Aqualung's stance on e commerce

[cerich]

they wont have this stance in 5 years is my guess.

 

[ams511]

I agree with Cerich, I do not think their stance is substainable. At some point they will probably revise their policy. I think Phil is right, over time more and more dive shops will close in small towns and this market will be lost to Aqualung unless they allow online sales or rely on Leisure Pro to service this market.

 

[RJP]

For starters, one would hope that they would invest some effort, time and money here on the LARGEST Media Publication for Scuba Diving. Our monthly unique visitors eclipses the sum of every National/International Scuba Diving related magazine's circulation out there.

Many of our services such as the Private Manufacturers' Forum are absolutely FREE. What a great way to bridge the gap between diver and manufacturer.

Serious question: what's scubaboard's "paid circulation"?

Reason I ask is that "unpaid circulation" is not really considered all that important to advertisers. Likely not a fair comparison for a "scubaboard vs Sport Diver" discussion, but it's a unit of measure that's considered important. The idea is that a magazine that people proactively sought out, subscribed to, paid for, and renew delivers a more engaged audience.

Hopefully you include the "supporting member" counts in your discussions with potential advertisers. The fact that someone pays for something that they COULD get for free is an impressive indicator of the value of scubaboard.

Ray

 

[fire_diver]

Where do you think that Aqualung will be in 5 to 10 years with their stance on E-commerce?

Will the be better off? worse off? left behind? or any other variable.

I predict that within 5 years, AL will change thier stance to allow online sales, or Aire Liquide will "Liquide-date" the scuba diving branch in a sell-off because it's no longer profitable.

FD

 

[PhilEllis]

Serious question: what's scubaboard's "paid circulation"?

Reason I ask is that "unpaid circulation" is not really considered all that important to advertisers. Likely not a fair comparison for a "scubaboard vs Sport Diver" discussion, but it's a unit of measure that's considered important. The idea is that a magazine that people proactively sought out, subscribed to, paid for, and renew delivers a more engaged audience..............

Ray, with all deference to your skills and training in marketing...................maybe this is also a changing force in marketing. The conventional wisdom has always BEEN that "unpaid circulation" was not considered very important. Remember, just as the electronic media/internet age is changing office supplies marketing, electronics marketing, scuba equipment marketing, and every other type of "commerce", it may do the same for the advertising and marketing profession. Two years from now, Pete's "unpaid circulation" may be MUCH more important to advertisers than the much lower distribution of "paid circulation" vehicles now used for advertising.

Phil Ellis

 

[mdb]

they wont have this stance in 5 years is my guess.

cerich: it will be way less than 5 years.

 

[PhilEllis]

So.... Here's something for Disucssion for all, since this is about Aqualung's stance on E-commmerce.

Where do you think that Aqualung will be in 5 to 10 years with their stance on E-commerce?

Will the be better off? worse off? left behind? or any other variable.


Anyone?

Oh, I love taking a stab at this one. Like several other posters have said, there is no way they will still take the same position 5 or 10 years from now. If so, who will be their customers? Hell, 5 or 10 years from now, 60% to 80% of all college students will take their classes on the internet, even while sitting in their dorm rooms!

If ANY scuba company is still resisting internet sales 10 years from now, their market share will be reduced so much they cannot possibly be a shadow of thier old selves. Of course, remember that 10 years from now, we may be laughing that we made a big deal over the internet and the www. There may well be something FAR more important from a sales and marketing view than the internet.

However, whatever the change is, any scuba company that doesn't follow the change will be in deep trouble.

Side Note: Newt Gingrich (regardless of what you think of his politics, he is an accomplished historian) suggests that some studies say there will be 13 to 18 times more technological progress in the next ten years than what was seen in the decade from 1950 to 1960. That is like technology moving from 1800 to 2000, but happening all in ONE decade. The changes we will see are going to be absolutely amazing.

Phil Ellis

 

[ams511]

Serious question: what's scubaboard's "paid circulation"?

Reason I ask is that "unpaid circulation" is not really considered all that important to advertisers. Likely not a fair comparison for a "scubaboard vs Sport Diver" discussion, but it's a unit of measure that's considered important. The idea is that a magazine that people proactively sought out, subscribed to, paid for, and renew delivers a more engaged audience. Ray

As Phil pointed out "old economy" metrics cannot be used in the "new economy". I agree that old marketing theory placed a premium on paid versus unpaid subscriptions. However there was also the demographic factor. Publishers gave discounts or even free subscriptions to reach the target audience they (and their advertisers) wanted. New metrics may include the number of hits or the return frequency. I am in my 40's so am more old school than new school but I place more weight on what the experienced divers say here than I do on magazine ads and reviews. That is something Aqua Lung needs to consider. Also I have no problem purchasing life support equipment from online sources and prefer the online sources that advertise here.

It is funny but most of know the first names of the dive stores and manufacturers that are active here, I recently went to two local dive stores and have no clue who the owners are, let alone their first names.

 

[Scared Silly]

I bet within 2 years AL is no longer the NA distributer for Suunto.

 

[RJP]

Ray, with all deference to your skills and training in marketing...................maybe this is also a changing force in marketing.

That was my pointy exactly. I think you're at the point of assuming that you disagree with me before you read my posts!



I used to work for a guy that said "If you want to drive folks someplace else, you first gotta pick 'em up where they are."

So, start with the "paid circulation" information as a way to put the discussion in terms that the manufacturer will understand - an apples-to-apples comparison - and then go from there. If you start with something unfamilar they will shut down, or just simply not know how to compare it to what they know.

The other challenge, and this is not just web comparisons, is that with a fixed marketing budget whenever you have a proven tactic that has demonstrated ROI it is hard to figure out what to do with an unproven tactic without a demonstrated ROI.

If I only have $1 to spend and I have a choice between a proven tactic and an unproven tactic, what do I do?