Press Releases
ALEXANDRIA, VA (April 20, 2016) – The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) today announced the 2016 launch of its State Marketing Programs, a nationwide effort to increase fishing license sales and boat registrations among lapsed participants. New this year, the Fishing License Marketing Program has been packaged as a complete toolkit which state agencies can utilize to reactivate lapsed anglers in their state. The 2016 Boat Registration Marketing Program, which is being conducted in partnership with 18 state agencies, focuses on reactivating lapsed boaters with marketing materials that encourage them to register their boat.
“Our State Marketing Programs have been key components of our overall strategy to increase participation for nearly a decade now,” said RBFF President and CEO Frank Peterson. “We look forward to the continued success of both programs and encourage all state agencies to ramp up their email collection in this increasingly digital world.”
The new Direct Mail & Email Marketing Toolkit to Reactivate Lapsed Anglers signals a new direction for the State Fishing License Marketing Program, which RBFF successfully ran for eight years. With rising costs, RBFF shifted the program to focus solely on direct email messaging in 2015. RBFF has now packaged all program resources into a step-by-step guide that provides straightforward instructions to plan, execute and manage state agency lapsed angler reactivation programs. Leveraging the recognizable Take Me Fishing brand and three proven messages, the Toolkit includes direct mail and email templates which states are able to download and customize to best fit their needs.
The State Boat Registration Marketing Program, initiated nationwide in 2012, works to reactivate lapsed boaters who haven’t renewed their boat registration for at least one season via clever, informational direct mail pieces. In all, over 535,000 four-color direct marketing letters are being distributed to lapsed boaters in 18 states. The 2015 campaign resulted in more than 45,000 boats re-registered and $1.65 million in gross program revenue.
State agencies will receive all of the revenue generated through these State Marketing Programs to help fund conservation efforts. Over the past two years, partnering states have benefited from a total of nearly 300,000 licenses sold and over $6 million in gross program revenue. In addition to these programs, RBFF also works with states to enhance their overall marketing and communications capacity, as well as ways to improve their fishing license and boat registration processes. For more information on these programs, please email Joanne Martonik, Marketing Program Manager.
About the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF)
RBFF is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase participation in recreational angling and boating, thereby protecting and restoring the nation’s aquatic natural resources. RBFF developed the award-winning Take Me Fishing™ and Vamos A Pescar™ campaigns to create awareness around boating, fishing and conservation, and educate people about the benefits of participation. Take Me Fishing and Vamos A Pescar help boaters and anglers of all ages and experience levels learn, plan and equip for a day on the water. The campaign websites, TakeMeFishing.org, and VamosAPescar.org, feature how-to videos, information on how to get a fishing license and boat registration, and an interactive state-by-state map that allows visitors to find local boating and fishing spots.
