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RBFF Brings Fishing to West Marine Stores

Power in Partnership: RBFF Brings Fishing to West Marine Stores

By Stephanie Vatalaro

Aug 25, 2022

RBFF leverages partnerships to extend the reach of its Take Me Fishing campaign, and in its’ third year working with West Marine, it rallied around two key research insights to increase participation. Fishing is the #1 activity done on a boat. Women start fishing at a very high rate, but also drop out at a high rate because they don’t see themselves in the sport.

RBFF leverages partnerships to extend the reach of its Take Me Fishing campaign, and in its’ third year working with West Marine, it rallied around two key research insights to increase participation:

  • Fishing is the #1 activity done on a boat.
  • Women start fishing at a very high rate, but also drop out at a high rate because they don’t see themselves in the sport.

In April, RBFF and West Marine drove customers into four West Marine stores to hear from Take Me Fishing’s Wave Makers on topics of local interest. The four events, which were also broadcast live on social media, promoted fishing to a primarily boating audience, highlighted female anglers and the knowledge of our Wave Makers Ambassadors, and provided an opportunity for content creation for Take Me Fishing’s website and social channels.

 

 

Four Wave Makers presented in four West Marine stores each Wednesday in April.

  • Nicole Jacobs (@nicolefishing) kicked things off on April 6 in Minnetonka, MN with a talk on crappie spring fishing and bass fishing.
  • In the large Sausalito, CA store Annie Nagel (@anniesfishtales) spoke about kayak fishing for beginners
  • Snookie Risch (@snookiefishing) brought her expertise to the Norfolk, VA West Marine store to demonstrate how to set up a drop shot rig and when/where/how to fish it
  • Amanda and Emily Gale (@galeforcetwins) finished the series with advice on the best rig/lures for mahi and tuna at the flagship Ft. Lauderdale store on April 27th.

 

The events were promoted heavily by both West Marine and RBFF via traditional media outlets, social media channels, and email. RBFF promoted the series on its consumer and stakeholder social media and via trade PR. All together the events generated:

  • Social Media Impressions: 253,073
  • Social Media Reach: 263,115
  • Social Media Engagements: 10,957
  • Email: 18,329 unique opens, 487 clicks (RBFF-only)
  • Media Placements: 166 media placements; 240,542,572 reach

 

Activating around the country created hyper-local content to be shared with both the Take Me Fishing and West Marine audiences, and generated high-quality content in each location to use on TakeMeFishing.org and our social media channels for the months to come.

If you are interested in exploring partnership opportunities, please contact RBFF Director of Partnerships & Development Rachel Auslander at rauslander@rbff.org.

Stephanie Vatalaro
Stephanie Vatalaro
Stephanie Vatalaro is vice president of communications for the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation and its Take Me Fishing and Vamos A Pescar campaigns where she works to recruit newcomers to recreational fishing and boating and increase awareness of aquatic conservation. Stephanie grew up in the Florida Keys as the daughter of a flats fishing guide. Outside of work, you can find her fishing and boating with her family on the Potomac River in the Northern Neck of Virginia.