Sunseeker win for innovative marketing at the National Engage Awards 2022

Published on: 14 December 2022

The ‘Sunseeker Famous Five’ campaign, pioneered by the Sunseeker International in-house marketing department, has won the ‘Best Use of Innovation in Customer Engagement’ at the Engage Awards 2022.

The Engage Awards is one of the country’s most prestigious customer and employee engagement awards, celebrating excellence across various industries nationwide. The British boatbuilder was up against some of the UK’s biggest brands, including Boots, Orange, Coutts and Trailfinders among the ten shortlisted nominees.

Bryan Jones, marketing manager at Sunseeker International, commented: “We are incredibly proud to win this prestigious marketing award. The team has worked very hard to develop engaging customer-centric campaigns that drive sales and deliver real value to our customers. The ‘Sunseeker Famous Five’ launch will forever be iconic for our company, not just because we changed how we approached the power of digital, but how we could then convert the subsequent interest via the dedicated Showcase customer experience. It has been game-changing. We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved and what’s to come for our brand.”

The 22 independent judges unanimously agreed: “Great innovation to move from a non-digital experience to one which is incredibly engaging and of a quality you would expect for a product of such high value. An extraordinary product that has succeeded remarkably in its chosen aims during the most difficult times but making a virtue of the problems and producing a sensational range of boats that vividly capture the imagination without having to actually occupy the captain’s seat! A great initiative from a small marketing team.”

Best Use of Innovation in Customer Engagement – The ‘Sunseeker Famous Five’ Campaign

Innovation is inherent in Sunseeker’s brand DNA, not just in the design of its yachts, but in every facet of the company. Sales and marketing innovations are important for the brand and the marketing team consistently works hard to innovate and nurture sales opportunities on behalf of its c.100 appointed dealers globally, across more than 60 countries. Most of the brand’s sales take place at global boat shows and events where customers are invited to experience and purchase the yachts in a VIP setting.

With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company lost its sales platform overnight with all international boat shows and events cancelled. This was a huge challenge for the company during a year when it was due to launch five brand-new yachts, ranging in price from c.£1m to £6.5m (exc tax), a first in the company’s history.

To overcome these challenges, and in a completely new move for the company, Sunseeker International launched the ‘Sunseeker Famous Five’ in a livestream event on the Sunseeker YouTube channel and Facebook page on 14 May 2021, to the world’s media, its appointed dealers and its customers. The team also supported a dedicated luxury ‘Sunseeker Showcase’ to invite customers to personally view its yachts and enjoy the ultimate sales experience at the company’s headquarters in Poole.

The ‘Sunseeker Famous Five’ digital launch was completely innovative in the leisure marine sector where digital marketing has had a slower uptake in comparison to other sectors, such as automotive. Sunseeker’s in-house Marketing team had a clear vision to be the first yacht brand to launch five new models to market at the same time and generate sales enquiries using predominately digital marketing platforms. It was a bold move that saw the team create digital assets and video content for each model, as well as the collective ‘Sunseeker Famous Five’. The team collaborated with a well-known friend of the brand, actor Hugh Bonneville, to anchor the campaign; an alignment that would generate additional sales interest and credibility for the brand.

Watch the ‘Sunseeker Famous Five’ campaign video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-0vmxTC8tw.