ICAST award floats fishing kayaks

Having their Predator XL kayak named as Best Overall of Show at 2014 ICAST has kept Johnson Outdoors Watercraft team busy.

David Hadden left the ICAST show floor last year rather disappointed. An envelope notifying Best of Show winners never came to his Johnson Outdoors Watercraft booth.

Hadden and marketing manager Luke LaBree were resigned to bury their sorrows at dinner, but a call came from the Johnson Outdoors Motors booth advising them to come back quick.

“You guys are pulling our chain,” Hadden recalled thinking. “No, get over here now.”

Their envelope had been delivered to the wrong Johnson Outdoors booth. That prompted a mad rush from their hotel, including leaps over hedges, back to the Orange County Convention Center.

“We were totally gassed by the time we walked in,” said Hadden, the brand director. “We probably would have celebrated more … We were pretty exhausted. It was pretty funny.”

A funny story since they arrived just in time to hear their Predator XL kayak named as Best of Show boat, then Overall Best of Show. The team has been trying it catch its breath ever since.

The top award from the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades, or ICAST, is definitely a game-changer, Hadden said, and it has kept his team busy over the year.

The world’s largest sportfishing trade show is convening again this week in Orlando, Fla., and the Bassmaster crew is on-site to provide full coverage in stories, product reviews, photos and video.

Last year, more than 11,000 members from the global sportfishing industry and nearly 1,000 media outlets gathered to see the latest innovations in tackle, gear, accessories and apparel. The highlight for most is the New Product Showcase, where more than 700 tackle products and accessories were entered by 253 companies in 24 categories.

Winning Best Overall has not only provided increased attention and sales to the Predator XL, it’s meant a lot to the entire genre of personal watercraft.

“First of all, it’s just a huge catalyst,” Hadden said. “When you’re on the outside of the traditional fishing industry, for us, it’s huge validity within the industry. For kayak fishing, it has really strengthened our position in the marketplace and in the fishing world. And that goes across all manufacturers. It helped the kayak fishing industry as a whole.”

The Predator impressed the media and buyers who voted it Best of Show boat in 2013. In 2014, the XL model added a 45-pound thrust Minn Kota console-mounted motor that is interchangeable with an electronics console or flat decking. It blew voters away, and garnered immediate attention at their booth.

“The next day at the show, we didn’t come up for air all day,” Hadden said. “Neither Luke nor I got to lunch. We had five guys on pro staff, none of them got to walk the show that day. It was the busiest show day I had ever had in 25, 30 years.”

Not only did all sorts of media stop by to get the scoop on the product, but buyers came calling. Every large chain now wanted to carry it, but due to class of trade restrictions they weren’t able to place it everywhere that asked, Hadden said.

“Bass Pro, Cabela’s, Dick’s Field and Stream, LL Bean, all picked it up and floor planned it for this year and had very strong sales,” he said.

Winning Best Boat title two years in a row then topping that with Best Overall helped the Predator see a 20 percent sales increase, and that’s a conservative estimate, Hadden said. Bigger yet was making ground on new territory. He said the initial boost in kayak fishing came from saltwater anglers, and there has been a move inland to freshwater. Sales reports from the Midwest showed a 15 percent increase, which came mostly from fishing boats, he said.

Putting their crowns in ads has helped Johnson Outdoors Watercraft, and that title did well at its next big dealer show in Salt Lake City.

“Coming out of the ICAST with that award, and going to our traditional paddle sports show, it created a lot of excitement for us,” Hadden said. “From there we ended up going to the Bassmaster Classic (Expo). It was amazing how many people came in knowing we won the ICAST award.

“There are big (kayak) tournaments in saltwater areas, but we are seeing the bass fishing market come up. There’s very strong growth.”

The award also has helped Hadden’s team gain additional credibility at Johnson Outdoors, which boasts Minn Kota, Humminbird, Eureka camping equipment and Jetboil.

“It’s just really strengthened our position inside our corporate portfolio, in terms of additional funding we get, additional support, R&D and marketing, it’s been great,” he said. “I think one of the other things that it did, is it has lengthened the launch of a product. People are still talking about winning the award last year. So for us it really stretches out the initial portion of the bell curve.”

It’s all added up to a residual effect that is still benefitting the Predator XL and Johnson Outdoors. But for this ICAST, Hadden is only slightly worried about the question, “What have you done for me lately?”

People do expect a follow-up, but since the Predator was probably the biggest launch ever in Johnson Watercraft’s history, they might get a pass with nothing to surpass it.

“After winning it, then you have to continue to produce. In some aspects, this year, our corporate strategy is to work on bigger launches every two years, maybe three years,” Hadden said. “It’s kind of hard going into the show this year without a huge, huge launch, because everyone’s calling, ‘What are you going to do this year?’ Everyone thinks you’re going to follow it up.”

Hadden and his team are working on that, but might just ride out this year on the deck of a kayak.