Camping World, the world's leading retailer of recreational vehicle accessories, tapped Rapp Collins Worldwide, Dallas, as its agency of record on a $10 million account.
There was no pitching process. Executives from Bowling Green, KY-based Camping World were familiar with Rapp Collins and contacted the agency. Ghish, Sherwood & Friends was the incumbent.
“They're looking for an integrated marketing approach, and they're looking to rapidly grow the company,” said John F. Jastrem, chairman/CEO of Rapp Collins' Dallas office. “We're really primarily looking to do two things: customer relationship marketing and to acquire new customers.”
The agency will offer services like strategic planning, analytics, brand planning, media planning and buying, creative, production and technology help. Media under consideration include broadcast, print, mail, point-of-sale and online.
Mail previously was used as well as catalogs and freestanding inserts.
A subsidiary of Affinity Group Inc., Camping World sells its products through 30 stores nationwide and its campingworld.com site. It also mails 22 million catalogs seven times a year, supported by sale fliers and mail pieces.
“We're looking at direct response TV, which we believe will give them a bigger profile and get the message out there more efficiently,” Jastrem said. “We're also going to improve the catalog.”
The agency opted to broaden Camping World's touch points. Since its target of consumers older than 35 is mobile for part of the year, it is necessary to reach them through different channels. Also factored in the media plan are geography and seasonal characteristics.
A challenge for marketing to address is expanding the demographic for Camping World.
“One of the things is that a lot of this is family-oriented, and there are opportunities to introduce them to younger people,” Jastrem said. “So will we be able to sustain that involvement, and how do we keep them involved through their customer lifecycle? That's the challenge we're looking to solve.”
