Posted By Gail Kulp,
Thursday, July 6, 2023
Updated: Tuesday, June 6, 2023
This year, we have been 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.
Our last Q&A blog comes to us from Cristin Plaice, Director of Business Development for Rapid Media. Rapid Media won the National Boating Industry Safety Award for Top Marine Media Outlet for the second year in a row, but for a completely new project. As a contractor for Water Sports Foundation, they worked to develop ways to reach and include new paddlers in boating safety information and education initiatives.
Congratulations on winning the National Boating Industry Safety Award! Can you please describe your winning entry for our audience?
We were contracted by the Water Sports Foundation's U.S. Coast Guard non-profit grant award entitled: “Strategic Search Engine Content Marketing Targeting America’s Highest-Risk, Most Difficult-To-Reach Paddlers.” The purpose of this work was to create a national campaign promoting safe boating behaviors with a specific focus on reaching new paddlers, who are the most at-risk group.
The campaign was based on a content marketing strategy to create and distribute content to reach this target audience with valuable safety messaging and information when they would be most interested and receptive. We know new paddlers aren’t Googling “why I should wear a life jacket” or “why I should file a float plan.” But they are searching for things like “cheap kayaks” or “best paddleboards for beginners” and “used canoes.”
We created the content the new paddlers were looking for and wove the safety messaging in and around the articles with native advertising placements. As someone Googles something like “cheap kayaks under $500” they land on our article “Best Cheap Kayaks under $500” and as they read about which kayak to buy, they are reminded to always wear a lifejacket, take a paddling safety course, paddle sober, etc.
We created and published 60 of these search engine-optimized articles each with safety messaging woven into and around the content. Rapid Media’s marketing specialists used sophisticated search engine optimization techniques to ensure each piece of content attracts and retains traffic from a highly specific target audience by providing answers to their queries on Google, Yahoo, and other search engines.
It seems so simple. Yet it was the first time new paddlers have been targeted so efficiently and effectively. This project is currently delivering more than 5.6 million paddling safety impressions specifically targeting new paddlers – the most at-risk group.
What inspired you to promote boating safety?
When we learned a few years ago just how many people are lost while paddling and how many deaths may have been preventable, we felt we had to do something.
Just a decade or two ago, the only thing on the average skier or snowboarder’s head was a beanie. But things have changed and now almost everyone in North America wears a helmet. In 2002, only around 25% of skiers wore helmets. In 2021, 90% of riders were wearing them.
As a paddlesports media company, we have the unique opportunity to reach and influence a very large audience of paddlers, so we decided to take the opportunity seriously.
We have made a commitment to promoting safe paddling behaviors through the articles we write, the photos we feature, the ads we publish, and of course our continued campaigns with the Water Sports Foundation. With our efforts, we hope to encourage all paddlers to understand and prioritize safety.
What it was like creating your award-winning project or campaign? How much time did it take? How many people were involved?
Creating this campaign was a huge team effort. Researching, planning, writing, editing and publishing quality content in a niche like paddlesports is difficult to do well. Our entire editorial, marketing and production teams were involved in the content creation process. At the same time, we called in our development team to code the native safety messaging placements. Overall, I would guess we had over fifteen people working on this project over the course of a year.
What did you learn from working on this project or campaign?
Working on this campaign reinforced how well content marketing works. Although it takes an initial investment, its ROI and value over time is well worth the effort.
I think the most difficult challenge for this project was choosing which 60 topics to select. Every year, 23 million Americans participate in paddlesports. A large portion of those people are first-time participants. Narrowing their Google searches down to only 60 topics was difficult - there are hundreds more questions to answer.
What was your biggest takeaway from working on this project or campaign?
Our biggest takeaway from working on this campaign was that it worked really well and that we would like to continue building upon the first year’s success. We were able to deliver over 9 million impressions over the course of the campaign. And unlike news pieces that have a short shelf life, these articles are evergreen so (with some minimal maintenance) they will continue to rank well forever and can continue delivering safety messages for years to come.
You can watch the award acceptance from last October in the video below.
Posted By Gail Kulp,
Thursday, June 1, 2023
Updated: Tuesday, June 6, 2023
This year, we have been 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.
Our next Q&A blog comes to us from Rachel Piacenza, Senior Director of Marketing for the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) whose media and PR Team Colle McVoy won the National Boating Industry Safety Award for their work on the “Get on Board” campaign. There were a number of excellent entries in the Award contest and, as a result, the Sea Tow Foundation’s Boating Safety Advisory Council made the decision to award a second place in the PR, Advertising and Marketing Efforts to Colle McVoy.
Congratulations on winning the National Boating Industry Safety Award! Can you please describe your winning entry for our audience?
On behalf of the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation (RBFF), Colle McVoy had submitted the consumer-facing campaign “Get On Board” for consideration for the National Boating Industry Safety Award. This campaign not only encouraged people to get on the water and go fishing but to do so safely through imagery that showed adults and children wearing life jackets.
How does winning this award help your company? What partnerships, media coverage or opportunities have you gotten because of it?
Winning this award has helped Colle McVoy, RBFF and other industry members keep the momentum alive to bring more active social families, females and underrepresented groups that haven’t been historical shown as anglers or boaters onto the water, even more than a year after our campaign has first launched. It’s been especially beneficial in keeping our campaign relevance alive with industry and state members as we work with our partners to get even more people out on the water safely. This award brings great momentum as we embark into our new campaign that is expected to launch this spring.
What inspired you to promote boating safety?
Promoting boating safety came as a natural element to our campaign since we are reaching new audiences who may be less familiar with all the ins and outs of boating and fishing. If we are asking more people to get on the water and participate in these great sports, we wanted them to do so safely. Additionally, many states have their own requirements, regulations and online sources, which can feel daunting to new boaters and fishers. We wanted to give people as many tools and resources as possible all in one organized spot. On the website at takemefishing.org there are some great new resources that RBFF has implemented.
We also partnered with various partners and influencers to create social media content to promote boating safety in a fun, educational and bite sized way.
Did you set goals and objectives when you started your project or campaign? If so, what were they and did you meet those goals and objectives?
We set our measure of success on the number of views to safety-related content on the takemefishing.org website and social media platforms. From July 2021 through June 2022, we saw a total of 388,979 page views, which was a number we were very excited about! Our “Get On Board” campaign has propelled forward other metrics as well. For the first year of the campaign, we had 3.4 billion impressions, 107% average increase in digital traffic on Discover Boating’s website, 44,000 new boat buyers entering the market during the busiest selling period (statistic from NMMA), and 2 million likes, comments, shares, views and clicks generated by social influencers.
What did you learn from working on this project or campaign?
We learned that to really have a successful campaign and meet our goals, we also had to get other industry members excited and involved in our campaign. In partnership with RBFF, we created assets that were distributed to state and industry partners and organizations, including digital and print PSA materials.
Congratulations again to the RBFF and Colle McVoy on winning 2nd place for PR, Advertising and Marketing Effort in the 2022 National Boating Industry Safety Awards! You can watch the award acceptance from last October in the video below.
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,
Friday, January 6, 2023
Updated: Thursday, January 5, 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.
Our first Q&A blog comes to us from The Qualified Captain, a social media brand followed by over 980,000 people on Instagram making them the largest boating-related social media influencer. Most people don’t know that Aaron Stasiak is the man behind The Qualified Captain and he has provided his answers to these questions for us.
Congratulations on winning the National Boating Industry Safety Award! Can you please describe your winning entry for our audience?
Thank you! We won the Social Media Boating Safety Influencer award. With our big popularity on social media, we utilize our following to promote boating safety tips.
How does winning this award help The Qualified Captain? What partnerships, media coverage or opportunities have you gotten because of it?
This award helped us by showing our fans that we really do care about our fellow mariners, and that boating safety is a major concern of ours. If we can utilize our platform to remind people what can happen on the water, then we will do whatever it takes to keep the message going. We have partnered with a few big companies that have key tools on the market that can help you be safer on the water. We promote those products, and as a result, have received a lot of good social media coverage for doing so.
What inspired you to promote boating safety?
I got inspired to do this by noticing how common the easily preventable mistakes were being made. We want to lower the number of accidents, and deaths on the water.
Did you set goals and objectives when you started The Qualified Captain? If so, what were they and did you meet those goals and objectives?
Our goal for the past couple years is to do whatever it takes to remind people of the potential dangers of being on the water, and how to prevent common mistakes. We did so by sharing the sad but true stories, promoting new helpful equipment, explaining the benefits of having a Sea Tow membership, sharing boat education resources, and offering our trauma kits (shown above in the photo).Knowing that we are the most popular influencer on social media in this industry, I felt like it was my obligation to do whatever we can to promote boating safety. We share stories, explain new regulations, and educate new boaters. We also saw a number of deaths on the water in the past 12 months. I wouldn't call these goals, but just a daily duty that we provide. An example of an educational video that we've produced is included below:
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! We have a really sad but important story from a young boy who witnessed a death on the water. We are teaming up with him, and a few other partners to create a very good non-profit that will help provide just one simple piece of equipment to all local docks, waterways, and boat ramps that could help save a life. Stay tuned.
Congratulations again to The Qualified Captain on winning the 2022 National Boating Industry Safety Award as the top Social Media Boating Safety Influencer! You can also check out the video of him accepting the award back in October below.
Posted By Gail Kulp,
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
Updated: Tuesday, October 18, 2022
The Sea Tow Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting boating safety, along with the Sea Tow Foundation’s Boating Safety Advisory Councilhave announced the winners of their fourth annual National Boating Industry Safety Awards. The awards recognize efforts to promote safety on the water within the for-profit sector of the boating industry.
The awards were presented online to each of the winners on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 following the cancellation of IBEX due to Hurricane Ian.
THE WINNERS OF THE 2022 NATIONAL BOATING INDUSTRY SAFETY AWARDS:
Posted By Gail Kulp,
Friday, September 9, 2022
Updated: Wednesday, September 7, 2022
VIDEO BLOG
MarineMax won the 2021 National Boating Industry Safety Awards in the Large Marine Retailer Category.
The presentation of the awards took place at MRAA’s Dealer Week in December 2021, but Gail Kulp, Sea Tow Foundation Executive Director, recently sat down with Capt. Keith Lake to find out a little more about their award-winning entry as well as their secret to success since MarineMax had won the award for a 3rd year in a row.
MarineMax is the world's largest recreational boat and yacht retail company and they have been a proven champion of boating safety offering classes, educational tips, a video series on boating safety tips, and much more.
Learn more about MarineMax and what other plans they have for new boating safety initiatives at the video linked below.
Posted By Gail Kulp,
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
Updated: Wednesday, August 3, 2022
Video Blog
Garminwon the 2021 National Boating Industry Safety Awards in the Top Marine Gear and Equipment Manufacturer Category.
The presentation of the awards took place at MRAA’s Dealer Week last December, but Gail Kulp, Sea Tow Foundation Executive Director, recently sat down with Dave Dunn and Riley Swikard to find out a little more about their award-winning entry.
Garmin is a large company that produces aviation, automotive, marine, and personal navigation equipment and they take safety very seriously. In 2021, they launched a social media campaign to help educate customers on how to properly use their products as well as learn about general boating safety topics to help the influx of new boaters feel welcome and safe.
Learn more about Garmin and what other plans they have for new boating safety gear and boating safety education at the video linked below.
Photo Caption: Jarrod Seymour Vice President of Garmin's Marine Segment with their National Boating Industry Safety Award
Posted By Gail Kulp,
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Updated: Sunday, July 10, 2022
Video Blog
Emerald Coast Marine Groupwon the 2021 National Boating Industry Safety Awards in the Top Small Marine Retailer Category.
The presentation of the awards took place at MRAA’s Dealer Week last December, but Gail Kulp, Sea Tow Foundation Executive Director, recently sat down with Shawn Talpey to find out a little more about their award-winning entry.
Emerald Coast Marine Group took an integrated approach to boating safety as they felt that this is a critical component to boat ownership, especially for first-time boaters or those with less experience so that all customers can build their confidence and allow them to enjoy the boating lifestyle for years to come.
Learn more about Emerald Coast Marine Group at the video below.
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