Boating Industry

October 2015

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MARKET FOCUS SECTION { INTERIORS } 54 | Boating Industry | October 2015 www.BoatingIndustry.com Providing that kind of reliability is of top con- cern when appealing to today's consumer. "It kind of all feeds back to the primary issue, which is functionality, cleanability, du- rability," said McDaniel. "Those are things people are starting to trend to [and] say 'If I'm going to spend the resources to either refurbish or outfit my new boat, then what I'm looking for is a functional, durable fabric that I can live with, live on and [I] still enjoy my investment.'" McCrickard said as manufacturers consider products for the interior of their vessels, design selections should be no different than the ex- pectation of the exterior, such as design, engine performance, etc. McCrickard said as manufacturers consider products for the interior of their vessels, design selections should be no different than the ex- pectation of the exterior, such as design, engine performance, etc. "From a performance standpoint, the [boat] manufacturer looks for ways to make the vessel perform better. In the same way, when they look at a floor covering or an up- holstery vinyl or a bimini, they want to choose products that will increase the boat's perfor- mance," said McCrickard. "What's going to provide the best performance, the most unique design and the highest value." Coloration and styling feed into this perfor- mance once you have a quality product. "You have consumers that say 'I want a boat that performs better than anyone else's, but is also designed to catch the eye … give a real wow factor,'" said McCrickard. "By choosing Infinity's floor coverings, upholstery vinyl and bimini tops with their diverse color- ations and constructions, this desire is fulfilled all through one company." The industry should help consumers un- derstand that while they may pay more for an option, the value behind it from a perfor- mance perspective has a long-term benefit. It can be incredibly frustrating for a consumer if they are tearing up carpet or upholstery two years into the boat's life. "If you are a dealer talking to a consumer, you can point to something that is a lot of times overlooked, your floor covering, and speak to the performance value of Luxury Woven Vinyl helping them upgrade to a less maintenance, more care-free lifestyle," said McCrickard. In order to continue improving the perfor- mance of the product for consumers, SeaDek released an updated version of its anti-fatigue helm station foam pad at IBEX that has in- creased in thickness. The top is a high-density non-skid product and the bottom layer is a thicker, lower density foam. "It has the cushion and shock absorption that the customer wants but with the durability on top," said Gardner. SeaDek's pad will also be removable, which was a request for several consumers. Previously, everything SeaDek made was in- stalled on the boat with a 3M, marine grade pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA), and once the PSA is down, it is down for good. With the new pad, SeaDek worked directly with Velcro to use a Velcro application for easy removal, cleaning and reinstallation. "Because many center consoles have access ports where [customers] can get into the bot- tom of the boat, it would be nice to remove the pad," said Gardner. Safety is an important aspect of quality, one that Syntec placed heavy focus on when de- signing its new upholstery vinyl, Elagé. French for "blending," the product blends a number of colors to achieve a seating product without PVC or plasticizer to make it a green product. "We're thinking that it will be the first fam- ily-friendly, kid-friendly upholstery material in- troduced in the industry, because if people will read what's been done on playground equip- ment and children's toys, the chemicals that are involved in making those have been banned by the EPA," said Steele. "So we're taking those same materials out of the seating material and creating a family-friendly upholstery." McDaniel said manufacturers should be asking the right questions when choosing its interior suppliers, particularly how the interior products used by a manufacturer complement its overall brand. "Regardless of whom the manufacturer is, the question that we hope the boat builders are asking are … what is the total experience [or] performance? In other words," said Mc- Daniel, "how do the products we use through- out that boat increase the value of the brand that is that vessel?" "[You want to look at] what's going to provide the best performance, the most unique design and the highest value." — Warren J. McCrickard, marketing and communications director at Infinity Luxury Woven Vinyl SEADEK HAS FOCUSED MUCH OF ITS EFFORTS ON THE VALUE OF ITS OWN BRAND FOR OEMS AND AFTERMARKET CONSUMERS.

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