Search Beats Global Supply Crisis

For the first time in decades, North Americans are experiencing the frustration of a global supply chain crisis. Cars, computer chips, household appliances... countless products are out of stock. The same applies to Sea-Doo. Now, more than ever, consumers need to plan their purchases in advance. Since 2021, purchasing cycles have become longer and more complex.

Our goal: to capture purchase intent and maximize pre-sales of upcoming Sea-Doo 2022 models that were not yet available. But how do you adapt to longer buying cycles? How do we maintain consumer interest until the 2022 models are available?

By analyzing the consumer journey, we found that personalization is one of the only strategies that can keep consumers waiting. Indeed, they are willing to wait for next year's model if it is perfectly adapted to their needs and preferences.

To adapt to the new buying cycle, we decided to focus on the Sea-Doo customization tool, available on our website, inviting consumers to customize their Sea-Doo according to their ideals.

Now, how could we be sure of capturing in-market buyers when our products wouldn't be available for several months? Our solution was based on SEM: the most effective channel for capturing purchase intent. However, we had to adapt our SEM strategies to consumers' buying cycles, which were becoming longer and more complex.

We therefore developed a 3-stage SEM strategy adapted to the global shortage and extended buying cycles. For Sea-Doo, SEM has thus become the key to developing customer consideration, rather than short-term conversions, as is usually the case.