FLIR: (Re)staking a claim with a powerful call to adventure
FLIR, a leader in marine thermal and enhanced vision cameras, has built a renowned reputation for quality and reliability. But lower-cost alternatives were creeping in, threatening mind and market share and skewing FLIR’s brand perception. Marketbridge developed an integrated campaign blending messaging, creative development and media activation that would re-establish FLIR’s reputation as the supreme choice for serious boaters.
Going high in a race to the bottom
FLIR, a Teledyne company, has been trusted for over 30 years by first responders, commercial mariners and recreational boaters. However, a growing number of lower-cost alternatives are positioning themselves as comparable in quality, creating a race-to-the-bottom dynamic. Primary research targeting FLIR customers confirmed that video quality and reliability drive purchasing decisions, outweighing price concerns. Maintaining FLIR’s leadership meant reinforcing its performance advantages in an increasingly cost-driven market.
At the same time, FLIR faced a unique challenge: a dealer-driven sales model that limits direct consumer engagement. To sustain brand preference and influence purchases, we needed a strategy that reached and resonated with boaters despite the indirect sales approach.
Keywords:
FLIR more. Fear less.
Creatively, our big idea was “Fearless,” a call to adventure that addressed boaters’ caution in low-visibility conditions while reinforcing brand recognition by aiding pronunciation. Rather than avoiding night boating or adverse weather, FLIR customers could embrace every journey with confidence, knowing they had the dependability that cheaper alternatives lack. The campaign showcased real-world use cases, emphasizing FLIR’s trusted, high-quality performance in safe navigation for mariners, law enforcement and commercial operators—reinforcing the brand’s superiority over competitors that cut costs by sacrificing reliability.
“Put that headline on a T-shirt!”
An integrated campaign for a B2B2C world
Unlike direct-to-consumer brands, FLIR relies on dealers, meaning brand awareness and demand generation had to work alongside dealer enablement. The go-to-market plan combined paid and organic media to drive both end-user demand and dealer participation. Paid media included programmatic digital banners, targeted print ads and social campaigns on Facebook and Instagram, while organic efforts leveraged SEO-driven blog articles, branded video content and community engagement. CRM tools and analytics tracked performance, refined targeting and supported both dealer and consumer engagement.
Execution spanned
- Digital banners and social media assets targeting high-intent audiences
- Print advertising in key industry publications
- Geofencing and retail media placements at West Marine and MarineMax to drive awareness and engagement at the point of sale
- SEO and content optimizations on FLIR’s website and campaign landing pages to improve organic visibility and reinforce positioning
Have no fear, big results are here!
The campaign reaffirmed FLIR’s market leadership, resonating with commercial and recreational audiences while supporting dealer-driven sales conversations. By focusing on what serious boaters value most—quality, reliability and performance—FLIR reinforced its position as the top choice in marine cameras, proving that with FLIR, no boater has to fear what they can’t see.
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