What is your brand’s body language and how can you improve it?

Let’s start with that – your team recognizes the value of branding, messaging, and visibility. You host a wine and cheese cruise, a shoreline cleanup, and a Halloween costume contest. 

The only thing missing from these well-planned pieces is to be loud about it. 

Rachael Lobeck is a public relations expert who has vast experience in marine industry PR and is the founder of her own PR firm, RAL Public Relations. She won a Boating Industry “40 Under 40” award for her public relations work in 2023. She spoke with us about core tenets of fostering positive public image, no matter your size:  

You don’t need a big PR budget to make a big impact. Even small marine businesses can build a strong public image by focusing on consistency, authenticity and connection. Show up regularly where your audience is, whether that’s social media, local events or industry forums. Be authentic in your messaging so boaters know they’re dealing with real people who love what they do. 

A manager looks at that and may wonder what that looks like practically. “Start small, but make it intentional,” advises Lobeck. She expanded on the concept: 

Photos, short videos or even a blog post work well. Then, amplify it with local media outreach. Invite a reporter to cover a community event at your marina, or send a press release about your involvement in a regional initiative. These efforts not only showcase your marina’s spirit, they position you as an active, valued part of the community.

Every marina has something to showcase or brag about. Your marina’s tenth anniversary is coming up? Totally newsworthy. You hosted a charity barbecue on your docks? Newsworthy. An assertive manager sees the value in growing tendrils of connection to all points of their community. 

“Remember, public relations is a marathon, not a sprint,” said Lobeck. “It’s about planting seeds, nurturing relationships and showing up consistently until your reputation becomes as trusted as your dock.”

A brand that has a face and character is a brand that one can connect with. A customer feels like they can shake this business’s hand, while the brand with nebulous attributes is just another stranger in a crowd. A marina manager can say, “I know my business is family-friendly, budget-conscious, and takes care of its staff.” But how does a customer have any idea who you are or what you’re about? Help them connect, give them your story.

A few ways to achieve this digitally:

• Dedicate a segment of your website to your mission statement. This is the singular cohesive vision for your business, generally a couple of the most impactful sentences that can communicate exactly who you are, what you care about, and how you demonstrate this through your service.
• Dedicate a segment to your brand values. This is the “messaging” that lets a potential customer know exactly what you stand for.
• Literally put faces to your business with an “About” or “Who we are” page. People cannot relate or attach meaning to a one-dimensional business. But they can relate to seeing a family photo of owners on the docks, real people with real character who are an integral part of the experience they’re buying into.

Imagine you own five marinas, all in the same part of a coastline, but each marina has different logos, color palettes, and website themes. The effect is a disjointed, loose-fitting collective. Each business conveys to customers and staff that they’re on an island, without a cohesive network. 

Bringing these visual elements together is unifying. A customer gets excellent service at one of your marinas, they will expect that same standard at the other and these stylistic pieces carry weight. For example, Suntex Marinas owns over 90 marinas across the country (at last count). Take a look at the list of Suntex marinas, and each marina’s logo articulates an individual brand identity, but the uniting thread is that every single marina is visually identified as “A Suntex Experience.” Each website is uniform – the brand projects an aura of unity and power. 

The concept expands to both social media and written syntax. Be consistent with your fonts, colors, posting style, and maintain a thread that ties your digital presence together.

Alright, we’ll stick with the “brand body language” analogy. Put a famous football team in a crowd, all wearing different shirts and pants, and they might walk by as strangers. Put them all in their uniforms – a micro community amongst their larger community – and people will pull out their phone cameras. 

You know who you are. Dress the part.