The Recreational Boating Leadership Council’s New Markets Task Force has reorganized to develop ways to address specific ethnic groups and those people who are interested in helping bring those audiences to recreational boating.
According to RBLC chairperson Wanda Kenton Smith, the original 35-person task force formed a few years ago collaborated to share diversity trends and produce a series of videos as part of a professional education module to the marine industry.
The series, “Proven Strategies to Engage New Markets,” provided an overview of emerging ethnic groups, including interviews featuring five organizations in the marine industry that were successfully engaging diverse audiences.
“Our task force did a great job in identifying the growth of specific ethnic markets and communicating their growing economic clout and buying power,” Kenton Smith said in a statement. “Our goal was to educate the industry, share best practices and encourage manufacturers and retailers to be more inclusive and welcoming to a broader audience of prospective buyers.”
In addition to live presentations delivered around the country, online webinars and tip sheets, the task force produced a series of full- and half-page advertisements published in key industry business-to-business trade media.
Kenton Smith said the New Markets Task Force achieved its initial goals of educating the industry about the growth of key demographic segments. “Now, we are ready to re-engage with our task force to discuss and develop the second phase of ongoing education and potential outreach.”
The task force consists of individuals working in the North American marine industry who represent specific ethnic groups or who have interest in becoming involved in efforts to attract diverse audiences to boating. The group is also interested in hearing from organizations in the recreational boating segment with best practices to share regarding sales and marketing initiatives to diverse audiences.
