In Marketing, when you specialize in a particular industry or category, and it’s a growing and profitable sector of the economy, you can ride the wave of speculative spending all the way down the beach. On the other side of that analogy, when the sector that you have immersed your company in is declining, the wave crashes abruptly onto the jagged rocks, splintering all who ride it into the churning sea.

That dramatic image is exactly what all of us struggling to do business in what was formerly known as “the boating industry” have  been watching for much of the past three years.

Mascola Group was firmly positioned as the most influential marketing company in the marine space back then. Our combination of category-leading brands and the transforming campaigns that we produced for them made a huge impact on the industry.

When the tide turned, the spending stopped. Cold. One after another, our loyal clients told their sad tales of fiscal woe, and our primary income stream stopped. Cold.

While other industries have been bouncing back to pre-economic-crash levels, the boating sector continues to lag behind. We all saw hopeful signs last year that new boat sales were finally starting to move, and then gas prices doomed the rally.

But now, the great barometer of corporate confidence is pointing to clearer skies ahead. From an agency perspective, we’re starting to see investment spending in this category. Boat builders, component makers and the marine industry overall are slowly but surely moving back to marketing. It may not be anything more than frustration that’s driving the brands back to action, but it’s certainly good to see.

The number of calls from established marine brands and even some newcomers seeing opportunity is refreshing, to say the least. They’re all being more careful, and exploring new strategic planning programs and options for their brands. They recognize that the old positions and campaigns won’t work now, as the affluent consumer has evolved so much in the last three years.

We have all weathered the storm.  Last night, I sat on a beach and watched the magnificent red sunset over the Atlantic.

Red skies at night…