Get On Board Campaign Drives Consumer Awareness During National Fishing and Boating Week Kick-Off

| Discover Boating

The Get On Board marketing campaign, an integrated effort from the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation (RBFF), Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) and the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) to drive consumer awareness for boating and fishing, launched last week in conjunction with National Fishing and Boating Week, June 5-13.

Discover Boating and Take Me Fishing report the campaign kickoff last week featured public service announcements (PSA), a satellite media tour (SMT), earned media relations coverage, influencer and content creator partnerships, paid advertising, digital marketing, organic social media promotion and more.

With a focus on retention and recruitment messaging, campaign highlights to date include:

  • Nearly 640 media placements ran across the country featuring campaign spokesperson and nationally recognized psychiatrist Dr. Jessica Clemons, who discussed the mental health and wellness benefits of fishing and boating. Media coverage was in outlets including The Daily Buzz and NBC LX, as well as top-tier local markets.
  • In addition to coverage with Dr. Jess, an additional 225 media placements were earned following the deployment of a national press release.
  • Overall sessions across RBFF’s digital properties are up 36 percent year-over-year, and overall sessions on DiscoverBoating.com are up 34 percent year-over-year.
  • Approximately 645,000 Take Me Fishing referrals have been generated to state fishing license pages (on par with 2020) and referrals to state boat registration pages are up 16 percent year-over-year to 82,000.
  • Partnerships with a diverse fleet of social media influencers and content creators are underway, including @ItsRLife, @audreymadstowe, @SamuelAnthony and @SydneyLatuaco reaching a potential audience of nearly 500,000 and generating more than 213,000 likes, comments, shares, views and clicks.
  • #TheWaterIsOpen continues gaining momentum with more than 3,200 uses as part of a social media movement among influencers, industry partners, outdoor enthusiasts, anglers and boaters.
  • Disney Parks shared National Fishing and Boating Week content, including #TheWaterIsOpen, with their nearly 2 million followers on its blog, Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook channels.

To date, more than 450 industry stakeholders have joined the campaign, which is open to all brands and leaders throughout boating and fishing.

Industry stakeholders are encouraged to help amplify the message that boating and fishing continue providing lifelines to health and wellness for Americans this summer. Access the free online GOBToolkit to download a variety of customizable campaign assets and use the campaign hashtag #TheWaterIsOpen on your channels.

Questions may be directed to Bruna Carincotte, RBFF’s Director of Public Relations and Communications, at [email protected] and Maggie Maskery, NMMA’s Director of Consumer Public Relations, at [email protected].