Discover Boating Dry Stack Storage Campaign
Growing Demand for Dry Stack Storage Through Industry Collaboration, Consumer Education and Data-Driven Marketing
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Developed and delivered South East Queensland's first collaborative dry stack awareness campaign involving six leading marina operators.
Created an industry-wide consumer education program designed to increase awareness of dry stack storage and generate qualified customer enquiries.
Developed the interactive "Find Your Best Dry Stack Marina" Quiz, which became the primary lead generation tool and a valuable source of market intelligence.
Generated more than 157 qualified enquiries and over 13,700 landing page users during Phase 1.
Captured valuable consumer insights that helped optimise campaign messaging and identify emerging boating trends.
Successfully completed Phase 1, with all participating marinas electing to continue into Phase 2 following positive campaign outcomes.
The Opportunity
Dry stack storage is one of the fastest-growing marina sectors globally, offering boat owners a more convenient, secure and low-maintenance alternative to traditional trailer storage and wet berthing.
Despite its increasing popularity, many recreational boat owners across South East Queensland still had limited awareness of what dry stack storage is, how it works and the benefits it can provide. At the same time, marina operators were investing heavily in dry stack infrastructure and seeking more effective ways to educate consumers and generate qualified enquiries.
Recognising this opportunity, Zeal Marinas partnered with the Boating Industries Association and six participating marina operators to create a collaborative campaign designed to grow awareness of dry stack storage across the South East Queensland region.
Participating Marinas
What the Client Said
"The Discover Boating Dry Stack campaign has been an extremely positive initiative for our industry. By working together, participating marinas have been able to reach a much broader audience than any individual operator could achieve alone. The campaign has helped increase awareness of dry stack storage, generated quality leads and provided valuable insights into customer demand. The collaborative approach has created a strong foundation for future growth, which is why we were pleased to continue into Phase 2."
Richard Barrett
General Manager, Scarborough Marina
Rather than competing independently for market attention, these operators collaborated under a single consumer-facing campaign designed to grow awareness of the entire dry stack category and create stronger pathways into boating.
The campaign objective was simple:
Increase consumer awareness, educate boat owners and generate qualified enquiries for participating dry stack operators.
Marina Design Driven by Commercial Outcomes
A key component of the project involved reviewing the proposed marina redevelopment through a commercial and operational lens.
The assessment included detailed analysis of berth mix, vessel size trends, catamaran demand, dredging requirements, fairway widths, power infrastructure and marina configuration. Recommendations focused on ensuring the marina design reflected future boating trends rather than existing demand patterns, particularly the growing shift towards larger cruising vessels.
Zeal Marinas identified opportunities to optimise berth allocations, standardise berth categories, improve flexibility within the marina layout and maximise the revenue-generating potential of the available water space. The review also considered how design decisions would influence future occupancy rates, customer demographics and long-term operational efficiency.
Rather than viewing marina infrastructure as a standalone investment, the redevelopment was approached as a foundation for long-term commercial growth and future asset appreciation.
Building the Business Case for Long-Term Asset Value
Beyond marina design, Zeal Marinas developed a comprehensive commercial strategy designed to maximise occupancy, yield and overall marina value.
Through benchmarking against nine comparable marinas, detailed occupancy analysis, customer profiling and revenue forecasting, the project identified a clear pathway to reposition the marina as the leading marina experience in Northern New South Wales. The strategy recognised that improved infrastructure alone would not deliver premium pricing or stronger occupancy without a corresponding uplift in service, facilities and market positioning.
A staged pricing and revenue strategy was developed alongside occupancy forecasts and customer acquisition plans. This provided ownership with a structured roadmap for increasing revenue while maintaining customer retention throughout the redevelopment process. Every recommendation was assessed against its ability to improve return on investment, strengthen marina performance and contribute to long-term asset value growth.
Educating a Market, Not Just Selling a Product
One of the biggest challenges identified at the outset was that many boat owners simply did not understand what dry stack storage was or whether it suited their boating lifestyle.
Rather than leading with a sales message, Zeal Marinas developed a content-led education strategy focused on explaining the real-world benefits of dry stack storage, including convenience, reduced maintenance, improved security, boat protection and easier access to boating.
The campaign combined educational content, customer stories, marina showcases, boating tips and video content to position dry stack storage as a boating lifestyle solution rather than simply a storage product.
This educational approach helped build trust with consumers while creating stronger engagement and enquiry quality across the campaign.
Delivering a Multi-Channel Campaign
To maximise reach and engagement, Zeal Marinas developed and managed a fully integrated campaign spanning multiple digital channels.
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Discover Boating eNews
Facebook and Instagram
YouTube Advertising
LinkedIn
Dedicated Landing Pages
Lead Generation Funnels
Organic Social Media Content
Partner Marina Marketing Assets
While the campaign was specifically targeted at South East Queensland due to the location of participating marinas, Discover Boating's existing audience and content assets generated significant engagement from boaters across Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and other boating regions nationally.
This highlighted a broader national demand for dry stack education and created a strong foundation for future campaign expansion.
The Quiz That Powered the Campaign
One of the most successful aspects of the campaign was the development of the interactive consumer tool:
"Find Your Best Dry Stack Marina"
Rather than directing users straight to a standard enquiry form, visitors were invited to complete a short questionnaire which matched them with the most suitable participating facility.
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Their location
Whether they currently owned a boat
What stage of the boating journey they were at
Preferred boating activities
Lifestyle preferences
Future boating aspirations
This approach generated significantly richer consumer data than a traditional lead form.
Not only did it help prospective customers identify the most suitable marina, but it also provided participating marinas with valuable market intelligence. The insights gathered were continually fed back into campaign optimisation, allowing Zeal Marinas to refine content themes, messaging and advertising creative around the interests of highly engaged consumers.
Perhaps the most interesting finding was the growing number of consumers who indicated they did not yet own a boat but were actively considering entering boating.
This demonstrated that the campaign was doing more than generating dry stack enquiries, it was helping attract new people into boating by showcasing a simpler and more accessible pathway to boat ownership.
For participating marinas and the wider boating industry, this represented one of the most valuable outcomes of the entire initiative.
Turning Awareness Into Demand
The campaign successfully combined consumer education with measurable lead generation outcomes.
Through educational content, targeted advertising, customer testimonials, video content and the dry stack quiz, the campaign generated qualified enquiries while helping operators better understand customer behaviour and future demand patterns.
The data confirmed particularly strong demand across Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast and the northern Gold Coast markets, while broader Discover Boating channels generated additional engagement from interstate boating audiences.
More importantly, participating marinas gained valuable insights into where enquiries originated, what boating experiences consumers were seeking and how future marketing activity could be refined.
Building a Platform for Industry Growth
A key outcome of the initiative was the creation of a scalable industry platform that could be expanded and refined over time.
Rather than operating individual campaigns, participating marinas benefitted from collective storytelling, coordinated messaging and a larger combined audience reach. This collaborative model created efficiencies for operators while delivering stronger market impact.
The campaign also helped build greater awareness of dry stack storage within the recreational boating sector and positioned it as an increasingly recognised storage solution for Australian boaters.
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Six participating dry stack marina operators across South East Queensland.
157 qualified enquiries generated through lead capture activity.
Significant engagement achieved across social media, YouTube, eNews and Discover Boating channels.
Valuable first-party consumer data captured through the "Find Your Best Dry Stack Marina" quiz.
Identification of a growing pool of prospective new boat owners entering the boating market.
All participating marinas committed to continuing into Phase 2 following completion of Phase 1.
The Outcome
The Discover Boating Dry Stack Storage Campaign demonstrates Zeal Marinas' ability to deliver industry-wide initiatives that create demand, educate consumers and support long-term market growth.
By combining industry collaboration, consumer education, digital marketing, lead generation and data-driven insights, Zeal Marinas successfully helped grow awareness of dry stack storage while creating measurable value for participating marina operators.
Importantly, the initiative delivered more than enquiries. It provided valuable consumer intelligence, identified emerging boating trends and demonstrated that dry stack storage can play an important role in attracting both existing boat owners and new entrants into boating.
The success of Phase 1 established a strong platform for future growth, with all participating marinas choosing to continue into Phase 2 and expand the momentum generated through the campaign.