You know what the industry needs — its own Guy Fieri.
Meet John “The Legend” Bokor. The regional sales manager at Haviland is chronicling his journey via YouTube to visit pool stores around the world — or at least, Michigan and Ohio. Along the way: cannon balls and belly flops aplenty and his signature “legendary” pool entrance whereby he clumsily climbs over the sides of aboveground pools.
Haviland plans to chronicle the exploits with one 3-minute episode per week of its program, called “Legendary Pools and Spas.”
Bokor is perfect for the role, said John Bereza, Haviland’s marketing manager and videographer. Bokor already had something of an oversized personality and developed a following as an entertaining lecturer along the trade-show circuit. (That’s where his legendary status was cemented, Bereza said.) The video version dials up the persona just a smidge.
“He’s just a few centimeters from where he really is,” Bereza said.
While Legendary Pools and Spas is a product of Haviland, it doesn’t strictly promote the pool chemical company. Rather, the objective is to shine a light on the industry as a whole, introducing consumers to the organizations and professionals who are trained to keep pools and spas safe and clean, the team said. Think of the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” for pools. “The objective is to drive the end user to the dealers,” Bokor said.
An upcoming episode will highlight the industry’s educational resources. The pair will visit The Pool & Spa Show in Atlantic City to illuminate homeowners on the training, classes and certifications that qualify pool pros to do their jobs.
“The general public sometimes thinks ‘Oh, he’s just a pool guy.’ They don’t understand that these people go to class, they try to better themselves,” Bokor said.
Legendary Pools and Spas also contains lessons for pool owners, focusing on topics such as pool-opening tips, chemistry and cleaning. And it takes consumers behind the scenes to show how some of their favorite products are made. A visit to a factory that produces Instagrammable pool floats was a recent highlight.
Says Bereza: “Really, we want to create more interest in our industry,” and remind consumers how fun it is to own a pool and spa.
