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Norman,
OK - Attend any major bass fishing tournament and you will see support vehicles from boat manufacturers, outboard companies, electronics brands and the like. Most of the major manufacturers will have someone on site to help anglers get back on the water when things break.
Berkley is the one tackle company has recognized that the anglers use the tools of their trade to make a living, and part of that tool chest is their rods, reels, line and tackle. As a result, Berkley brought in individuals to support the pros and help Berkley use the pros for product research and development. That person on the Bassmaster Elite Series is Field Services Manager Scott Dubiel.
Dubiel has a lot of experience of high-level athlete support as he did much the same for Titleist on the PGA Tour. “This kind of support is standard in the golf industry,” Dubiel said. “Almost every major manufacturer of golf equipment had support personnel on site at PGA events. Berkley is really the first to do this in the fishing industry, and it gave me an opportunity to be a part of something new; I couldn’t pass it up.”
Dubiel said that the approach Berkley takes to his role is to think of things in a pyramid fashion, utilizing information from their pro staff in two ways. “Our company has a huge investment in our pro staff, and we count on their expertise when it comes to developing new lures,” Dubiel said they also count on them to spread word of new products. “We know that angling consumers look to these guys for what is new, what bait will get them more bites, what line will help them get more fish in the boat; so our team is the top of that marketing pyramid.”
A typical tournament for Dubiel starts during the official practice period several days before the event starts. Dubiel travels to the given body of water with a supply of new Berkley items for his team to try. He also has a stash of product, from rods and reels to bait and line on board the Triton and Mercury factory support trailers in case he needs backups. |
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Dubiel usually posts himself at the launch ramp as the anglers launch their boats and return on the practice days. Here, he will hand out product, both existing and in development, and go over the results with the anglers, taking notes to give back to the engineers and designers at the home office.
One such “in development” product was the Berkley Chigger Craw that Boyd Duckett used to win the 2007 Bassmaster Classic at Lay Lake. “I came to the official pre-fish period with somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 pounds of Chigger Craws,” Dubiel said. “In Boyd’s case, he took a couple of bags for practice, then came and got a few more, then he grabbed a few more, and it was one of the baits that won the Classic for him.” Dubiel said that by the time the team went through them, the 70 pounds of bait was almost entirely gone.
Dubiel points out that Skeet Reese, who finished second to Duckett by mere ounces, was also fishing the Chigger Craw during that tournament. “We started with introducing new baits before the Classic last year, and this year our team hit a home run and a triple,” said Dubiel, referring to the 1st and 2nd place finishes the bait produced. “The Classic introductions, have been a huge success for us, and we look forward to what else will happen with it.”
Point of fact, Eric Naig, Berkley’s Press Manager said that the Chigger Craw’s success produced a huge spike in orders after the Classic. “We had our projections before the Classic began,” Naig said. “But after the tournament, the orders exceeded our projections by at least 100%.”
Dubiel is a part of the Berkley marketing puzzle, and his service to the pros carries him all over the country, and he takes pride in what he does. “Berkley counts on me to be the first level of relationship with these guys, and I am glad, because it is a great group of guys,” he concluded. “It starts with them, and expands to the rest of the industry from there, I am proud of what we are building, we make great products, and I get to help get them in front of the pros and the public.”
For more information on Berkley and the Pure Fishing family of products visit:
www.purefishing.com
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