Show me the money

While the proliferation of boat shows means enthusiasts are spoiled for choice, it is also making marine companies rethink their marketing, writes ROBIN BAILEY.

Much fingernail-biting is going on at the sales end of the marine industry and the reason for the angst is show business - boat show business.

The first show of the season, the Boating Industry Association's on-the-water show, now sponsored by Boating New Zealand magazine, is at the Viaduct Harbour from March 22 to 24. Mainly a niche-market exercise, this show caters for big boats, both power and sail, including some second-hand.

Then there's a break until Queen's Birthday weekend, with the 50th New Zealand Boat Show opening at the Auckland Showgrounds on May 30 and running through to June 3. From August 7 to 11 the revived Imtec (short for International Marine Trade Exhibition and Convention) will be staged at the eastern end of Princes Wharf. At the tail end of the month, from August 29 through to September 1, the combined National Boat Show will be held at Mystery Creek, near Hamilton.

Now a joint venture between the Boating Industry Association and the Mystery Creek Events Centre, the National Boat Show was formerly the Waikato show. Moving to Mystery Creek means more and better display space and a complete range of professional back-up services. It is also in the heart of a huge recreational boating catchment.

The Imtec show, which aims to cater for the marine trade as well as encouraging public participation, has been in recess during the Princes Wharf redevelopment. Organiser Warwick Browne says the venue is much improved and upgraded, which will mean better public access.

The promoters of the established shows, and those marketers who say the proliferation of shows is stretching their promotional budgets, have not enthusiastically welcomed the revival of Imtec.

Ian Witters, CEO of the New Zealand Boat Show, believes that his show has always supported the industry by diverting a major proportion of its profits directly back to the Boating Industries Association. It has also developed the annual Boat Show Awards, which recognise excellence in the industry nationally.

He sees the revival of the Imtec exhibition as a problem for exhibitors rather than any threat to the future of the country's oldest boat show.

Lionel Sands' company Miller Moyes Seacraft has been supporting boat shows since the first one in Auckland. He is adamant they are a promotional vehicle that can't be ignored. He is equally certain the costs of participating are a burden that manufacturers, even the biggest ones, must weigh carefully when deciding their promotional mix.

"We find exhibiting at the major shows - Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch - provides invaluable exposure for the company's dealer network," Sands says. "We can't afford not to be there."

His company spends upwards of $50,000 on a major show such as Auckland. That means it must yield a result on the order book and the size of that figure determines where the promotional dollars will go in the future.

"With the development in the Waikato, which will mean a better show there, we will have to look closely at how our marketing is structured.

"The print media is also important, but there are only so many dollars to go around because promotion/marketing is not a cost that can be added directly to the retail price of our boats. It is a built-in cost, but there's a limit."

Yamaha chief Greg Fenwick, who has long been a major exhibitor with a history of dramatic and prize-winning displays, also predicts some difficulties from another major show in Auckland.

"Even minimal representation at a boat show incurs a cost and it is important not to spread the promotional budget too thinly. Around the world boat shows are consolidating rather than proliferating and perhaps that's something we will have to look at in New Zealand, which is a comparatively small market."

No matter what the marine industry thinks about the revival of Imtec, the hospitality sector high-fliers along Princes Wharf are ecstatic. They see the boat show as bringing them "a week of Fridays", which means satisfying noises at the cash register.