Most paddlesports outdoor industry people would agree that marketing our sport and lifestyle in the right places, to the right people, at the right times, in sufficient quantities, with the

right messages will result in increases in participation and sales over time.

In the mid 1990s lots of industry time and effort went into strategically positioning paddlesports and the paddling lifestyle as a fun, healthy sport and one of the most desirable forms of outdoor leisure activity for individuals and families. Fortunately, we didn’t have to pay out of pocket for much of the broad media and marketing exposure we created for ourselves.

At the same time, the industry benefited from the positive energy that went into new product design and innovation. We also took the time

to plan and cultivate connections with media and agency types and provided story ideas and solutions for their viewers, readers, and clients. It seems like there was less cynicism then and a higher level of confidence across our marketplace, and that confidence shined through in how we promoted the paddling lifestyle,

using everything from traditional advertising and PR to guerrilla marketing tactics, all of which combined to successfully propel

participation and sales to record levels.

Today a fair amount of that confidence appears to have been suppressed by an air of cautious conservatism in many quarters (the stand-up paddle boarding and kayak-fishing categories notwithstanding), which has led to

fewer marketing resources being applied to more places with smaller budgets, presumably in pursuit of greater year end, bottom-line results. And with these smaller budgets, a fair amount of the marketing emphasis rests on pushing product features and grabbing market share. We’re also pumping out a lot of undifferentiated product in the rec market, for example, and selling much of that product on price instead of value. What happened to building demand for the paddling lifestyle? Remember that line about selling the sizzle and not just the steak?

After reading Scott Jaeger’s Leisure Trends report on the double-digit decline in paddlesports unit sales through the first four months, (see page 66 inside), one wonders how the declining level of marketing across the board is impacting product sales and the overall health of the industry.

We’ve gotten more people interested in paddling but left too many recent participants unconverted as paddling enthusiasts. We put more butts in boats (and on boats) but are not as successful as we could be in later stepping those paddlers up to higher-value and higher-commitment product lines, much like the golf and marine industries have successfully done. When you consider the lifetime value of a "converted" paddling enthusiast and their relatively high projected spending over time, you would think as an industry that we should be setting aside more marketing resources in that area. We agree on the need to get more kids involved in paddling as early as possible, but are we creating

and marketing enough kid-specific product lines? How well are we marketing the lightweight, high-end lines to aging boomers? And with the ethnic composition of the country changing, are we paying enough attention to marketing paddlesports to non-Caucasians in order to expand the sport and increase the vitality

of the marketplace?

These are but a few of the prime marketing challenges we’re facing and we haven’t touched on regulation, taxation, access, resource preservation, and other emerging issues where strategic cooperative marketing can have a positive impact. Some of these dark clouds are already circling overhead. We can’t afford to wait around until it starts pouring rain before we run out to buy umbrellas.

We need to engage customers and build relationships, not just products. Regardless of your company’s size, we can all afford to more proactively market paddlesports and create a greater demand for the paddling lifestyle, and subsequently for the sport and all its great products, services, and amenities. There is plenty of upside out there. It’s time for us to get back to investing in growth and in our future.

I’ll see you out on the water!

• Glen Bernard

glen@glenbernard.net