Research from The SportsOneSource Group has confirmed what many hook and bullet marketers have long known, or at least suspected. Celebrity/pro endorsements play a bigger role in swaying the purchasing decisions of anglers, hunters and shooters than they do in influencing purchases by other types of outdoor enthusiasts.
The 2014 Sportsman's Brand Strength Report, which is based on a survey of sportsmen consumers conducted last fall, found 20 percent of more than 2,500 respondents considered celebrity endorsements as an “Extremely Important” influence on their equipment purchases. That compared to just 15 percent of Specialty Outdoor Consumers surveyed for the 2014 Specialty Outdoor Consumer Brand Strength Report that focused on backpacking, camping, hiking, mountaineering, boulder/rock climbing and paddle sports consumers. The gap persisted, but shrank to 2 points when it came to both Footwear and Apparel, where the percentage of Sportsman rating endorsements as Extremely Important were 17 and 18 percent respectively, compared with 15 and 16 percent for Specialty Outdoor Consumers.
Asked why this might be, industry marketers – and the celebrity pros themselves – offered a simple explanation. Celebrity/pro anglers, hunters and target shooters are more influential because their fans and followers are much more likely to participate in their sports.
“There are spectators, but it's more of a participation sport,” Joe Higgins, vice president of sales for BASS LLC, which owns the Bassmaster tournament series and media properties. “There is nobody who goes to a fishing event who is not a participant, whereas with NASCAR there are not a lot of participants in the stands.”
“You can't buy NASCAR parts,” chimed in Shaw Grigsby, a pro angler currently tied for fourth place in the Bassmaster Elite tournament series. “We are using the same stuff you can get off the shelf. It's a participation sport, millions of millions of people do it across country.”
Grigsby has hosted his own TV fishing show – One More Cast – for 19 years. He lists 11 brands at the bottom of his website and works with several of them to develop and test products.
“I don't think the value of that will ever diminish,” Grigsby said of the expertise elite pro can offer consumers. “People still come up to me at the tournaments and ask for autographs, but they also want to know about techniques or rigging. I get questions daily on my Facebook page. So we are very corrected unlike other pros who you may see once at distance. I think that gives us a much better platform.”
It helps that anglers are often competitive by nature, said Luke Labree, marketing communications manager for Johnson Outdoors Watercraft Inc., which owns the Old Town, Ocean Kayak and Necky kayak brands.
“Hunters and fishermen are always looking for that latest nugget to help bag a bigger buck or catch a bigger fish,” Labree said. “They are very goal- oriented.”
Johnson Outdoor Watercraft Inc. has boosted membership on its ambassador team from 30 to about 70 in the last three years as part of a larger shift not only toward the fast-growing kayak fishing market, but what marketers have dubbed the “prosumer.” While about half the people on Johnson Watercraft's team compete at bass and other fishing tournaments only about 15 percent use the company's boats to earn the bulk of their income.
That marks a big change from three years ago when the business focused on one or two globetrotting adventurers. While they showcased the sport in a great light, Labree said the content they generated was not registering with consumers because it was too disassociated from their daily lives.
“By putting the prosumer in the spotlight we were able to make it much more accessible,” said Labree. “If you show someone fishing off the coast of Africa for a fish no one in America is ever going to catch, they will not relate. Whereas if they see someone trolling in the Everglades or on the Great Lakes they say, 'Hey, I can do that?”
The 2014 Sportsman Brand Strength Report focuses primarily on footwear, apparel and equipment brands across the hunting, fishing and shooting sports business. To participate in the Brand Strength Report survey, each respondent must have purchased sportsman‐related footwear or apparel in the past year, or sportsman‐related equipment in the past several years.
To order the Brand Strength Report or to customize your personal report, contact Bethany Ehlert Cooner, director of market research at (303) 997-7302 or SOSResearch@SportsOneSource.com.
