What were the marketing department smoking?

Non sequitur: making people judge a book by its cover is precisely what videos like these are aimed at.
As a consequence, you can't dismiss the views inspired by the video on this basis.

Just think about it: if you seriously think that it's a mistake to judge a book by its cover (a very respectable opinion indeed), you should criticize even the idea of making videos like this, regardless of how good or bad they are.
Let's assume that all comments were along the lines of "I can't wait to try this platinum berths thing": wouldn't it be a perfect example of a bunch of people judging a book by its cover, anyway?

All that aside, I can't for the life of me understand what doubts in your opinion were cleared up by solent1.
First of all, I had zero doubts/curiosities left after looking at the video: I just thought to have wasted a couple of mins.
And I have a funny feeling of not being alone.

But most importantly, solent1 wrote...
what I can say about the chap in the film to answer some of your thoughts on him.. he own’s the car, lives in a high end property and has multiple successful business’s. No he doesn’t own the boat, I'm confused as to why that matters because as most of you have pointed out, this is a film. He’s also a very well mannered guy and pleasant to get on with. The instant judgement on himself or what he wears, is really more of a representation about yourself more than anyone else.
Now, if there's one thing that this self-contradicting, unsolicited and completely irrelevant explanation makes me think of, it's an old saying which I believe was translated in English as "of the beautiful silence, nobody wrote".

And if you don't understand why, just read the whole sentence more carefully, for how many times as necessary.
I'm sure that eventually you will! :encouragement:
Hear hear!
 
Anyone wanting to see more cheese - ffwd to 54 secs. You can just imagine the director telling the lady, (actor I assume), to get inside the mind of an inovator :)
Shame, nice pictures of boats, they should have stuck with that....


I guess my point is that very few are doing well in this space, why bother putting traditional content into a new medium - doesn’t make sense to me - invite Casey Niestat to spend a week in Monaco and you might be on to something....Could have a problem coaxing him to Southampton Docks tho’

Have you seen what Outremer have achieved with SLV?

While I agree with most of Mapisms post #76 it’s important, (if any of this can be important?), to bear in mind context. For us this is a post on a forum of die hards of a video in isolation with an ‘isn’t this crap’ headline, not really fair imho. In context, say as a rolling attractor in a trade show or in a hotel lobby, or embedded in a news letter - it would be fine.

So yes, judge this kind of stuff by its cover but perhaps be reasonable about the way you came across it.
 
1 I would not like to have the same haitdresser
2 in this vid, all the people who are working for teh wealthy driver and his turkey are white brits...
3 the guy smiling in this vid looks like a kebab dealer...
lesson one: we have, infortunately the same in France
lesson two: marketing depts in UK are corrupted by stupid politicaly correct , as in France...
lesson three: multicultural marketing is hell and the beginning of decadence for our civilisation....

Wow, the only post I’ve ever read on here that I’ve felt worthy of reporting to a moderator! Nasty
 
I bought my 37ft sports cruiser when I was 25 and i'm not a footballer. Does that make me a scammer??

I have no idea.

I bought my Targa 35 when I was in my 20s but I didn't swan around like the chap in the video, it was a much more considered purchase, I didn't brush it off by handing the ropes to a uniformed deck hand then stepping into my waiting hotel room....

Henry :)
 
Of course, if the budget allows you could take a plural approach to content and create a second video which resonates with the majority of contributors to this thread, you’ll just need to find a late middle age, balding male on the edge of Type 2 and their less than completely invested other half, tagging along despite rather wishing her husband would take up golf like a normal man; I’m available at a reasonable rate but you’ll need to supply the Tag Heuer :)

:)

Join the queue.

Solent 1, If you can work around my Pinewood Studio Bond screen testing I'm also available and have my own watch :)

A serious point though, how do you promote expensive aspirational products without pushing the wrong buttons? I've had a go and it's not easy.

As I read through the comments I was reminded of this video for the Princess M class yachts. At the time I thought it was a great video and very cleverly made but in the context of this debate the people in it are genuinely believable, no easy feat with what is a very expensive bit of kit, to me at least.

I couldn't tell you what watches they were wearing but at no point did I resent the family or feel they shouldn't have been there. I have no idea how you use such a vessel in terms of staff and so on but it looked about right to me which is in contrast to the video in question.



Unlike an M class yacht I am very much the target audience for the video being discussed. UK boat owner on the south coast, berthed in a marina, know and like the amenities surrounding Ocean Village, even eaten in the hotel, but at no point did it make me want to push the button. I didn't get the VIP berthing connection, I assumed it was a charter boat.


Henry :)
 
http://www.mdlmarinas.co.uk/platinum

Platinum Berth = Marina Berth in Ocean Village.
Plus ... Staff from the hotel running down to your boat with room service :)

And ...
Full gym and spa membership for two people
15% off all beauty treatments
Freedom Berthing package
VIP booking service
VIP room service to your boat
Complimentary upgrade on hotel bedroom bookings
Wine and champagne delivery service
Complimentary parking
10% off all food and beverage in the HarBAR and HarSPA café
Complimentary glass of champagne and jetty bites when dining in The Jetty restaurant

And when I walked passed yesterday there were plenty of vacant berths in this platinum area whereas the rest of the marina looks pretty full. Talking to a friend at the show who has stayed there overnight once said there’s no additional facilities for these berths and you have to walk to one of the two that were already there which is quite a walk he said.
 
Sorry, but I still don't get what the video is all about. The caption as the top says "MDL Harbour Hotels" as does the closing credits but it's been suggested here that the product being sold is the "MDL Platinum Package". Either way, does it include skippering to bring your boat from other marinas (e.g. Hythe in this case) to OV? And does the service include having someone make up the beds on board your boat?

Being less literal I suppose if the message being conveyed is that MDL and the hotel can remove some hassle then then I guess that come across (providing they are not suggesting non existent services).

Incidentally, what's wrong with the legs 12 seconds into the video? Looks like one is in beach mode, perhaps someone will need a trip to the engine bay after all! And why is the boat coming in to Hythe at 15 seconds!
 
I bought my Targa 35 when I was in my 20s but I didn't swan around like the chap in the video, it was a much more considered purchase, I didn't brush it off by handing the ropes to a uniformed deck hand then stepping into my waiting hotel room....

Wait, is he meant to own the boat? The impression I got from the video was that it was a sort of “experience day” package arranged by or through the hotel.

Pete
 
Sorry, but I still don't get what the video is all about. The caption as the top says "MDL Harbour Hotels" as does the closing credits but it's been suggested here that the product being sold is the "MDL Platinum Package". Either way, does it include skippering to bring your boat from other marinas (e.g. Hythe in this case) to OV? And does the service include having someone make up the beds on board your boat?

Being less literal I suppose if the message being conveyed is that MDL and the hotel can remove some hassle then then I guess that come across (providing they are not suggesting non existent services).

Incidentally, what's wrong with the legs 12 seconds into the video? Looks like one is in beach mode, perhaps someone will need a trip to the engine bay after all! And why is the boat coming in to Hythe at 15 seconds!

This sums up my challenge - I honestly thought ( first post in reply i think) that it was advertising boat charter.

The video itself is fine as far as i goes - it is selling a "lifestyle" but it is of course not clear what lifestyle it is selling. Own boat? Charter? Guardinage in bed making etc etc.

The only thing I am not wild on ( watches, haircut and age cause no offence) is going to sea in a suit!

The challenge I suspect is that most people who own boat feel they have nothing to prove to anyone. The lifestyle type videos with beautiful people etc often get heckles up as what is being sold contrasts so heavily to the reality.

Weather bad, fill up the water, do the washing, fill up with diesel ( it goes everywhere and gets cleaned up), toilet blocked and a myriad of the 100 things that go wrong on boats that then lead to posts on here! Couple this with a bad nights sleep due to swell and the kids getting into trouble for leaving the tap on an the boat running out of water and the brochure and the dream dont quite match!

Car dealers have managed to nail this with engines you cannot see even when you pop the bonnet and "service advisors" and a coffee when you go to get an MOT ( Range rover 2 days ago - made me laugh).

Boat dealers of course don't even get close to this regardless of boat age or value.

They of course will continue to sell the dream!
 
Sorry, but I still don't get what the video is all about.
You're not alone Pete! I did say earlier that the fact that we are all talking about the ad on this forum meant it had succeeded but on the other hand I'm not actually sure what they're selling either. Perhaps the ad isnt aimed at people like us? Maybe we just arent lifestyle enough?
 
You're not alone Pete! I did say earlier that the fact that we are all talking about the ad on this forum meant it had succeeded but on the other hand I'm not actually sure what they're selling either. Perhaps the ad isnt aimed at people like us? Maybe we just arent lifestyle enough?

Mike, are you suggested that we should, instead, be "in the lifestyle".

:eek:;):eek:
 
You're not alone Pete! I did say earlier that the fact that we are all talking about the ad on this forum meant it had succeeded but on the other hand I'm not actually sure what they're selling either. Perhaps the ad isnt aimed at people like us? Maybe we just arent lifestyle enough?

I came to the conclusion quite early on that this is the same as an “irritation advert”, so bad that the company knows you can’t forget it. Go Compare is a prime example. However there is a misfire there as I would rather pluck my eyebrows than buy one of their products.

The fact we are talking about this ad is most definitely not a positive thing for me. Every time I think of it I see Mr Successful. Not sure that I want to be in the same room as him.
 
You're not alone Pete! I did say earlier that the fact that we are all talking about the ad on this forum meant it had succeeded but on the other hand I'm not actually sure what they're selling either. Perhaps the ad isnt aimed at people like us? Maybe we just arent lifestyle enough?

I agree that I don't understand what it is selling but the fact that we're talking about it doesn't necessarily mean it has succeeded if, like me, it puts me off of OV. I would visit OV and possibly the hotel for a meal, however, I visit London for the theatre and a meal but there is no way I would want to live there. I also like to visit and mooch around Port Solent and would stay there for the odd night but too many people mooching around. Great if you want to be looked at I guess.
 
I can confirm that the video was playing outside the MDL stand at the boat show today, to hilarity to one or two who I saw watching it and (apparent) embarrassment to someone in an MDL shirt who I asked what it was about.
 
... what I can say about the chap in the film to answer some of your thoughts on him.. he own’s the car, lives in a high end property and has multiple successful business’s. No he doesn’t own the boat...

Starting to wonder if he was the target market, did you get him to buy a boat after this?
 
Re: What marketing department ?

Uncomfortable it may be but that little video probably sums up nicely how the great unwashed see the world of boating. Perhaps the video could be also be used to illustrate to politicians exactly why those outrageous and unfair taxes on Red diesel should be removed immediately . ? :)
 
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Re: What marketing department ?

Uncomfortable it may be but that little video probably sums up nicely how the great unwashed see the world of boating. P

What you mean is that, by definition, the reality is that anybody who owns a boat cannot afford an expensive sports car and to take the mistress to a penthouse suite in a posh hotel for the weekend?;)
 
Re: What marketing department ?

Uncomfortable it may be but that little video probably sums up nicely how the great unwashed see the world of boating.

I think you're probably right. It reminds me a little of the hilarious 'FX Trader' type videos on YouTube where young guys pretend to be rich by carrying empty Gucci bags and posing in front of other people's expensive cars claiming they're living the 'millionaire lifestyle' forex trading and if you send them money they'll tell you how you could be too. (This kind of thing https://youtu.be/ifaPOGUzPSs )

But presumably this video is supposed to appeal to real boat owners, since they're the only ones likely to have any need for premium marina berthing?
 
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