Sailing demographics?

[RAGAZZA]

All:

I know this is a tough one-everybody has an anecdote, but where are the hard facts??

Hence, I am Researching sailing demographics for potential international sponsorship. Anybody have something on Sailing magz circs in Eur & NorAm?, Web hits, TV auds, viewer profiles, America Cup years and off, around the world races etc. etc.

Yes I share this information.

Thanks,

Charles

[Jeff_H]

I would contact the Magazine websites directly. Sail, Cruising World, Sailing World, and some of the lesser known sailing magazines have web pages. At the very least you should be able to get thier annual publications statement that is required by the US federal government and which appears annually in the back of all major US magazines. The bigger magazines track their own demographics and publish them from time to time. You might also contact US Sailing who also maintains a lot of demographic records.

Jeff

[halyardz]

Jeffs point is well taken. Sponsorship for what? Most of the key existing sponsors already know the demos and some are backing out of smaller events. The first question
is "what''s in it for them?" Unfortunately,
marine trades are often not the most creative
when it comes to marketing..and the "all the
people that see my boat/go to my event will
see your logo" doesn''t cut it with most. Also, you might have better luck with the PR
people than the advertising budget folks.
Try to develop a "unique selling proposition".

[RAGAZZA]

All:

The event is the Around Alone 2002. This type of race is perceived to be a European event but interest is growing in North America (2 Californians and 3 Canadians).

The goal of this exercise is trying to ''show the beef'' to any sponsor. We are therefore quantifying sailing audiences but also qualifying them (male-educated-upper income and why they sail).

Lastly, we are trying to define the larger trend of extreme sports from the armchair adventurer perspective (who dreams of doing this?).

This is a little larger, but why do the French go nuts for single-handed (VG, MINI-T, Route du Rhum, Transat...) while Stateside the (uninformed) perception is of cycling before LeMond & Armstrong.

My short answer: even Frenchmen do not like the French and Americans won''t get involved if they cannot immediately brag to one-another.

Cheers,

C.

[RAGAZZA]

Jeff & Halyardz:

Oh, thank you for the comments...very usefull brainstorming and encouraging to get feed back.

C.

[Jeff_H]

I think you are a little late for the 2002 Around Alone. I think the major temas expect to splash the new boats no later than the early spring so they can get qualifying, sailing and sorting time. I suspect that you are already late for the Vendee Globe but you still might make that if you started now.

Jeff

[halyardz]

If you want to get serious, some of the info is available via syndicated research services like Simmons and MRI. These are long established firms that crosstabulate
hobbies, purchase patterns, and demographics,
as well as media use, even down to which
radio formats the target market listens to and the size of the county they live in. Many
firms subscribe to these services (not cheap)
as they are done several times a year...very
extensive. I''ve got access to some older
results but the real flexibility comes with
the interactive versions (CD based).

You can also compare demo profiles, for example, sailors versus minivan owners. I
teach this stuff in my media research classes and its relatively easy to learn if
you are comfortable with tables loaded with numbers.

You may also wish to contact Gary Jobson''s
organization as at least some TV coverage of
the event (and he''s linked to ESPN) is considered a real perk. For most sponsors
you are really selling signage...like a motor
oil logo on a race car...in the hopes that many will see the logo and it will create an advertising impression. The winners, cars
in this case, provide a perceived product
credibility boost.

Try to locate a friend in market research with access to the services mentioned above.