Is this how we should market water skiing?

[RichardDoane]

smart people appreciate the beauty in all things...

[boarditup]

The entity with the dollars for marketing are the ones who sell the sport. Other than the INT, we don't have a sport marketing arm. It is up to Radar, MasterCraft, MasterLine, etc. to determine how best to connect to the potential buyer. My latest marketing is a direct appeal to school-age kids to learn how to ski (and yes, wakeboard) and they really did not connect with photos of athletic bodies - they wanted something to do and other kids to do it with. So, the best marketing, in my opinion, is whatever swimsuit you are in throwing the potential skier a rope.

 

As for the photos, as long as they are tasteful, I am on board. Some of the Reef and Abercrombie ads are tasteless. The photos I have seen from the waterski vendors have been decent.

[Horton]

@skoot123 No one purchased anything from those ads so then left

[Horton]

You guys realize the title of this thread is a joke. ... I just needed a title for the pictures.

[DooSPX]

@Horton, the thread title may have been a joke but it really does bring up a good discussion that can remain (halfway) civil and pertain to the topic!

[skibug]

Enought talk....somebody post some more pics....I want more pics!! :)

[Waternut]

I love the new direction. Regardless of the actual intent of the thread, I've found that girls are typically more interested in skiing over wakeboarding but are more reserved about skiing aggresively until they see another girl doing it. I feel like they have a fear of failure when only guys do it but when another girl goes out, it brings on new challenges and goals and the right kind of girls feel like it's now possible.

[bishop8950]

@horton What does Krista think of you posting the pics? Especially since you broke her ankle getting the dawn shots

[Wish]

Just need one hot girl in a bikini that said she lost 50lbs in just 3 months waterskiing and make an infomercial out of it with instructional DVD and our sport goes viral

[Skoot1123]

Three attributes to photos 1,3,5 and 6 that @horton posted are the trifecta: Style, Substance, Action.

[The_Krista]

@bishop8950 .... I don't mind him posting the pics...I'm all about giving back to the sport...whether it is through judging/driving/scoring at tournaments, coaching and working the jr. developments, working for the Pro Ski Tour/Malibu Open, D3, Atlanta Pro Am, writing for BOS or Waterski Mag, bringing friends to the lake and introducing them to my passion or taking photos with Horton at 5am. It is fun for me too and I wouldn't do something that I wasn't comfortable with....Without delving too deep into this conversation about marketing the sport, I do think there is a missed opportunity on highlighting the "life of a waterskier" like many others have posted above. Are we a family oriented sport? Of course, I've been skiing with my parents since I could walk and we still travel, compete, train, BBQ, drive and support each other... that is a huge part of why I love waterskiing....But, like I remind people of all levels and ages (and myself ALL of the time) we do this for FUN (right?) and I think marketing the fun lifestyle is important. Does that mean creepy photos of random model girls crawling on cars in bikinis? I dont think so...but I think embracing the personalities in the sport and appealing to the lake lifestyle would be beneficial to upping the cool factor--even with kids.

 

GirlsThatFly are onto something and I think their vision can be applied throughout the sport...tough, sexy, athletic women from around the world competing in an extreme sport with unique stories and personalities..that is marketable..And coming from a girl, that appeals to me and doesn't push me away. I think the GTF girls are badass and other girls are inspired by them not turned off from the sport by them.

 

And along those same lines for the people worried about offending women, I posted one of those photos on Facebook / Instagram and I have just as many likes from women as I do from guys, if you find that relevant.

 

Oh also...I don't blame @horton at all for the ankle. Unfortunate, fluke accident and I'm really bummed. I find out about surgery tomorrow at 2pm. Fingers crossed please.

[jimbrake]

@The_Krista - well said. GTF is cool. I think GTS (ski) would be even better.

 

I agree that we need to promote the lifestyle, the fitness benefits, and the fun using the skiers themselves, not the random model approach. I remember as a young teenager one of the things that attracted me to the sport was going to a water ski show and seeing that the guys and girls were all super fit and you could tell it was from doing the sport and not just gym fitness. I thought that was cool. Get fit AND have fun, not just slogging away on the road, bike, pool, gym (although I think most of us do a bit of that, too).

 

Sorry to hear about your ankle. Hope you heal up fast.

 

Jim

[gregy]

I showed my teenager Krista's pics. Her response, "nice swimsuit, where can I get one, she's in really good shape look at those muscles, we need to ski more, I'm going to gym".

 

So the pics promoted the suit and the sport, plus motivated her to exercise. It works for me.

 

I'll trust @the_Krista when it comes to marketing. Hope the ankle not too bad, that sucks. Good luck at the docs.

[E_T]

@gregy that's what I like to hear. right on!!!

[gator1]

@the_Krista, so how'd you break your ankle? OTF at the ball? Front foot?

[ForrestGump]

@gregy That is almost the exact same response my neighbor gave.

[bishop8950]

@The_krista I assumed you would fully support as you described. It was more an excuse to give @Horton a hard time about anything. I am way more on the side of vision in marketing and fully support GTF and the like. Thanks for everything you do for the sport and I hope all goes well under the knife

[ntx]

Ok, so lets be honest here. How many of you knew what "GTF" is or stood for prior to @The_Krista used it in her post. My guess is that most of you thought it was a new way to measure DFT. LOL The ballers that have been here for awhile, most likely knew what it was since @horton ran features about them last year. I bet the new ballers were GTF wtf

[Golfguy]

Yes, advertisers and promoters have always known that tasteful pictures of attractive people re-directs attention. There are no bad ideas in a brain storming session and lord knows we need all of the ideas possible. I recall many years ago “Spray Magazine” used to exploit the fact that water sports are done in the hot summer and with the appropriate clothing for this condition. They suddenly stopped doing that and I remember they caught a lot of reader flack. As mention by jcamp (I am also the father of a daughter and can feel the pain) water skiing is a sport of action speed done by individuals with healthy T levels. I say speaking from the stand point of another sport that is struggling to re-invent itself, let’s do what works….tastefully.

 

My two cents.

 

[DooSPX]

@The_Krista - I agree 100% with what you said and it was exactly the point I was trying to make. Thank you for all you do for our sport, I also pray your ankle heals quickly and you get back on the water good as new. Thanks again.

 

 

@gregy - that's exactly what I thought would happen with the females about these photo's / marketing. Thanks for sharing!

 

Like I said, these photo's of @The_Krista are everything we need for the sharing of our passion on the masses. Sexy, flattering, tasteful, stylish to the point that beautiful fit women love to ski as well.

 

Thanks for posting your thoughts Krista.

 

 

[A_B]

I'm still trying to find the boat and engine cover...

[SM]

I like the 12 reasons a handgun is better than a woman t-shirt the guy is wearing. Whoever wrote it didn't have this picture in mind.

[E_T]

@sm you must have that shirt... how the heck can you read that small print with krista standing there

[BraceMaker]

@swc5150 - that's not broken down - Stars and stripes demand that you open the hood and breathe in the glory.

[BraceMaker]

@the_krista - how creepy is slaloming with out a vest? Mad props - but it feels like a snowmobile with out a helmet to me.

[A_B]

[brody]

As a skier, consumer, competitor, and father of a young girl here is my 2cents. The picture shows numerous things, first a competitive skier heavily involved in the sport wearing what she would if she was skiing. This isnt some model wearing a swimsuit that she would never wear in public. She is wearing a sponsors product, no different than oakleys or something like that. It shows the fun side of the sport, and also the how good of shape you need to be in to compete. Why should she or a male counterpart if applicable cover up. This is a sport where the athletes wear bathing suits. I think its very appropriate for our sport, but there is a fine line between tasteful advertising of product and blatant attempt to sell something purely on sex. You cant sell a ski for example and show nothing but pics of girls in bikinis, there has to be a balance of ski related photos as well. Keep it up Horton.

[Skoot1123]

@brody - well stated!

[Horton]

@BraceMaker @The_Krista did not miss the vest until she realized she needed gloves (and then a ride to the ER).

[ctsmith]

Does Krista give skiing lessons?

[Horton]

@ctsmith perhaps but if she was going to your house I would tell her to bring a bodyguard

[ctsmith]

To be clear, you are referring to the remoteness of the location and the body guard has nothing to do with me personally. (Right?)

[Horton]

Mostly :-)

Your site would be AWESOME for photoshoots

[lcarnes]

Fitness is the story! This picture was taken at April Coble's Women's Week last year. Most of these women are over 40, and several are over 50. Skiing is our gym on the water! After that week, one of the first timers who could only get up on two skis undertook a complete life change, losing over 25 pounds, intensively exercising over the winter and returning to Coble this spring to become an official slalom skier.

[Wish]

@Icarnes If I could I would have kept clicking the awesome botton till the line was full. Very cool picture and very cool way to push the sport.

[DooSPX]

@lcarnes awesome! I agree with @Wish 100%

[ral]

@jcamp, what makes you believe that you would be in the running for the most liberal person on this site?

[Horton]

[rayn]

I need a new ski partner. Mine don't look like that, nor ski that well.

[rodltg2]

If she was my ski partner I would be running 38 by now. I would not miss a day !

[Horton]

@rayn good luck with that

[Chuck_Dickey]

That Mastercraft needs a new PTM mirror! And I'll take one of everything @the_Krista is advertising! Great skiing and an all around great Gal. Krista ROCKS!

 

[jcamp]

@ral Just a hunch after spending a lot of time in water skiing. I might be beat but I'd probably at least in the top 5 :-)

[Bulldog]

Yes this is the way to market our sport.

[Chef23]

@rayn if that is going to be your criteria nobody will ski with you.

[skihard]

I think the general public understands all companies use beautiful PEOPLE to promote their wares. Both men and women!

I also think that our society in North America is limited by what we are taught growing up! Don't believe me.........just go to the beach in Rio and see the bikinis they wear down there and ask yourself.............would women in North America wear bikinis like that at home and NOT judge each other like they do down here? It's accepted in Brazil and almost mandated that women wear a Brazilian bikini to the beach no matter what her size and shape. And guess what? Nobody judges them or gawks at them like North Americans do!

I have a teenage daughter as well. And lord lightning I hate the fact that she happens to look darn good in a bikini! Then again on the other hand I'm not because she is a beautiful young woman. Thong NO! bikini yes with style and taste.

We need to move forward and get with the program - beauty & sex both sell. And if it's going to bring more awareness to the sport us on here so like & love then I am all for it.

Tired of fighting wakes and waves from big ass wake and surf boats on public lakes and I promise you all those sports aren't too shy to use what means necessary to move their sports forward.

As someone else stated on here too - our sport DOES HAVE beautiful peopel in it!

 

I say PROMOTE THE HECK OUT OF IT!!!!!! :)

[skihard]

Oh and FWIW? I think the issue is the carb on the boat and buddy is looking it up on line! LOL

[E_T]

@skihard you are a stalker.... 4 barrel wouldt open after the phantom pass. Vacuum or compression is the consensus so far

[skihard]

@E_T .................. ummm ya! NOT! but thanks! :)

[Wish]

Have a teenage daughter and not sure what to think here. Taste seems to be subjective. So if I'm catching the vibe correctly, the women of the sport need to carry the tortch for promotion. I think TGas would like to be included as a torch barer as he seems to be snatching up non ski related sponcers right and left, uses social media affectively to promote them and brought skiing to the forfrunt in Italy.....by dancing. He models as well I believe. Correct to say good looking sells. Correct to say our sport has good looking people. Correct to say we need to get on board with those pushing the envalope and blurring the lines, of say a Hooters resturant add, or arina football may be a bit much. I think TGas is working hard at self promotion as well as pushing our sport. Good for him and good for us. I think @The_Krista is doing the same but let's not lay this at the feet of just the ladies in the sport.