SEA RAY WINS AGAIN / WHAT ELSE IS NEWS?

This is all great marketing

Sea Ray Wins 5 More CSI Awards Totaling 68 – the Most in the Industry.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 19, 2016) — Sea Ray recently was recognized by the marine industry’s independent trade organization for excellence in customer satisfaction, the 12th consecutive year the company has received the honor. Sea Ray earned five 2015 Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Awards from the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), bringing the company’s total to an unprecendented 68 CSI Awards. The NMMA announced the awards during the Industry Breakfast held at the recent 2016 Miami International Boat Show.
“There can be no higher goal than the complete satisfaction of your customers,” said Tim Schiek, president of the Sea Ray Boat Group. “We take great pride in the fact that our customers rank their Sea Ray experiences so highly across this many categories. It reflects the hard work of our extensive dealer network, as well as the commitment of our employees to produce beautifully crafted luxury sport boats, cruisers and yachts.”
Sea Ray’s newest awards came in the following five categories: Deck Boats, Fiberglass Outboard Boats, Inboard Express Cruisers, Sterndrive Bowrider Boats, and Sterndrive Cuddy and Express Boats.
The CSI Award is further affirmation that Sea Ray’s broad portfolio delivers the ultimate on-water experience for every style of boater. As “The Most Awarded Boat Brand. Ever™”, Sea Ray has through the years earned accolades from the industry’s toughest critics and in the most stringent rankings, including those of J.D. Power, the NMMA, the AIM Media Group and Boating Industry magazine.
“Sea Ray delivers more innovation and more excitement year-after-year, and our customers clearly appreciate that,” said Schiek. “Satisfaction measurements are our most valued metric because they cover the whole experience, from the quality and design of our boats, to the comfort and durability they provide, to the value the customer receives. Our boats represent our commitment to delivering a luxury experience and a first-rate customer service to our valued owners.”
The CSI Awards are an independently administered measure customer satisfaction, only recognizing boat and engine manufacturers that receive the highest marks. To achieve the requirements for the Marine Industry CSI Awards, Sea Ray achieved and maintained a standard of excellence of 90 percent or higher in customer satisfaction over the past year. This score is based on information provided directly by nearly 60,000 consumers who purchased a new boat or engine during the period from April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016. -FROM MARINE MAX

Surprise, surprise even the Marine Max announcement was pretty slick. I worked for both of these companies over the years and know them better than they think. I am not saying that Sea Ray doesn't have the highest CSI ratings among their customers, they should, but damn what do you expect. The worlds biggest boat builder with the worlds biggest budget wins "Yippie". I would certainly hope so! This will be in every Marine Blog, Industry Magazine, where ever there is space in North America.

 Sea Ray with the support from it's parent company Brunswick has had a few years to get this right starting in 1960 in the marine industry. Brunswick has owned or still owns Owen Yachts, Larson, Mariner, Motor Guide, Zebco, IDS, Mototron, Meridian, Quicksilver, Partnered with Cummins, Land & Sea, Cabo, Maxum, Trophy, Spectrum, Rayglass, Bella, Aquador, Flipper, Swivl Ease, Wahoo, Baja, Astro, Vision, StarCraft, Monark, Lowe, Lund, Harris,Omvik, Uttern, Askeladden, Arvor,Savage, Valiant, Hatteras, Sealine, Princecraft and more. I would hope with all this experience they should win. Another win for Sea Ray one of Brunswick's crown jewels is as predictable as the  sun will come up tomorrow. I have nothing against Sea Ray or Brunswick myself, but we cannot pretend that they are on the same field as every body else.

A little history the Marine Max we all know probably wouldn't have existed without Brunswick cash. They are not the only ones.

 The initial public offering consists of 4,780,569 shares (including 1,264,745 shares sold by selling stockholders) at a price of $12.50 per share. Salomon Smith Barney and William Blair & Company were the managing underwriters for the issuance. The 3,515,824 shares sold by the Company include 1,861,200 shares sold directly by the Company to Brunswick Corporation. The underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase 437,905 additional shares from stockholders of the company.

Can we get over the SR Logo for a minute lets discuss the boat builders who are not under the Brunswick umbrella who managed to survive the economic crash and have better boats than ever. This is why I started Boat Nut this Industry is so polluted with the big B its not even funny. They are like Micro Soft in the soft ware business. If you are successful they buy you, if they don't like you well..., and they have so many back door restrictions to anyone who dares to try something new (even an on line parts store needs the blessing of Land & Sea which it probably will not get).

Sea Ray and Brunswick are the giants in marketing:   Headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill., Brunswick Corporation endeavors to instill "Genuine Ingenuity"(TM) in all its leading consumer brands, including Mercury and Mariner outboard engines; Mercury MerCruiser sterndrives and inboard engines; MotorGuide trolling motors; Attwood, Garelick and Whale marine parts and accessories; Land 'N' Sea, Kellogg Marine, Diversified Marine, BLA and Bell RPG parts and accessories distributors; Bayliner, Boston Whaler, Brunswick Commercial and Government Products, Crestliner, Cypress Cay, Harris, Lowe, Lund, Meridian, Princecraft, Quicksilver, Rayglass, Sea Ray and Uttern boats; From: BRUNSWICK SITE

Now the NMMA the bestowers of these coveted awards, who are they?
 Oh yah and they own Discover Boating ( BEEN TO A  BOAT SHOW LATELY) . Well they receive their funding from you guessed it -------------! Check this out:

Boat Manufacturer Division (BMD)

Nearly 200 boat brands representing more than 85% of the boats sold in the U.S. recognize the value of NMMA Certification for their business and their customers. Promote your NMMA Certified boats through Discover Boating and join other industry stakeholders in support of the association’s efforts to protect and grow recreational boating through public policy advocacy and industry-focused growth initiatives.

Benefits

Some of the benefits you will enjoy as an NMMA member are:

• Cost-savings, including 5–20% off consumer boat show and IBEX booth space rates
• Access to NMMA’s comprehensive library of industry statistics including exclusive reports
• Exclusive access to resources such as the boat and accessory warranty repair survey— a 50-state reference guide to laws and regulations governing warranty repair work
• Export development assistance through our partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce
• Learn more about the benefits of NMMA membership by visiting our member benefits page.

Dues

Boat Manufacturer Division (BMD) dues are based on the total North American marine sales for your company’s most recently completed fiscal year. Click here to view the BMD dues schedule or reference Section II on the NMMA Membership Application.

Eligibility

To join NMMA’s Boat Manufacturer Division (BMD) your business must manufacture or import boats. BMD membership is also contingent on the following:
1. Completion of the NMMA Certification program within 12 months of joining NMMA. NMMA Certification helps ensure your boats are built to applicable standards set by the American Boats & Yacht Council (ABYC), and promotes their compliance to the public. The annual cost to become certified ranges between $1,500 and $2,000.
2. Support of the Discover Boating program through the Grow Boating membership fee. This fee is based on the horsepower of engines packaged with your boats and is billed separately.
If your business is based outside North America must have a business presence in North America operating as a legally authorized sales office, importer, division, etc. Without a business presence in North America, an application for NMMA membership will not be considered.

NMMA Certification

Currently, 85% of all boats sold in the United States are produced by NMMA Certified boat manufacturing members. The NMMA Certification helps manufacturers ensure their boats are built to applicable standards set by the American Boats & Yacht Council (ABYC), and to promote their compliance to the consumer. Participating boat manufacturers must submit applications for all models; each model must be physically inspected by an NMMA inspector annually. To achieve Certification, a manufacturer must demonstrate that all variances found during the inspection have been corrected.  Manufacturers of NMMA Certified boats benefit from:

• Assurance their boats meet the industry standards for the United States (ABYC Standards)
• A detailed hands-on inspection and verification process
• Improved consumer confidence
• Increased brand respect and awareness through Discover Boating
• Liability protection and product liability insurance discounts

Grow Boating Membership Fees

NMMA members support the Grow Boating Initiative through vision, leadership and financial contributions. The Grow Boating Engine Assessment is the primary funding tool. All NMMA Boat Manufacturer Division members are required to pay this assessment on the engines that are used in their boats.
Of the 5 million consumers to visit DiscoverBoating.com in our 2015, 2.8 million consumers clicked directly through to manufacturer sites from the Boat Selector section to shop on their own. In many cases DiscoverBoating.com is the #1 or #2 resource of web traffic to manufacturers sites, which can be measured by your own personal Google Analytics.  From NMMA SITE

SO HOW ARE WE AS BOATERS SUPPOSED TO BUY ALL THE HYPE?!

To guarantee access to all of  Boat Nut Magazine articles, pictures and featured services visit the official Boat Nut Magazine ©™ website. Be sure to reply to the Boat Nut Association registration on our site for the latest Boat Nut weekly and monthly news letters and opportunities.

http://boatnutmagazine.com/

Copyright 2015 © Boat Nut Media, Toronto, Ontario. All rights reserved. No part of this information/publications may be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or reproduced in any way, including but not limited to photocopy, magnetic, or other record, without prior agreement and written permission of the publisher, Boat Nuts Media ©™ No liability is assumed with respect to the information provided

 Connect with the Magazine web site