Boating safety advocates around the world are supporters of the North American Safe Boating Campaign. And, this was no different in 2017, when nine countries joined in support of recreational boating safety and shared important messages such as wearing a life jacket, using an engine cut-off device, and never boating under the influence during the summer boating season. That is why in 2018, this important effort will simply be known as the Safe Boating Campaign! The campaign’s impact has grown beyond North America, and it’s exciting to know efforts are underway around the world to encourage safe boating behaviors and save lives. And, if you’ve heard the rumor, it’s true. The Safe Boating Campaign will continue to use the tried and true tagline, Wear It (please note, no explanation point).
Research conducted by the National Safe Boating Council (NSBC), as well as surveys by campaign partners, continued to show that the “Wear It” message rings loud and clear for boaters. The Safe Boating Campaign Awareness survey again confirmed that boaters who are aware of the campaign are significantly more likely to wear a life jacket because they “feel safest when wearing a life jacket/it’s a safe practice” and “have heard of situations where a life jacket has saved a life.”
There are a lot of activities happening over the next few months for the Safe Boating Campaign. A new logo is expected to roll out in January 2018, along with the return of popular resources and new swag to support campaign efforts around the world to the NSBC Online Store. NSBC will continue to provide co-branded logos for campaign partners. For international partners, the NSBC will provide necessary artwork files for translation into other languages. The website, www.safeboatingcampaign.com, is undergoing a redesign to improve site visitor experience and organization of resources, and social media accounts for the campaign will be refreshed. Communications efforts will strive to include real “Saved by the Jacket” stories about recreational boaters to add a strong human-interest appeal behind campaign messaging. More infographics and images will be provided for campaign partners to add to their arsenal of resources.