APSP Quarterly - Winter 2008 - (Page 18)

Adapting a Successful Program During the winter of 2007, the members of the Strategic Planning Committee studied successful campaigns of other industries that had found themselves in similar circumstances, including Grow Boating and Go RVing. “We were very fortunate that the boating industry welcomed our inquires 1000 percent; they were very helpful,” says Larry Giles of Vita International, who currently chairs the Strategic Planning Committee. “When you look at what their industry faced when they came up with this program, you could almost replace the word ‘boat’ with ‘hot tub.’” “We found a comrade in arms who was really ready to open the books on their entire program,” adds Robinson. “They borrowed from the RVs and changed it to apply to boats. Boats are closer to hot tubs, so we’re taking the boating program and modifying it for hot tubs.” The committee worked with a public relations firm to figure out what the costs of such a program would be, then presented their preliminary fi ndings to industry-wide meetings with hot tub manufacturers and suppliers in April and May 2007. The attendees were generally supportive of the concept, although they had many questions about the details and logistics of the program. To address those questions, the Strategic Planning Committee established seven task forces, including funding, organization, research and statistics, certification, marketing, sales and communication. Most of the committee’s efforts to date have been concentrated on funding and organizing for the initiative. Those two task forces developed a preliminary framework and funding mechanisms for the program, presenting their recommendations to a meeting of industry representatives in late September. Initiative Highlights The mission of the hot tub program is to develop and implement initiatives that promote and improve the consumer hot tub purchase and ownership experience, leading to increased sales of hot tubs and related products and services. The initiative will take a multi-faceted approach. On the surface, it will be similar to other industries’ programs, such as Got Milk?, Where’s the Beef ? and Grow Boating, with advertising for print, radio and television that will carry a yet-to-be-determined hot tub industry tagline. “When you drill down, this initiative will also encompass the four pillars that APSP stands for – advocacy, education, research and promotion,” says Gorlin. The program will help fund medical research that helps demonstrate the health benefits of hot tubs. “We’ll also do some simple marketing research that will tell us who the buyers are, where they are located and what they want to hear, so the dollars that we spend on marketing have the right message and reach the right people. Currently we believe that there are at least 54 million households that fit our demographic and do not own a hot tub,” Gorlin says. “Whereas manufacturers in the past have competed against each other in marketing to cut a slice of the existing pie, what we’re doing is increasing the pie for everyone. So if one manufacturer currently has 15 percent of the market, he still may have that 15 percent of the market in three years, but it’s going to be a larger market.” The education side will come in with the proposed certification program, he continues. “We plan on putting a medallion or certifi346102_Industrial.indd 1 18 | AQ A P S P Q UA R T E R LY 10/18/07 8:14:54 AM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of APSP Quarterly - Winter 2008

APSP Quarterly - Winter 2008 Contents President's Message Guest Editorial APSP Annual Report Hot Tub Council Initiative to Speak with One Voice Suction Safety Challenging the Process Industry Update Keeping Pace: Staying on the Cutting Edge With Lifelong Learning APSP News & Resources Advertisers' Index

APSP Quarterly - Winter 2008

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