NMMA Charts the Way to Growth in Boating

The past two years have been a wake-up call: softening new-boat sales, shifting customer demographics, rapidly evolving technology and a consumer who expects seamless digital and in-person experiences. 

In the National Marine Manufacturers Association’s strategic planning research, our members told us that incremental change to reverse the downward trends will not cut it. The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, our partners in Discover Boating, heard the same from their dealer members. One of the questions that’s come out of our collective member research and feedback is how we ensure Discover Boating is working to support industry growth.

Some manufacturers and dealers have expressed the need for Discover Boating to deliver sales leads, while others want it focused at the very top of the traditional marketing funnel. The bottom line is we are all committed to growing the industry together, and the Discover Boating team of the MRAA and NMMA must help provide the clarity for how we get there.

Market Expansion Advisory Group

The median age of boat owners recently hit 60 amid continued softening of new-boat sales. As owners age out, despite them introducing their kids and grandkids to boating, without fresh demand, tomorrow’s pipeline will shrink without action. 

NMMA and MRAA members are also asking for clearer Discover Boating ROI and stronger links across the industry ecosystem, from associations to OEMs to dealers, so we’re on the same page about our growth strategy and who’s accountable for what. To translate member feedback into action, we created a two-pronged strategic approach: form a Market Expansion Advisory Group of industry marketing experts to identify the most important role Discover Boating must play; and identify the true, addressable market for boating today and tomorrow to inform industry growth strategies.

Ensuring this effort was conducted alongside OEMs and dealers was central to our thinking. To build a successful future, we must act together.

A Plan in Motion

NMMA board chair Bill Yeargin convened the eight-member Market Expansion Advisory Group. Handpicked for their deep marketing expertise across OEMs and dealerships, and with an NMMA board liaison, the group answered two critical questions: How should we define success for Discover Boating, and how do we achieve that success?

The Market Expansion Advisory Group includes Abbey Heimensen, vice president of marketing, MarineMax; Amber Holm, chief marketing officer, Winnebago Industries; Bryan Seti, vice president, Yamaha; Bryce Brown, principal, MasterCraft of Colorado; Lauren Beckstedt, chief marketing officer, Brunswick; Thomas Bates, chief revenue officer, Correct Craft; Victor Gonzalez, chief marketing officer, Sportsman Boats; and Matt Gruhn, president, MRAA.

To inform their work, the Discover Boating team commissioned first-of-its-kind, in-depth consumer research to pinpoint today’s and tomorrow’s boat buyers — their size, motivations and barriers. It was guided by the advisory group and executed in partnership with renowned global research firm Ipsos. 

Defining Success 

One key outcome of the group’s work was a shared understanding of Discover Boating’s role. Discover Boating is the industry’s only entity singularly focused on top-of-the-funnel consumer marketing. Its purpose is to build awareness, shape perceptions, and help new and next-generation audiences see boating as accessible and relevant to their lives. 

This resolves a long-held misunderstanding of Discover Boating’s role: Discover Boating is not a lead generator or sales engine, and it does not manage or control the downstream value chain of a sale.

Without a unified effort to introduce new consumers to boating and build interest at the category level, manufacturers and dealers are left to spend more individually on marketing with less overall impact. Discover Boating exists to create the conditions for growth. Once consumers engage through Discover Boating platforms, such as social media, digital content or events, it is up to manufacturers and dealers to identify those prospects, engage them directly and nurture them through the path to purchase (this includes lead generation).

Manufacturers and dealers play an essential role in the lower marketing funnel. They provide product education, value propositions, hands-on experiences and ongoing support. Dealers, in particular, are central to onboarding, service and retention, while manufacturers reinforce brand trust, innovation and quality. 

When each part of the ecosystem focuses on its marketing role, category demand can more effectively translate into ownership, loyalty and sustained participation. This distinction is critical: Discover Boating does not have a role with leads. Manufacturers’ and dealers’ roles include lead generation.

Measuring Success

The advisory group also emphasized the importance of measuring success in ways that reflect how markets actually grow. Traditional sales metrics alone do not capture whether new demand is being created. That is why the industry is aligning around leading indicators that track awareness, engagement and consideration earlier in the consumer journey.

These indicators come together in the new Discover Boating Health Score, a shared view of market momentum in a scorecard format. It measures awareness, share of voice, audience penetration, engagement with content and events, referrals to manufacturers and dealers, and broader participation trends. Improvements in these measures signal that more people are discovering boating and entering the consideration set, laying the groundwork for future sales.

Discover Boating cannot grow the market alone — nor can any single company or association. But together, OEMs, dealers, the NMMA and the MRAA can keep boating front-of-mind, make entry into the lifestyle easier and turn inspiration into lifelong participation.

Thanks to the work of our industry’s marketing leaders who were part of the Market Expansion Advisory Group, the path forward is more defined. Clarity on industry marketing roles positions us to strengthen demand collectively, expand participation and ensure that boating continues to thrive for years to come.

The work has begun, the roadmap is clear, and we are excited to build the next wave of growth together.

Ellen Bradley is chief marketing officer and senior vice president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

This column appeared in the February, 2026 issue of Soundings Trade Only.