Sculley Boatbuilders Builds a Brand
Sculley Boatbuilders, a builder of high-end custom sportfishing boats, came to Palm Beach Image Factory in November of 2002 to launch a comprehensive marketing and public relations campaign for their company. They had been in business for 2 years and had not sold a single boat. Sculley boats started at $1 million and larger craft cost $8 million and up. Our main goals were to educate the public about Sculley Boatbuilders and to create a brand image for the company. We accomplished this through an extensive PR campaign that in 20 months prompted 30 unique publications to run stories on the company worldwide. PBIF recommended specific publications for print advertising and produced targeted ads to reach each publications specific readership.
We created a comprehensive website for Sculley to educate the public and disseminate information to the press. The website promoted the company’s brand image and value proposition throughout, and expanded as Sculley grew to produce more boats and venture into new markets. PBIF also created an interactive CD that allowed potential customers to learn about Sculley and their product without going online. (it was a thing back then)
PBIF produced a TV commercial for the company which ran on The Weather Channel during the 2004 and 2005 Fort Lauderdale Boat shows. We also created promotional videos for the company to play on the TV’s of their demo boats during boat shows. These presentations did much to educate the public on the quality of Sculley vessels.
We produced all of Sculleys photography and created all of their printed sales and marketing materials including stickers, letterhead, elegant embossed and gold-leafed sales folders, brochures, flyers, banners, and product manuals tailored to each custom boat. These went home with thousands of prospective clients.
Our services to Sculley included the writing and distribution of press releases, speech writing, and the running of press conferences. We regularly provided the press with digital press kits that included all the company’s biographical information, press releases, high-resolution photos, print ads, logos, and a compressed version of the company’s promotional video. We also designed, set up and ran the Sculley booth at the Miami International Boat Show and promoted them at shows and tournaments in North Carolina, Florida and the Bahamas.
Sculley Boatbuilders was very pleased with the results of their campaign. Within 12 months of starting with PBIF Sculley sold their first 6 boats, a remarkable number for a custom builder, and their sales continued to grow until they had to expand their facilities and eventually could not keep up with demand. Unfortunately, Sculley was hit hard by cancelled orders during the Great Recession, and the death of the founder, James Sculley Sr. finally drove the company out of business…a truly sad end for such a great and innovative boat builder whose amazing boats are still with us today.
Palm Beach Image Factory took pride in our ability to cost-effectively deliver everything Sculley Boatbuilders needed at a level of quality that was at or above the industry standard – and the results speak for themselves!
