Tamara Ecclestone at the Boat Show

[Seajet]

When we actually did have 2 boat shows, not SIBS + a mobo show with v little chandlery or sailing boats, in an accessible place, it worked well and LIBS & SIBS complemeted each other.

It's Excel and what the show has become that is the problem; though having tried Excel twice - the only way I went the second time was on a free ticket to research building new boats of our own - if they had free entry actual boats & chandlery and free beer at Excel you still wouldn't get me there.

As for moving the show to the midlands, can't see that working for a moment.

Unless a better venue in London can be found, just call it the mobo show and stop pretending...

 

[TeamSpirit]

LIBS marketing plan appears aimed at promoting itself using TE as catalyst for the media interest = news coverage = cheap advert..... Did it work ? well that remains to be seen and will be reported in general visiting numbers?

Perhaps of more interest would be how many relevant attendees actually pitch up, those of us whom want to window shop, see, expereince or be inspired by new gadgets, get advice, buy equipment or boats or sails or whatever..... did the five minutes of TE media exposure really attract relevant attendees - well maybe one or two.

Is there room for two shows ? of course. But can LIBS be taken seriously and will it survive if the boating fraternity whom which the businesses, buying up LIBS piches to sell their wares at excel and whom entirely depend upon our custom are not their real target audience? it would seem that a growing number do not see LIBS as useful or attractive.
sadly I am one of thoses who do not want trendy catwalk shows, clothing stores, cookery exhibitions or irrelvant non boaty stands, even if some of them are staffed by 'babes' !
Been LIBS to twice, free tickets this time around and gave them away !
CU at S'ton.

 

[fireball]

but does the south need two boat shows?

Does the south need any boatshows?
No - not really, there is no need for any, but if it serves a purpose then I have nothing against having as many as you like ...

IMHO the purpose LIBS is serving has changed dramatically and the idea of the "boat show" must change with it. I believe LIBS organisers and exhibitors are currently in a state of flux - the "old methods" of displaying are not pulling punters in and mostly they've yet to work out a successful "new method".

The internet has put paid to discount chandlery being a major pull.
There is very little innovation in boat design - and if there is its usually shown at Southampton a few months earlier.

If you're Joe Public with limited or no boating knowledge then glitz is fine - come and have a look at the boats, browse through the gear - it's like a car showroom ...

If you're Yachtmaster who's been there and done that then what's in it for you?
An IT expo I visited recently had no direct selling - just techs and salesmen on the stands ready and willing to share their knowledge of the product - coupled with seminars covering various subjects it was a good time to bring myself up-to-date with that technology.... that is one thing the boatshow can provide - one2one or one2few targetted information that is pertinent to the individuals there.
Another advantage is that you can play with kit - but you can do that at quite a few chandlers too ... so it's no good just having the kit on display, you have to rig it so it shows something more meaningful to the punter ...
Harken and Lewmar often rig up purchases and other rigs so you can play with the kit under similar loads. The Nav & Comms kits guys could do with improving their display so you can do similar ... after all, I can visit a chandlery and see the demo mode of the latest chartplotter ...

Seminars and Demonstrations are good - I didn't like the idea of charging extra for some of the seminars (like the start racing one) - pre-book a slot, but then if it's going to be a popular one then have it repeated on screens and perhaps a recording too would be my suggestion.

These are all bog-standard suggestions and I know there is nothing innovative there - individually they add "interest" to what is basically like walking around a shopping mall, together they may just bring in a few more yachtsmen who normally stay away because largely they've "seen it all before."

I would like to have gone to the boatshow to see the crash test boat, to see and try a spinnaker setting session - but those two in themselves don't make the expense worth it for me. To get me back there would need to be more sailing craft (not just more of the same brand) and something "financial" to entice me - so kit that I could buy cheaper than off the internet ... which is very difficult for the exhibitors to achieve when they're trying to justify the expense of going themselves!

 

[Blue5]

The internet has put paid to discount chandlery being a major pull.

I was looking at a Pilot book on I think the Kelvin Hughes stand, price £42, while standing there and using the i-phone I find it on Amazon for £23 with free delivery. Generally we found no discounts on book prices to entice us to spend.

 

[fireball]

I was looking at a Pilot book on I think the Kelvin Hughes stand, price £42, while standing there and using the i-phone I find it on Amazon for £23 with free delivery. Generally we found no discounts on book prices to entice us to spend.

Case in point! Although I've never seen quite that disparity ...
I think a stand holder has to assume the punter has internet access and will check the price of what they're about to buy ...

 

[KINGFISHER 8]

Well I think they should be congratulated on the successful opening of their last boat show ............ (went yesterday - oh dear!)

 

[Yantlet]

I also add Tamara who? Am I missing a relevance here?

 

[dylanwinter]

demographics

I also add Tamara who? Am I missing a relevance here?

I guess your confusion about who Tamara is, or is not, is symptomatic

I confess that I had not heard of Prebon Tullett was also significant

Tamara and Prebon are brands which are clearly not aimed at this particular upper middle aged yachtsman

I will never be rich enough to engage with either of them

I confess that I used to be a regular at the Earl's Court boatshow and even worked there for a few days on one of the chandlery stalls which was an absolute bear pit

clearing up after you lot had trashed the stand took ages

then I went for several years as a punter but I stopped going because I felt that almost everything on offer was utterly unobtainable on my BBC salary

Having said that - some of the boats I lusted ofter at the time are now, thirty years later, almost affordable. Thanks to the mircale of plastic GRP, aluminium and stainless steel the hulls and much of the fittings are still in perfect nick.

Perhaps the boat show is only for those with a lust for the new and thjose who seak out the perfection that is the unstained drip tray and double sink.

I am rather pleased that I did not take up the kind offer of a slot on the knowledge box

I have been proven wrong so often on this forum that I am sure that I would have spent 20 minutes leading five dissapointed Tamara admirers or friends of Prebon thoroughly up the creek with a stream of misinformation.

I am going to talk to these people

http://www.whitehorsecruisingclub.co.uk/ in April

16th I think

Dylan

 

[Lakesailor]

I also add Tamara who? Am I missing a relevance here?

I note you are from New Zealand. As you don't have a Grand Prix that may suggest why you haven't notice the Ecclestons.

Do you have a magazine called "Hello" or "OK"?
If you buy one (or better get a used copy) you can spend at least 15 minutes flicking through saying "Who the hell is that?" before getting fed up.

Actually it takes me about 3 minutes before my eyes skin over.

 

[Evadne]

Tamara and Prebon are brands which are clearly not aimed at this particular upper middle aged yachtsman



Dylan

Did you miss out the word "class" between upper and middle Dylan? Looking forward to the next instalment of dvds that my wife has just ordered from you.

I've found LIBS useful in the past as a sort of trade show, had useful talks with knowledgeable folk from Halyard, Tek tanks and Sea-me to name three, which would be difficult to achieve on one day anywhere else. But it's not been the place to buy anything (except a yacht) for some years now.

 

[Wandering Star]

I reckon if they want to draw the crowds, not necessarily sailing crowds, they should invite Jordan & Paris Hilton to open the show next year, immediately followed by the 2 girls demonstrating mud wrestling techniques in an oversized glass tank. I reckon that would be a really popular opening by 2 famous, wonderfully talented and classy celebrities.

Cheers, Brian.

 

[Clyde_Wanderer]

Perhaps Alison Balsom would have been a better choice.

All three look to be heading south in that pic.
C_W

 

[Yantlet]

I note you are from New Zealand. As you don't have a Grand Prix that may suggest why you haven't notice the Ecclestons.

Do you have a magazine called "Hello" or "OK"?
If you buy one (or better get a used copy) you can spend at least 15 minutes flicking through saying "Who the hell is that?" before getting fed up.

Actually it takes me about 3 minutes before my eyes skin over.

So is anyone going to explain the connection between a Grand Prix, Tamara Ecclescake,The London Boat Show and Dylan's Prebon Tullet?

 

[Judders]

Well I went last night and it was pretty much as expected, dying on it's feet.

An exhibitor friend of mine said "I really hope they dont do this next year".

The numbers are down. The strategy is failing. Doubtless Boatshows will tell us that numbers are down because of the economy but that is just an excuse. Its a **** show. I went to see friends and I saw friends, but frankly I'd be very surprised to find myself paying for a ticket next year.

 

[Seajet]

One thing occurs to me; if the show organisers are so clued up about advertising and justify having someone like ms Ecclestone as a ploy only bright PR people would understand...

How come I don't have a clue who or what Tullet Prebon is, or what they do ?!

Could be anything from French sweets to a mental condition...

Doesn't seem like advertising money well spent to me !

 

[Twister_Ken]

One thing occurs to me; if the show organisers are so clued up about advertising and justify having someone like ms Ecclestone as a ploy only bright PR people would understand...

How come I don't have a clue who or what Tullet Prebon is, or what they do ?!

Could be anything from French sweets to a mental condition...

Doesn't seem like advertising money well spent to me !

That's because you (and me) are its not target market.

"Tullett Prebon offers broking solutions to volatility trading, interest rate options, treasury, credit derivatives, equity derivatives, capital markets, institutional ... "

Guess the CEO likes sailing.

 

[Boomshanka]

So is anyone going to explain the connection between a Grand Prix, Tamara Ecclescake,The London Boat Show and Dylan's Prebon Tullet?

Money

 

[fisherman]

It's just a sad indictment of this country that money is the only thing you need to be a celeb of sufficient standing to open the Boat Show. Oh, and being female I suppose, can't see them asking a male just because his dad gave him a fortune. Devalues the whole thing.
Mind you, I haven't been since 1968. There was a bar with nought but Guiness in it, which the two of us made a stirling effort to empty, then we went to the Cross Keys in Chelsea and ate their entire evening's supply of curry.

 

[Applescruffs]

Muggings ??

78 posts on and how many 'views'?

So maybe the Boat Show 'promo' guys might just know how to promote an event after all.......think about it.....

 

[Lakesailor]

...and how many of us went?
...and how many of us think it's a scam?

I'm sure they could provide numbers to show what a grand PR and marketing job they did. As long as they gloss over the effect it's had.