Why aren't more people taking up scuba diving?

[CT-Rich]

That assumes that "liking diving" is a completely random - and completely rational - event. Do you believe that is the case? Like flipping a coin or rolling dice?

Assuming for a moment that the 70% figure is accurate, I guess a better way to make my point is to say that you would have to get 100,000 people to try scuba diving in order to add 30,000 new divers to the sport... if you had no earthly idea what you were doing.

However, if you knew what you were doing, you could ensure that trying - and even liking - scuba diving is not a random event. How? By focusing more on the customer, and less on the product/service.

Below is cut from a different thread, but along the same lines:

There are several crazy-effective market research techniques that have been proven over and over again to determine the real barriers and motivators that impact a potential customer's behavior.

- What is it that people REALLY want to buy?
- What is it that REALLY stands in the way of them buying it?
- What can you tell them about your product/service to convince them that it will provide what they are looking for?
- What can you tell them about your product to overcome their barriers?
- How can you modify and vary those things in order to charge a profit-maximize price?

Here's my favorite example of a client/agency who figured out what their target customer REALLY wanted to buy... and offered them that. Care to guess what they were REALLY selling?

[video=youtube;GOLXnkbfEuo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOLXnkbfEuo[/video]

The campaign won my former agency many awards (long before I got there) but the award that stands above all others as testament to the power of the campaign was the Effie Award, which are given for advertising effectiveness (as opposed to simply for being "creative") The campaign has been credited with reversing a decades-long slide in oatmeal sales, and it's effects are still in evidence today... well beyond the one product. Without that campaign, you wouldn't see entire grocery store aisles lined with 20 different brands of hot breakfast products... or oatmeal bars and granola bars actually. Even much of the growth of "healthy" dry cereals (ostensibly the competition at the time) can be traced to Wilford Brimley.

So, what was Quaker Oats really selling? Specifically. And to whom? And why Wilford Brimley?

---------- Post added January 3rd, 2014 at 01:07 AM ----------



Fixed it for you.



And I purposely changed "advertising" to "marketing" because advertising is merely one marketing lever. (In fact, it's even a smaller subset of "promotion" which would many other things beyond advertising.) Sure advertising is often the most visible thing people see about a brand... but is not the only lever we pull, and it's never pulled in isolation. In fact, some of the most effective marketing strategies and campaigns I've seen DID NOTutilize adverting at all. Sometimes that's due to budget, but other times it's due to strategic reasons... where/when advertising just wouldn't make sense.

In fact, I'm pretty sure I would not recommend broad-based advertising to drive scuba diving. I cite lots of advertising examples because they are often most familiar to people. But in actuality I spend much of my time doing market research, working on pricing, determining channels of distribution, developing trade programs, retail merchandising, patent/intellectual property law, public policy, advocacy relations, PR, and myriad other things.

I don't disagree about the choice of diving being completely random, but in terms of generating more divers, you want to normalize the activity. In sales the one of the most important things to do is to make the client feel comfortable with the purchase. "Many of my customers" " a lot of people" phrases like that do a lot to close the deal. Brand identification works the same. For most advertising the goal is to create brand awareness and a good feeling associated with the brand. Otherwise what would the purpose of advertising perfume on TV be.

You can't expect every one who tries oatmeal to like it, despite the health benefits and ease to microwave cook it. But the more people who try it, the more likely they will become regular purchasers. With diving, of course, if the quality of the service sucks or the user has an anxiety attack or claustrophobia, or bad dental fillings or doesn't like getting there hair wet, with critters in it they won't keep up with it. But what about the girl that decides critters in the hair is a small price for the sense of flying, finding fossil shark teeth, hand feeding fish, exploring a historic ship wreck or collecting antique bottles. The more that try it the more that will like it. Getting them to keep with it is the job of the shops and boats. But that is also something that the industry can work on. Car dealers and fast food joints spend good money on making the customer experience is a good one. The dive industry needs to do likewise. dive shops should really focus on the experience more than the individual sales. Build a loyal base and the sales will come.

As for marketing diving, there are plenty of diving celebs that could make diving seem so much cooler. Wouldn't it be great if people learned about diving as a sport because they saw that Tom Hanks on Entertainment Tonight and he thought it was a great way to spend family time or Salma Hayek telling Jay Leno she has been diving since she was 12? Tiger Woods is cave certified, be neat if spent 10 minutes on Sport Center talking about why he got a cave cert. Diving grows as it becomes part of the wider culture. Part of why skiing is big is because Robert Redford has huge film festival in ski country and we see all of Hollywood skiing and we think that is something my family can go and do together. There are the twice a year skiers who rent everything and the ones that rent a chalet for a week at Christmas and those that moved to Boulder just so they could ski all the time. Diving is not really much different.


Celebrity Scuba Divers- The Fish Don't Know Them but You Will#

 

[Pullmyfinger]

I just wanted to add a few things from when I started diving. Firstly was the way my Ow class was treated being shoved through by one dive shop here (which I do not do any business with and turn people from due to their actions with my gear purchasing+ handling of my class). that shoved us through in a very short period of time that had 17 people being trained in 1 class. I can say this we all got our certs I know I'm only one diving today and I took about 40 dives to bring my skills up to something respectable(and I'm not resting there I still pick 3 things to work on each dive). I then purchased mu gear including my drysuit (note this is the only dive shop to train people in wetsuits and their gear is about 15 years old give or take). Since here its damn cold in the waters. The cost was fine but the drysuit was a neoprene one and the neck was miss measured by the person doing the measurements. To fix the shower I got every dive with it? $700 for their screw up. You can guess where I took my business after that.

Next treatment by others at the next dive shop I went to. The drop i dives were going to where I was trained because I was the newbie. I got the distinct impression that those I was going with at the drop in (which is advertised for beginners) that I was not welcome or wanted. Add into that the DM who told me "don't go getting yourself killed as this is your third time out diving since OW" following up with her talking to one of the folks working in the shop "great another day of babysitting". Funny how this person who was GUE trained(how do I know the shirt he was wearing + asking her about her training while filling out forms) and a DM working for a shop leading a dive is treating a potential customer like ****...I know this turned me from my second dive shop as well has placed any training with GUE I may ever think of in question.

Funny they were GUE trained? How so?
Their actual capacity was as a DM for the shop.

I'm sorry to hear that t-shirt along with the attitude of the "DM working for the shop" has somehow shaped your view about GUE training.

Just to clarify. You rightly blame the shop and the staff for your bad experience with training and equipment purchase, and not the Agency they represent.

But one DM, who was wearing GUE t-shirt is all it took for you to question any GUE training? GUE doesn't have a DM program.

Why not just be critical of the shop's DM and their attitude, rather than focus on the the GUE t-shirt?

IF you are of the mind to be critical of an agency, and not the person....why would you not "question" any further training from the agency he was actually working under, rather than the one on his t-shirt, which they were not working under at all?

Would products from another company or anything else be under question by you, if they happened to be wearing another type of t-shirt. Would you question Aqua Lung products if that was the t-shirt he was wearing?

 

[boulderjohn]

Back in the mid 1990's we had that discussion at the DEMA board level. The trade show was netting DEMA a couple of million dollars a year (remember we still have expenses to run the organization). I pointed out that Vail/Beckenridge, at that time, was spending close to $20 million to get skiers to ski there. There was no way we drive the industry forward with the limited resources we had.

If you want to know where scuba stands in the world as far as favorite activities go, the next time you are in a large airport, go into one of the really big news stands, the ones with the huge walls of magazines. Scan the offerings. You will see magazines devoted to jsut about any pursuit you can possibly imagine. You will see magazines devoted to activities you didn't know existed--anything they think someone would have a remote chance of wanting to read on an airplane.

But you won't see a scuba diving magazine. Apparently that's too much of a fringe activity.

 

[CT-Rich]

I think that it is also about the focus of dive magazines. Read any thread on Scubaboard about dive magazines. Most divers think they are advertising platforms. A lot about gear and expensive locations and not much about people personalities or the diving itself. Dive training is the exception to that. As a rule, I take all magazine product reviews with a grain of salt. More depth and less marketing would help.

 

[RJP]

I think that it is also about the focus of dive magazines. Read any thread on Scubaboard about dive magazines. [-]Most divers[/-] Of the relatively few ScubaBoard posters who have actually expressed an opinion, most have stated that they think they are advertising platforms.

Fixed it for you.

I know you will think I'm being a smart ass but this level/type of objectivity is critical:

• ScubaBoard membership represents a small fraction of the global population of (English-speaking) divers
• Active members of ScubBoard at any time represent a tiny fraction of all ScubaBoard members
• People who post on ScubaBoard represent a fraction of active ScubaBoard members
• People who have posted in threads about dive magazines represent an exceedingly small fraction of people who post on ScubaBoard
• Most of that exceedingly tiny fraction of that small portion, of a tiny fraction, of a small fraction, of a small fraction have stated that they they think dive magazines are advertising platforms
• Some of the people who have stated that belief... actually DO believe it. Some of those who have stated that they believe that, either do not actually believed that or have no real opinion, but state that they do believe that, because that is considered the socially acceptable/encouraged thing to post on ScubaBoard.
• Many of those who DO actually believe that diving magazines are advertising platforms... still respond to the advertising in such magazines.

All that aside, anyone who has been diving long enough to come to any conclusion about whether or not dive magazines are in truth advertising platforms* isn't actually the primary target audience for the ads in those magazines anyway.

* Uh... "duh!"

---------- Post added January 3rd, 2014 at 03:30 PM ----------

If you want to know where scuba stands in the world as far as favorite activities go, the next time you are in a large airport, go into one of the really big news stands, the ones with the huge walls of magazines. Scan the offerings. You will see magazines devoted to jsut about any pursuit you can possibly imagine. You will see magazines devoted to activities you didn't know existed--anything they think someone would have a remote chance of wanting to read on an airplane.

But you won't see a scuba diving magazine. Apparently that's too much of a fringe activity.

I fly about 20x per year. I've never seen gallons of milk for sale in any of the larger airports in the world. What can I conclude about where milk drinking stands worldwide based on that observation? Simple:
- Demand for 128oz of milk by airline travelers is low, and/or
- Wholesale and retail distribution channels that extend to the airport don't support or warrant sale of milk by the gallon

On the other hand, the Robb Report sells exceedingly well in airports. What can we conclude about the demand for $400,000 cars and $50,000 wrist watches?
- There are more people genuinely interested in buying a $400,000 car than there are scuba divers in the world?
- That the global demand for a Patek Phillipe 5059 is higher than the global demand for milk?

Again, I'm not being argumentative for arguments' sake. Just trying to highlight marketing issues that go well beyond the knowledge/understanding of the casual/amateur observer. The only thing you can reasonably conclude from observing the distribution of scuba diving magazines in airports is that the demand for scuba diving magazines among airline travelers is low enough that the potential profit is not high enough - and/or that specific details of the channel of distribution are too high - to warrant offering them for sale in airports.

Demand considerations:

• Having reviewed media kits from all the main scuba magazines, I seem to recall that the home-delivery subscription rate of scuba diving magazines among active divers is relatively high. (eg proportionately more active divers subscribe to scuba magazines than say, the proportion of active skiier who subscribe to ski magazines.As the number of people who receive diving magazines at home (even if only one title) increases, the potential demand for retail sales of scuba magazines declines.

Distribution/retail considerations:

• Check the frequency of those other “obscure pursuit” titles. I bet you will see that many of them are typically 4x per year or less. Rarely, they might be 6x per year. All the scuba magazines I know of are 8x or more per year. 4x year titles are more likely to be stocked as they have a longer shelf-life.
• Two of the main US dive magazines have a “membership” subscription base (Sport Diver and Alert Diver) further limiting the appeal of retail sales distribution.
• Magazines are distributed by their publishers, who bundle many of their titles together. They also pay slotting fees to get their titles on the shelf. As with any retail setting, the larger companies with more titles/issues/revenue dominate. Scuba Diving magazine's publisher (Bonnier Corp) has 30 titles (some of which are actually trade vs consumer titles) and $180mm in circulation revenue on approx 7mm issues per year, where as Time-Life has 100 titles and ~$2billiion in circulation revenue on 32million issues per year. Hearst has about 30mm issues/year, Conde Nast ~20mm issues. Suffice to say, Time-Life can tell Hudson News "If you want People Magazine, you're gonna rack "Left Handed Carpentry" too." I don't think Bonnier will have as much pull saying "You Can't have Transworld Wakeboarding if you don't take Scuba Diving, too." (Transworld Wakeboarding is actually one of their titles.)
• Anything sold in an airport goes through TSA screening. (I'll wait until we all stop snickering.) Most retail items coming into an airport come through specialized wholesalers/consolidators who deal with airports. (Imagine if every business and company delivered directly to airports... there'd be more delivery vans than taxis lined up outside.) larger companies like Dufry (Owns Hudson News) and Paradies (operate huge portion of airport stores like Brooks Brothers, NBC Stores, Dunkin Donuts, and most of the news/snack/beverage kiosks) consolidate their own shipments. These companies work their deals with manufacturers/publishers on one end and the retailer on the other end. The larger publishers are further advantaged from a standard supply/demand economic standpoint.
• Many of those ultra-obscure titles are probably looking at the airport setting as a unique opportunity to acces potential readers who are desperate for anything, and may be going in at a loss (or even buying their way in) as a strategic decision. Beyond such an opportunistic play, airline travelers skew very high socio-economically so it might be a good play. To test this proposition, look to see if you can find these same titles at 7/11, WalMart, or other drug/food/convenience outlets.

So, again, relatively low demand/availability of Scuba magazines in airport (and even other newstands and bookstores) is likely to be as much, or more, a function of circulation/subscripton issues and publishing industry dynamics, combined with the idiosyncracies of an airport as retail setting as anything else.

RJP - your friendly neighborhood ad man.

 

[serpentara]

As a member of SCUBA's target demographic (single WASP male, high income, lives next to the ocean, love animals/fish, 31 years old) I might be able to give some perspective.

There are a myriad of factors that keep the industry from growing, and in combination, present significant hurdles to adoption by most folks:

Dive shops - Many dive shops do little to retain even the most veteran customer. For example, I have spent nearly $3,000 dollars at one local dive shop, yet the customer service is spotty at best. My best example is this: I purchased a dry suit from them for a great price, it included a PADI drysuit class. I took the class, and after two weeks, never got the "you have a new certification" email from PADI. So I called the shop. The instructor who I spoke to swore up and down that he submitted the materials and would look into it. A week goes by and I hear nothing I call back, same response. Finally, after a month, I call PADI. They ask if I have my temp card… nope. They ask if I have a signed log book for those specific dives… nope. Finally they get on the phone with the shop, and one of the employees manually enters my info into the PADI website. I get the confirmation email that day.

I have had other similar experiences with them. I signed up for a rescue class with the owner of the shop who entered my info into the system. When I went to the shop to check in for the classroom session, one of the employees could not find that I had ever signed up. He then asked for my receipt, which I had on me out of an abundance of caution. THEY HAD SIGNED ME UP UNDER A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CUSTOMER. Granted I have two first names (legal and frequently used common name, Bob Robert sort of thing), but it was not even under my last name, address or telephone. Completely different customer.

I don’t want to be that guy who calls once a week to check on the status of things. These shops are small and have a few employees, and so its easy to get a rep as a problem customer. But, unfortunately I feel like I have to. They are all nice people, and I enjoy interacting with them, but really, a month to get my cert? Putting me in under the wrong customer for a several hundred dollar class? That’s just not professional. I don’t know who to blame, but most people wouldn’t put up with that sort of thing. I have other stories.

That is not to say some dive shops don’t do a great job. One of the local places sends an employee out every Sunday to do a group dive. I have gone with them several times, and gotten to know everyone in the shop this way. It makes me feel very loyal, and encourages me to go out diving.

Cost of equipment - A full kit of decent gear costs $1,000 easily. Renting is at least $40 a pop. That’s a lot of money for someone who is college age and has the time/energy to get into a new sport. My brother had to rely on SCUBA Santa to bring him gear for shore diving. Heck, its a lot of money for most people, especially considering its usually a group activity!

Weight of equipment - I dive a HP100 that is over 40 lbs full, plus 22 pounds of weight between my ditchable weight and my backplate (drysuit). I could probably drop some, but the total kit is still in the neighborhood of 60 lbs. My girlfriend asked "What do women do?" She is hesitant just on the basis of the weight/complexity of the equipment.

Cost of training - The initial price of my OW cert was reasonable. $250 including rentals (BYO mask, snorkel, fins) but the price of subsequent classes are ridiculous. The most egregious example is the PADI Nitrox course. I understand that we are all moving to computers, but the entire course could be boiled down to a flash card that says "set your computer to 1.4 pO2, set your computer O2%, and never use a tank that is not O2 clean with partial pressure fills." There is no reason whatsoever that the course should cost $200. No reason it should cost $100 dollars. That is shameful. On the side of instructors doing things right, the instructor who did my class agreed that it was shameful, and had me learn the deprecated tables, even though they were not required nor part of my crew pack. I called his manager the next day to complement the instructor.

Time - If I am at a dive site at 8 for a single dive, I don’t have everything rinsed and drying until at least 1. That assumes a local dive. A boat is at least an all day affair. Then I have to pack everything away after a day or two of drying. With most activities its an hour or two at most with little post activity effort.

That said, I love the sport, and hope to continue to dive for years to come.

 

[Hawkwood]

This is fascinating. Scubaboard's version of "Under the Influence".

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Maybe scuba diving has become way to complicated and expensive with too many initial barriers, I can see that.
Way back when it started it seems like it was easier. Not that I was around, but I see ads people post of the old days where an entire kit was sold and it was rediculously cheap. I don't know what the relative cost in todays dollars were but I bet it was less.
And even further back, even before any certifications were around, you basically went to Sears or a sporting goods store and picked up a reg, mask, some flippers, a tank (maybe rented one somewhere if such a thing existed) and went diving. The only instruction sheet anywhere was a paper enclosed in the reg box that said "Never hold your breath underwater while brething with this unit".

Before it was just a tank with some straps on it, a double hose reg, maybe a J valve, a plain mask, some Duck Feet, and if you were rich and didn't want to freeze your ass you got a wetsuit for $50. And you'd need a weightbelt with that suit.
And people had a ball.

Now you need a reg set with SPG two first stages and LP inflator hose, a complicated expensive BCD, a expensive mask, expensive fins, weight system, some people pay the big bucks for a drysuit, some people pay the big bucks for lighting, and the list goes on.

The funny part is they were doing the same dives then as now.

 

[dmoore19]

A 1965 dollar is equivalent to $7.36 today.

DollarTimes.com | Inflation Calculator

So maybe the prices aren't that much different. I would however suggest that technology has advanced and things are for the most part are improved and more reliable.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

A 1965 dollar is equivalent to $7.36 today.

DollarTimes.com | Inflation Calculator

So maybe the prices aren't that much different. I would however suggest that technology has advanced and things are for the most part are improved and more reliable.

Yes that's true, things are better as far as quality in things like masks. Regs, not much difference in quality or reliability but ease of breathing and fancy adjustments, yes. Some say that older metal regs were more durable and better made. The Aqualung double hose regulator however is still one of the most reliable durable regs ever produced.
Fins, well the jet fin is from 1965. Other styles of some of these fins, definitly more expensive but highly subjective if they are any better.
BC, not applicable - there were no BC's then.
Wetsuits, the material was better then but not necessarily the fit/cut of the suit.

One thing I do know is people have on a lot more crap on these days just to do a simple shore dive, whereas then they were very minimalistic and minimal means less $ spent on extra stuff.
But on the flip side, they couldn't do the deeper stuff as well or as safe then as now, so the new technological advances come into their own in that application and have expanded the range of recreational diving.

But I still think
just for the entry level person wanting to get into diving the gear these days overwhelms people.
Maybe that's a reason some younger people have taken up freediving instead?