsthand situations which may have been avoided using the right equipment and electronics on your boat and understand how they can help our customers. When the pandemic hit and recreational boating participation soared, many were hitting the water for the first time. We are excited about the marine industry growth the past few years, but understand it is our duty to do more than just sell our products to customers; we must also provide education about how to safety spend time on the water so that they, and everyone around them, can enjoy the sport we all love so much.
What it was like creating your award-winning project or campaign? How much time did it take? How many people were involved? Garmin is a vertically integrated company, which means all aspects of the campaign we did were created in house. This is something we pride ourselves on since those who worked on this are also passionate about the boating industry and work in it every day. Multiple marketing and sales teams were involved in creating and executing our boating safety efforts throughout the year, from how we position Garmin and our products to the market, to how that fits into our overall strategy and what tactics would appeal most to the marine industry. We launch so many new products each year that it can be easy to lose sight of creating campaigns outside of that. Each year we take a step back and think about what could set us a part in the industry outside of product launches and what new campaigns and ideas support our company objectives while keeping our customers and their needs as the hallmark of everything we do.
What was your biggest takeaway from working on this project or campaign?
The biggest takeaway from this campaign is the constant reminder of the importance of situational awareness in boating. Garmin is passionate about the marine industry and pushing the boundaries of new technology, but we also must consistently consider how that technology affects customers on the water and their future endeavors. For us, it is even a reminder outside of marine with the other industries we serve to think about how new technology not only makes a sport more fun or easier for new customers to get access to, but also how it can give them peace of mind to adventure safely. From our inReach satellite communicators with global two-way messaging, to our kids Bounce smartwatch that gives parents the ability to communicate with their kids from their wrist, to our award-winning Autoland, the world’s first certified autonomous system designed to activate during an emergency to safety fly and land an aircraft without human intervention, and so much more, we are committed to creating new products and technologies so our customers can make the most of the time they spend pursuing their passions.
Congratulations again to Garmin on winning the 2022 National Boating Industry Safety Award as the top Gear & Equipment Manufacturer! You can watch Garmin accepting their award from October 2022 in the video linked below.
Posted By Gail Kulp,
Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Updated: Tuesday, January 24, 2023
This year, we are showcasing each winner of the National Boating Industry Safety Awards via an individualized blog that answers questions posed to each winner. This will allow our readers to get to know each of the winners and see some of their winning materials, too.
The next Q&A blog in our winner series comes to us from MarineMax who is the world’s largest recreational boat and yacht retailer with over 100 locations worldwide including 79 retail dealership locations. We spoke with Captain Nick Pavlakis, one of the hosts of MarineMax’s weekly “Boating Tips Live” podcast and he also serves as a sales consultant at MarineMax St. Petersburg.
Congratulations on winning the National Boating Industry Safety Award! Can you please describe your winning entry for our audience?
Yes, we are honored to have been chosen out of your record number of applications. Our winning award was our “Back to (Boating) School” campaign focused on the back-to-school timeframe to remind even the most seasoned boaters about the importance of ongoing boater education and safety.
What inspired you to promote boating safety?
We wanted to help educate our customers so they can make lifelong memories on the water and the best way to do that is to be safe. With the recent "boating boom" from Covid, not only are there many more boats on the water but most are also new boaters. The best way to promote fun boating is to promote safe boating. This is done through continuous education and endless resources. Teach me, service me, show me how to have fun, this is how we provide our customers with the best boating experience.
What did you learn from working on this project or campaign?
The “back to boating school” campaign taught me that we can all use a refresher course here and there. Whether you are a first-time boater or a seasoned Captain, it is important to never overlook good fundamentals and preparation. That is why, at MarineMax, we provide our customers with several different classes to continue their education to keep themselves and everyone else safe on the water. I grew up on the water boating and to this day, I still learn something every time I am with my podcast co-host Captain Keith who is shown here teaching a class. These lessons that I learn from him are things that I can use in my work, and in my personal life out on the water.
Are you working on any future boating safety projects or campaigns? If so, is there anything you can share about what you’re planning to do?
Now that you mention it, we are! With the growth of our Boating Tips series, we are growing into a new segment, yachting safety. While most of our boating safety projects are tailored to new boaters on smaller boats, we wanted our series to grow with our viewers. As you become more comfortable with boating, the natural progression is to keep moving up. This is where MarineMax comes in to teach safe boating through your whole boating journey. Starting with smaller boats and being there for you as you start to make your journey to a larger vessel, we want to be there for them every step of the way and grow alongside them.
Has participating in this project or campaign changed your perspective on boating safety and why it’s so important?
Absolutely. The difference between an unforgettable day on the water, and tragedy is often one small mistake that could have been avoided. Some ways to stay safe on the water are, designating a sober skipper, preparation the day or night before, and continuous education. MarineMax truly provides all the resources you could need for education through their Captain's Orientation, Women on Water classes pictured below, boating tips video podcast and a consultant approach to the sales process that gets you and your family in the right boat.
Congratulations again to MarineMax on winning the 2022 National Boating Industry Safety Award as the top large marine retailer! You can watch MarineMax accepting their award from October 2022 in the video linked below.
Posted By Gail Kulp,
Sunday, April 11, 2021
Updated: Thursday, March 25, 2021
Interview with Bridge Marina– Winner of the 2020 National Boating Industry Safety Awards
Video Blog
Bridge Marina won the 2020 National Boating Industry Safety Awards in the Small Marine Retailer Category. Given that the presentation of the award was done virtually at the MRAA’s Dealers Week, we decided to sit down to talk with Ray Fernandez to find out a little more about their award-winning entry and plans for 2021.
Bridge Marina has 2 locations in Lake Hopatcong and Sandy Hook in New Jersey. They developed a number of training programs focused on safety for their boat club members and the general boating public. Their “Build a Better Boater” program has created boaters from people who have had no experience with boating before and it is making people enjoy their time on the water even more.
Posted By Gail Kulp,
Sunday, April 4, 2021
Updated: Thursday, March 25, 2021
Interview with MarineMax– Winner of the 2020 National Boating Industry Safety Awards
Video Blog
MarineMax won the 2020 National Boating Industry Safety Awards in the Large Marine Retailer Category. Given that the presentation of the award was done virtually at the MRAA’s Dealers Week, we decided to sit down to talk with Abbey Heimensen to find out a little more about their award-winning entry and plans for 2021.
MarineMax has developed a number of boating safety programs to help get the entire family involved in boating. Their “Women on Water” class is solely for ladies to be able to take the helm to learn and build confidence on the water. And, the “Intro to Boating” classes are great for new boaters including children, but there are also advanced boating education classes focused on charting, plotting, technology and other topics that boaters want to know.
Posted By Gail Kulp,
Sunday, March 28, 2021
Updated: Thursday, March 25, 2021
Interview with Rapid Media– Winner of the 2020 National Boating Industry Safety Awards
Video Blog
Rapid Media won the 2020 National Boating Industry Safety Awards in the Marine Media Category. Given that the presentation of the award was done virtually at the MRAA’s Dealers Week, we decided to sit down to talk with Scott MacGregor and Cristin Plaice to find out a little more about their award-winning entry and plans for 2021.
Rapid Media represents the Paddlesports Industry and started a public awareness and role modeling campaign to reduce deaths and injuries in paddlesports. The effort is to make paddlers aware of ways to keep them safe on the water and encourage them to adopt these safe behaviors. They are reaching paddlers through their magazines, their paddling film festival and social media and are also working with retailers to explain the safety steps that should be taken.
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