effort and he hired a newly formed local
“Because we’re only No. 2 in car rentals, we
company, Adams and Longino, to do projects for
try harder,” in its ad campaigns to contrast
Grady-White. The company was formed by Frank
it from Hertz; 7-Up was positioned as the
Longino and Charlie Adams. Those early projects
“Un-Cola,” to draw a distinction from Coke and
were the beginning of a 31-year long relationship
Pepsi. In earlier years, “Think small,” had shown
that continues today. Grady-White and Eddie
phenomenal success in contrasting Volkswagen
Smith are nothing if not loyal to vendors and
from Detroit’s big car offerings of the era.
associates who perform well over time.
Frank and Charlie Adams listened to
When Adams and Longino came aboard, Jim
Stoneman’s story of the company and said:
Stoneman was the sales manager, with Wiley and
“So, you’re really in the family fishing
Eddie running the factory show. Frank Longino
machine business.”
was fresh from a stint with an advertising agency
It was suggested then that a Grady-White
in Chicago where he had studied the tactics
purchase would be positioned as the “The
of marketing guru Jack Trout, and learned
Comfortable Move To A Fishing Machine,” which,
an important facet of the ad man’s arsenal:
while helping establishing Grady-White as a
positioning. Avis, for example, was positioned as
real hardcore fishboat builder, would contrast Grady-White’s breakthrough walkaround cabin boats from the more Spartan hardcore fishboats mostly coming out of Florida at the time. In other words, not only did purchasing a GradyWhite give you the tough seagoing capability to go hardcore offshore or inshore fishing in big water, in a Grady-White you could be comfortable enough to take your wife and kids with you, you could get out of the weather, and you had a place for a nap on a boat like the 204-C Overnighter. The slight re-focus of positioning from
No mistaking what the marketing thrust of this 1979 ad is...comfort AND fishing.
purely hardcore fishing to take into account 57