Located in the Caribbean and spread out among many island nations, Budget Marine has a reputation for being a leader in the region’s marine industry. Budget Marine embraced social media as a sales and marketing tool over a decade ago.  It also implemented a social-media based intranet to encourage internal communications (Koerner-Gifford, Katherine (2017), Employee Involvement Key to Budget Marine’s Success, University of Waterloo Archive, May 17, 2017). As for the future?  To quote company founder, Robbie Ferron, “There is no turning back.  Period.”  (Kroon, Els, Robbie Ferron A Dynamic Driving Force for Thirty Years, All at Sea Magazine, March 1 2010) By means of this course, Budget Marine has been exposed to the ways in which it can better utilize social media to enhance business performance.

Budget Marine is the Caribbean’s leading marine chandlery with retail locations throughout the Caribbean.  In the Caribbean, most people use social media to let friends and family know where their latest landfall is, and for obtaining information through cruisers’ nets. Using social media as a tool to improve business performance is a new concept.  However, for companies like Budget Marine, it opens up vast new opportunities.  People may not think of the Caribbean when they think of “multinational companies,” but that is exactly what Budget Marine is.