April NewsWaves 2018
Table of Contents
What You Need to Know about RBFF’s 2018 Campaign
More and more consumers are recognizing the Take Me FishingTM logo and associating it with a brand they can trust for fishing and boating information. That’s great news for the fishing and boating industry, considering Take Me Fishing advertisements are highly influential and encourage consumers to get out on the water.
In 2018, RBFF will continue to focus on its core audience, “multicultural family outdoors” (those who already enjoy outdoor activity, but may or may not be fishing and boating). RBFF will continue to reach out to the growing Hispanic population via its Vamos A PescarTM campaign. New this year will be an effort to reach out to the female audience. Seeing trends in female fishing participation (new anglers are more likely to be young and female, yet are also more likely to drop out of the sport), we are taking aim and hoping to make female anglers feel more welcomed and empowered in the community. According to RBFF’s 2017 Special Report on Fishing, only 19% of female participants feel that they look like an angler; we are here to change that. All ads will include a fun, new call to action: “get your fish on!”
In addition to TV, digital and print ads aimed at our target market, this year’s campaign will look to show women and moms that fishing is a cool and exciting activity that can be a liberating experience. Engaging, energetic images and video feature women and include powerful taglines such as “I’m the captain of my own ship” and “I cast off labels.” Look for these ads in Outside Magazine throughout the summer.
With females making up 45% of new fishing participants, it’s critical we engage this audience and keep them coming back season after season. Free resources like our Photo Library can help you and your organization join in engaging this audience.
RBFF is hosting a webinar on May 1 at 2pm to cover the details of our 2018 consumer campaign, including our strategies to reach the general market, Hispanic, and female audiences, as well as show how you can utilize our newest PSA assets for your own brand. Register for this hour-long webinar today.
R3 Gains Support with New Goals
Effective angler and boater recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3) practices will be critical in reaching the 60 in 60 goal and ensuring a positive future for fishing and boating. Many state agencies have begun investing in R3, but new motions, recently approved by the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies’ President’s Task Force on Angler R3 at the 74th Annual Northeast Fish & Wildlife Conference add even more weight to R3 adoption. Let RBFF VP of State Agency Engagement, Dave Chanda show you what these motions mean to the fishing and boating landscape:
- Can you tell us about the motions that were passed by the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies President’s Task Force on Angler R3?
- What implications do these motions have on the future of fishing and boating?
- 3. Do you see this as a turning point in the importance of R3 efforts?
- 4. How do you see the landscape of R3 changing in the next 5 years?
- 5. How are these motions important to RBFF and reaching the 60 in 60 goal?
More information on effective R3 practices can be found at TakeMeFishing.org/r3.
Learn How Florida Auto-Renewed 200,000 Licenses
Several states have recently implemented the ability for license holders to opt in and allow their fishing licenses and permits to be automatically renewed without lapsing. This program has proven to be an easy and effective way to increase retention while decreasing the churn rate of license purchases.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) implemented this program in October 2015 and, has subsequently seen over 200,000 total licenses and permits auto-renewed, with an estimated 70,000 of these resulting directly from the new auto-renew feature. Seeing this as a valuable strategy for other state agencies to replicate, RBFF has created a case study to illustrate how the license purchase feature benefits both the consumer and the FWC.
We encourage all state agencies to follow in Florida’s footsteps and start automating the license renewal process. If you have any questions, please contact Katie Young, FWC Office of Licensing and Permitting or Joanne Martonik, RBFF Marketing Program Manager.
2018 State R3 Program Grants
Eleven programs in eight states have been awarded grant funds through the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation’s (RBFF) State R3 Program Grants, now in its fourth year. With the goal of helping achieve 60 in 60, the program provided a total of $125,000 in funds to sustainable and replicable angler and boater recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3) initiatives and plans that focus on increasing fishing license sales and boat registrations.
We are excited to announce the awardees of the 2018 State R3 Program Grants:
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
- "Let's Go!" Community-Based R3 Fishing Initiative
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife
- Mass KIDS Boating Day/Week
- Increasing Capability to Evaluate R3 Programs Through Customer Tracking
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
- Angler Engagement Data Management System
New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife
Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
- Oklahoma Multi-Phase License Evaluation Project
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
- ODFW Community Fishing Ambassador Program
- ODFW Field Staff R3 Engagement Project
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
- Angler R3 Instructor and Mentor Training Workshop
- Evaluation of Email Marketing Toolkit
The 2018 State R3 Program Grants support state agency R3 programs in two focus areas: enhancing the capability of agencies to develop and implement effective angler/boater R3 efforts; and implementing angler/boater retention or reactivation strategies utilizing RBFF's Toolkits. Proposals were reviewed and selected by RBFF staff and a Proposal Review Working Group made up of industry Board members, Federal agency and NGO representatives.
RBFF looks forward to working with these agencies to implement effective methods for recruiting, retaining and reactivating anglers and boaters, and sharing the learnings in the future.
For more information, please contact Stephanie Hussey, State R3 Program Director