• by Nina Lentini , January 13, 2009

In its first print advertising in five years, breaking this month, Wellcraft Marine Corp., Cadillac, Mich., celebrates the hardy men of the sea, and those who envision themselves as such--a target market that Wellcraft describes as "old-school boaters." Most Wellcraft buyers are not first-time boat owners.

Five different ads--each in spread, full-page, and half-page formats-- feature close-cropped photos of the details of seafaring: a deckful of "freshly outsmarted fish," as one headline reads, or a pair of leathery hands tending a net.

One signature headline, over a skewed water horizon, reads: "You've never been seasick. Bet you've been landsick a few times though." Overlaid over all of the ads are faded-in images of nautical gear, such as a depth chart, a block and tackle, a buoy. No boats are shown.

The campaign, created by The Republik of Durham, N.C., runs in eight national and regional boating magazines, from Boating Life to Pacific Coast Sport Fishing, with specific ads chosen to fit each publication's fishing, ocean, or recreational bias.

Wellcraft Marine Corp.--a subsidiary of Genmar Industries, Inc., Minneapolis--manufactures durable, utilitarian boats, with features intended as purposeful, not cosmetic. The boats range from a Sportsman lake boat, at $20,000, to a Coastal ocean cruiser, at $400,000.