OutletPontoons.com

To Be, or Not to Be...That is the question

Presented by:Leah Bothamley, Brenna Williamson, Christopher Day, Amber Forshee and Caleb Stanley

Creating a Brand is Not Easy

Create a Marketing Plan For OutletPontoons.com Increase Competitive Intelligence Find the Issues in Marketing Mix Expose Competitive Advantage Opportunities Recommend a Strategic Plan of Action

But then the situation changed…

Initial Objective:

Gather Competitive Intelligence

Everything starts with a Systematic and Objective

Analysis

What does OutletPontoons.com Internal and External

Environment look like?

Marketing Research provides the path to the answer

The Boating Industry’s “Bible”

as well as:JournalsWebsites

InterviewsSurvey’s

Observations

Where did we get our data from?

With all of that research……

What did we find?

Contributed $32.3 Billion to the U.S. Economy in 2011

All Boats

All Motors

Aftermarket Accessories

Owner Expenses

Competitive Intelligence: State of the Industry

Fuel, Insurance, Maintenance, Docking, Finance

6% In Overall Industry Revenue 62.9% in Aftermarket

Accessories Fuel, Finance, Insurance,

Docking, and Maintenance Expenditures 1.4% in New Engine’s 0.7% in All Boats

18,940 Boating Businesses in US

Source: National Marine Manufacturer’s Association, 2011 Recreational Boating Statistical Abstract

Competitive Intelligence: Trends and Outlook

Pontoons and Fishing Boats lead the industrys recovery after a decade long decline

36 million American’s plan to buy a boat in the next 1-5 years Outboard Boats have 49% of the Boat Segment New OB Boat segment outperforms OB Engine 77,150 Aluminum Power Boats sold in 2011, up 4% Aluminum Prices are decreasing Pontoon boats have a positive 15 year sales trend

Sources: The National Marine Manufacturers Association, and Forbes.com

Consumers want Aluminum Outboard Boats that are Competitively Priced, easy to shop for Online, with multiple Shipping Choices, and come from a reputable or Branded Business.

Where are they? 9 states in the Great Lakes Region

6 states in South and East US Plus California, Washington, Alaska

Who are they? Mainly males, ages 25-50, with an income of between $25,000 and

$75,000, have participated in boating, but are most likely first time boat owners

Competitive Intelligence: Target Market

Competitive Intelligence: The Competition

What Are They Doing For Consumers?+Pricing at an average of $30,000

+Providing a Click-and-Mortar One-Stop-Shop+Operating in geographically significant areas

+Selling the Lifestyle using powerful promotional strategies

Who Are They?Direct Product Competitors

Pre-Owned New Build Your OwnDirect Brand Competitors

Name Brand Own Brand Non-Brand

Competitive Intelligence: Core Competencies

Offering a customizable and branded product lineUtilizing the consumers preference for eCommerce

Focusing on cost leadership and distribution differentiations

“Our philosophy is brand new to the marine industry; it eliminates excess costs and delivers a high quality product

straight to the end user.”

OutletPontoons.com

OutletOutboards.com

Is it REALLY the right decision?

Outboard Marine Engines?

Industry movement favors boatsCompany’s channel members will increaseConsumer preferences in motors are rapidly

changingLess than 5,000 engines sold without a boat in 2011Outboard sellers market is saturated, many have

exited

The real marketing issues of the company will remain

Argument against OutletOutboards.com

Product is demanded Timing couldn’t be any better

Industry supports Product Branding Industry is ripe for growth, but not saturated

Business Model has built-in Competitive Advantage

So What, Exactly, is Going Wrong?

Argument for OutletPontoons.com

No Manufactu

rer

Marketing Issues

Product PromotionThe Target Market Doesn’t

Know About OutletPontoons.com Yet Wrong Mix of Traditional

Practices Absence of Social Media

Strategy Poor SEO rating Efforts not concentrated in the

right geographical regions

Marketing Issues

PricingCurrent Price Points Are

Competitive

BUT

Mark-up may limit price competitiveness in the

future

DistributionCurrent shipping method

detours sales from target market areas

Current Web Site does not incorporate a Point-Click-

Buy-Ship method

BENNINGTONMassive Conflicts of Interest have caused Marketing

Myopia to set into the decision making regarding OutletPontoons.com

Recreation Station currently absorbs the resources needed to position OutletPontoons in the market correctly

Company is too focused on company needs, not consumer needs

Internal Issues

Cayman Bay

Using Competitive Intelligence to Formulate a Plan

WeaknessesOnly 2 years old

Lost manufacturerConflicts of Interest

No social media integration

Mass Distribution strategyLow margins

StrengthsOwn Brand

Knowledge and ExperiencePontoons on the water

Cost LeadershipUnique business model

Mass Distribution Strategy

ThreatsMany Competitors

Few Non-brand Manufacturers

Sudden Economic Turndown

Rising Fuel CostsRegulations on Industry

Huge “Pre-owned” market

OpportunitiesDecreasing Aluminum

PricesIncreasing Consumer

ConfidenceAvg. Pontoon Price is $30KIndustry Expected to Grow

Pontoon sales upCost of Substitutes are

Rising

OS StrategiesUse S to Gain CompetitiveAdvantage

OW Strategies

Improve W to Gain

Competitive Advantage

TW Strategies

Improve W to Avoid Threats

TS Strategies

Use S to Avoid Threats

The SWOT Matrix

Materials: $3,500Direct Labor: 16 hours at $25/hourMark-up: 25%Total Price Tag: $4,875

2013 Cayman Bay 1.1 Lagoon, $4,899

If you make the boat, who’d make your Logs?

Start with Northern States Metals! They do Pontoon Logs to specification!

Getting Cayman Bay ManufacturedFind a Manufacturer or Make your own?

Countless studies show that the use of Social Media: Generates Exposure Escalates Traffic to Web Site Increases Search Engine Rankings Produces Qualified Leads Reduces Marketing Expenses Improves sales

Strengthen Promotional Activity The Shopping Experience starts online

1 Billion Active Social Media Users94% of marketers utilize social media sites

Strengthen Promotional Activity Manage and Track your Efforts

OutletPontoons.com

DashboardExpose

Share

Connect

Get More out of your eStore Spend Money on a Web Service Provider

General eCommerceBest in Performance

Marine eCommerceBest in Show

Intellix Media SiteDoneRite.com

Get More out of your eStore Lower Costs by Changing Merchant Services

Set up a Merchant Account with either:

Merchant Services, Inc. Fee’s: 1.99% and $0.15 per transaction plus $5.00 a month Must sell $15,000 a year and 3 boats to achieve >2.5%

National Bank Card Fee’s: 0-2.5%

Don’t discount PayPal Tools, some services are designed to work with any Merchant Account and are free or cheap!

Make OutletPontoons.com a Priority

Increase mark-up to at least 20-25%

Become a member of NMMA

Other Solutions in Our Plan

Cayman Bay boats are a part of the U.S. fleet! Keep it going!

Questions?