new hoseasons logo

[BuffaloBill]

Ugh!!!! Looks like someone kicked a ball at the hull........

[BroadAmbition]

Not keen on the Hoeseasons logo at all.

 

Like Richo's Logo - one we are familiar with and will become more familiar with new customers alike

 

I miss the 'A' Blakes logo

 

 

Griff

[Polly]

Reminds me of the hilarious BBC 'rebranding' on the sitcom.

[FairTmiddlin]

And the youngster who came up with this could not get his " h " round the right way

[LondonRascal]

I think what we are seeing before us with Hoseasons is ‘Tesco Syndrome’.

 

In Hoeasesons you had a company that for many years just got doing what it did and doing it well.  It changed when it needed to - Jimmy Hoseason being a very good businessman at heart who knew his market and what the customers wanted and worked in close partnership with the people upon who he and his business relied on (the boatyards) as they in turn would work alongside Hoseasons.

 

Through doing this he built up a loyal following of customers who trusted the company, just as the boatyards that the agency represented did. 

 

One has to remember Blakes was a rival and it too had its own following of customers and boatyards.

 

Just like with Tesco, in my opinion Hoseasons has now lost so much of that loyalty and trust and what remains is simply a brand – even that does not seem to have a focus and direction now.

 

I know that things have changed a great deal largely because of the Internet and people being able so often now do the agents job and in a few clicks find, compare, book and pay for a holiday right with the provider cutting out the agent – which is why a brand like Hoseasons needs to offer more to the customer – at no additional actual cost to them – a feeling of trust, that all will be taken care of and no hassles with friendly staff knowledgeable about the holidays they are selling and the locations – in short that the commission they get for taking a booking provides the customer a personal service.

 

What is actually happening with Hoseasons is of course it no longer is what it was, it is like an old building that has been gutted and all that remains is the outside facade. It seems to me everything is being pushed, that excel reports are all that matters how can we get more, what demographic are we lacking in, lets tap into the ‘Waitrose family’ while ignoring the core part of what makes them Hoeseason’s. 

 

New colours, leafs, bloody hessian bag theme on their website is not going to do anything – having a confused identity will just further underline matters. 

 

Have a brand, something you and the staff can be proud of, feel part of and get behind with a single message and ethos. Richardson’s, have done this by the book.  Being frugal where they needed, spending when it made sense, from the engineer on the pontoon to the lady on the phone to the manager in the office – one concept, one brand, one message and putting the customer at the top of the pyramid be them a family who saved for a couple of years and shops at Lidll to the couple with a holiday home in Devon and a large business who have Ocardo deliver the shopping - they are equally important to the business.

 

Build your brand, get the basics right and your attract more people – faffing about changing who you are, letting marketing people and design firms tell you where to get your customers will do you little good – and when they fail to materialise, those same consultants will be long gone.  Get a strong, wise leader who knows his market  and the rest will follow.

[MauriceMynah]

"and when they fail to materialize, those same consultants will be long gone".

 

Ahh, no they won't Robin, They'll still be there, They'll tell you that things have "moved on since then" and then they'll charge you your remaining arm and leg to re-brand you again.

 

Each re-branding (or was that "re-inventing?) comes with a new box of whizzspeak. No longer will there be "Blue water" ideas, no now we are "Thinking outside the box" but don't worry, I'm sure next year we'll be "mindsetting our thoughts beyond convention" or some other twaddle.

[BroadAmbition]

Clive - You could do a lot worse than employing Robin at your place!

 

 

Griff

[MauriceMynah]

... and Hoseasons would do well to employ a four year old, yet to be corrupted by modern education.

[JennyMorgan]

Having worked for and worked with Jimmy Hoseason, and knew him for well over forty years, I can testify to the tremendous loyalty that surrounded the man. That loyalty and his drive was second to none. His office was not far from Oulton Broad Yacht Station and he would always find time to talk to his customers, I never knew him to be remote.

[BroadScot]

Having worked for and worked with Jimmy Hoseason, and knew him for well over forty years, I can testify to the tremendous loyalty that surrounded the man. That loyalty and his drive was second to none. His office was not far from Oulton Broad Yacht Station and he would always find time to talk to his customers, I never knew him to be remote.

Hi JM,

 

I can confirm his openess, JH phoned me at home regarding a problem I had had at a boatyard when taking over a boat. A true gent IMHO, and very witty too! 

 

Iain.

[jeffbroadslover]

I remember the days when Hoseasons were proud enough to produce their own necktie and blazer pocket badges.

 

I nagged at my mother to let me have one and wore it proudly. When anyone asked me what it represented I would always try to convert them into trying a Broads holiday for themselves.

 

Every boatyard had their own enamel badge showing their flag. My brother and I tried to collect as many as possible (when we could con mum or dad into parting with the cash to buy them)

 

Whatever happened to boatyards spending some cash on advertising themselves in this way?

 

 

 

Jeff 

[LondonRascal]

I did a Google about Mr Hoseason.. Found snippets such as:

 

"Along with his foresight went a zero-tolerance of mediocrity, which resulted in Hoseasons Holidays spending more on staff training as a percentage of turnover than any other operator. He applied training to himself as well as his staff, and kept abreast of the latest management thinking."

 

And...

 

"By the time Hoseason retired from the family firm in 1999, the company was selling £100 million worth of holidays each year; it employed 10,000 people at 100 boatyards and 300 holiday parks, and catered for more than a million holidaymakers annually."

However...

 

"On his retirement, the family shares were the subject of a management buy-out, and the business was sold to a finance firm for £22 million."

 

Need we say more.

 

As for me and business, it would be terrible - Im too good at spending money!

[C.Ricko]

it employed 10,000 people at 100 boatyards and 300 holiday parks,

 

 

I think the holiday park and boatyard operators employ the staff...

dont believe everything you read on the web 

[C.Ricko]

I think you will find we have a modern pin badge with our logo on,,..

had it a couple of years now 

 

They are for sale but I mainly give the one away that I wear when people ask where to get one, so just ask me!

not exactly a massive expense for any organisation to produce...

[MauriceMynah]

Bags me get to you first when your wearing a boat

[jeffbroadslover]

Clive,

 

Don't give them all away I want one !!

 

 

Jeff

[jeffbroadslover]

Clive, 

 Do you also have the pin badges for Horizon and Moonfleet?

 

If you do I will have to have one of each !!

 

 

 

Jeff

[C.Ricko]

no just the one version, 

There are a couple of forum members with them...

I will get a photo up ..

[Broads01]

Oh dear. In times gone by Hoseasons were vital to Broads holidays. However I've long since failed to understand their relevance and what value they add. Their brochure is abysmal, and their web site not much better. Put it this way, if I want to do my food shopping, do I need a supermarket agent? I couldn't care less what their logo looks like and I'm really pleased Richardsons have dumped it in favour of their own.

[Oddfellow]

I have long argued that the "need" for Hoseasons has passed.

 

However, the fact that the company retains so many Broads hire fleets suggests that I am wrong.

 

Perhaps "wrong" is not the right word. Hoseason's allows many operators to get in front of people who they would not otherwise be able to. Without the marketing might of Hoseasons, operators would have to rely on their own marketing skills to get business and many companies, having fully outsourced this role to Hoseasons for decades, neither want to or understand how to achieve this.

 

Clearly, there are some notable exceptions such as Ferry Marina and Herbert Woods who have both come away from Hoseasons in recent years. However, both these still use a booking agency also.

 

The route to market for all operators (apart from Freedom, Hunters and Colin Buttifant) then is, at least in part, via an agency. Doing without, as I can testify, is not a simple task.

 

However, with Hoseason's asprinational aims to become the Sainsburys and then Waitrose of the holiday world, I can see some operators being squeezed out of it's brochure in the near future.

[JennyMorgan]

However, with Hoseason's asprinational aims to become the Sainsburys and then Waitrose of the holiday world, I can see some operators being squeezed out of it's brochure in the near future.

 Not only that I think that there is a risk that the very character of the Broads as a holiday destination will change, not sure that I would welcome that.  Personally I head for the spit and sawdust rather than the lounge bar!

[Oddfellow]

You may well be right Peter.

 

Hoseasons changed the face of the Broads in the 1980s too when it insisted that wooden boats be removed from its brochure pages.

 

Perhaps it was simply responding to customer demand, but the likes of Summercraft, Maycraft, Sandersons, were all heavily affected.

[NeilB]

Hoseasons changed the face of the Broads in the 1980s too when it insisted that wooden boats be removed from its brochure pages.

 

 

I actually liked the wooden hireboats, think the last one we hired was Highlight from Herbert Woods in August 1983 - I was 11 !

The Summercraft boats in particular were probably in better condition than most of the GRP boats !

[JennyMorgan]

You may well be right Peter.

 

Hoseasons changed the face of the Broads in the 1980s too when it insisted that wooden boats be removed from its brochure pages.

 

Perhaps it was simply responding to customer demand, but the likes of Summercraft, Maycraft, Sandersons, were all heavily affected.

 

I would go so far as to suggest that Hoseasons changed the face of boating in the latter half of the 1970's when they decided to target the high street. At that time I joint owned the Waveney River Centre and had the shop there. Overnight the customer base changed and both shop and pub takings dropped considerably. They may have filled the boats but not with people who wanted a boating holiday as such. I always felt that that was a turning point for the Broads.

[ranworthbreeze]

However, with Hoseason's asprinational aims to become the Sainsburys and then Waitrose of the holiday world, I can see some operators being squeezed out of it's brochure in the near future.

We have booked via Hoseason's twice in the passed and this was only because they had control of the bookings on these particular boats on certain canals such as the Scottish Canals.

Wanting to be the boating world's equivalent to Sainsburys and Waitrose is only to gain their perceived profit,

it is not a sign of quality service.

Regards

Alan