Marketing 101:
- Identify your target
- Develop products that meet your target market's needs / wants
- Profit!

Seriously, a lot of what has been mentioned in this thread has been done before (boats in malls? I helped load out a Hobie 18 into a mall in Richmond, VA in 1979)

Eye catching graphics? - The 16 Worlds boats were like nothing ever done before. The colors were chosen specifically for Mexico (green/white/red = Mexico's flag). The hull graphics were unique. (Admittedly a lot of sponsor logos, but not the one by the transom, nor the "diamond logo" in the center, which was especially made to color coordinate with the sails.)


These were 80's sail colors:


Is this a boat from the 80's?:

I don't think so.


We all have to remember that we (primarily racers) make up a very small percentage of sales for Hobie (and probably Performance, too, but I'm not qualified to make that statement). Most of what Hobie sells is to the recreational market and is rotomolded. Their FRP production pales in comparison.

I disagree with the statement that the sailing groups do a good job of self promotion. We suck! When was the last time you saw a blurb about a catamaran race in a major magazine? Results? Announcements? There's no followup on events - even the 16 Worlds. (Just go to the web site today - it still looks the way it did the last day of the event - 8 months ago!).

But I digress. This is a thread about how the manufacturers can better market their products.

IMHO, it's non-traditional marketing. In the apartment business (what I do for a living), it's called "Outreach." It's making yourself known to the public on a personal level. It's exposure. It's what most of us have done gratis for years, just not consistently or professionally (how many of us have any any sort of sales training?). It needs to be done by professionals on a more organized basis.

It was the regatta department at Hobie Cat in the 70's and early 80's.