Transforming A Customer Base Into A Fan Base

World Cat is an award-winning manufacturer of power catamarans, twin-hulled watercraft that are quick and streamlined, yet stable enough to safely navigate even the roughest seas. Boaters and fishermen from around the world have embraced this design as the preferred hull for navigating and fishing some of the wildest water in the world.

The Opportunity
In the boating world, catamarans are very much a niche market, and it can be difficult to reach potential customers who aren't aware of the twin-hull design and its advantages. Only a few companies control the entire boating industry, so the competition for a small manufacturer can be overwhelming.

But World Cat has a major advantage over the other companies: their power catamaran owners are intensely loyal, thanks to World Cat's extraordinary efforts at keeping their customers satisfied. These customers and their experience with World Cat’s power boats would be the key to expanding the company’s marketing reach.

The Solution
Working together with WorldCat, Eye Integrated realized that these loyal customers were the best possible salesmen. Positive word-of-mouth can be better for a brand than even the most effective marketing campaign, so we developed a strategy to both nurture and harness the strong devotion of World Cat’s customer base.

We needed to put the marketing focus squarely on these customers, and as a result we began to position World Cat's customer base not just as happy catamaran owners, but as members of an exclusive club: connoisseurs and true boating enthusiasts who know quality when they see it.

By building a mystique around the brand, World Cat would inspire their customers to become "brand evangelists," and help market the catamarans to their boating friends. To facilitate this, Eye Integrated created entirely new sales material with the goal of educating not just prospective buyers but also existing customers about the advantages of a World Cat power catamaran.

The Process
Eye Integrated revamped all of World Cat's sales material, this time with photos and videos that gave an added focus on the customers who already own a power catamaran. This emphasized to potential customers that they weren't just buying a boat...they were buying into a lifestyle.

The new material, especially the World Cat website, encouraged and highlighted communications between the catamaran owners and the company. The World Cat website now features photo galleries of the owners with their boats, a message board where owners can discuss their catamarans, and news about upcoming events of interest to their customers. Not only does this keep current customers happy, but it demonstrated to potential buyers the kind of long-term commitment World Cat has to the owners of its products.

Once potential customers were interested, we had to convince them that a catamaran was the watercraft for them. Eye Integrated created an intensive sales folder that featured customer testimonials, as well as all of the specialized information and technical illustrations that a prospective buyer would want to see.

Other companies feature photography of their boats sailing calm seas on beautifully sunny days, but Eye Integrated knew that one of the chief selling points of a catamaran is how well the craft navigates rough weather. Therefore, Eye Integrated's photographers shot photos and videos of World Cat's crafts remaining steady in rough weather, emphasizing the main attraction of the power catamaran.

The Result
After working with Eye Integrated, World Cat has an even closer relationship with their customer base than before, and their customers enjoy the perks of being part of an exclusive circle. World Cat has begun organizing fishing tournaments and group boating trips to promote their brand among enthusiasts. Their website’s forums are busier than ever, and are now home to a warm community of catamaran owners.

Andrew Brown, World Cat's Vice-President of Marketing, has good things to say about working with Eye Integrated. Check out the Testimonial section to see what he thought of our work.