What do the Brits know about RV magazines that Americans don't?
RVtravel.com editor recently returned from England where he bought a newsstand copy of a British RV magazine. The 306-page, 1.5 pound full-color magazine he purchased is packed with ads and stimulating, varied content. What's wrong with American RV magazines these days, which are slim on ads and are lucky to make 100 pages? Your comments are invited.
posted by Staff Report @ 9/14/2011 04:04:00 PM
13 Comments
13 Comments:
I have found this the case for many magazines in the Uk vs NA. They have mags on every subject and they are thick. I believe it is a combination of a small island with 60 million ppl and a culture of newsagent-gorrs and magazine readers.
Also the magazine can draw ad revenue from dealers across the country in one magazine due to the compact geography. I reader in the south can buy from a dealer in the North with only a relatively short drive.
Americans don't read anymore. Look at our newsmagazines. They want electronic spoon-feeding!
I believe that the internet has a lot to do about it. When I was actively RVing I use to have delivered Trailer Life and Highways, the pub for Good Sam Club. In Trailer Life I could get a good feeling about what was happening by reading the letters to the editors. Now I feel I am reading a catalogue of products, products I may never buy.
Because Of you and I think others, I now can read many different online magazines, some weekly, that can tell me what is going on, what is new etc. I get these for free and I can read them anywhere I am. Why pay my hard earned money for information when I can get it for free. Keep up the good work.
Fred
What? You didn't pick up any extra subscription cards to pass on to us???
For anyone interested, MMM has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/MotorcaravanMotorhomeMonthlyMagazine
You can also obtain a yearly (12-month) subscription at:
http://www.firstmagazines.com/magazine.asp?c=409
I don't know about England, but I do know about American motorhome and trailer magazines. I have subscribed to these magazine since the early 70's and have since refused to renew my subscription. The reason for this is that there is very little, if any, diversity in these publications. As an African-American, I have camped with thousands of diverse ethnic individuals and groups. You would never know this if you read the two major RV publications. To these publications, we are invisible. Some RV manufactures have realized this and have diversified there advertisements. Good thinking! One major RV membership organization has a membership logo that excludes all other ethnic groups but one! Do they really think that we are going to join and paste this logo on our motorhome? RV'ing is for everyone. Those corporations that realize this will survive. As for the others, I will use the name of a popular motorhome that went out of business. That motorhome was called (SEE YA).
Just a suggestion: please turn up your volume. Even with mine all the way up, I could hardly hear you. Thanks.
You already identified the answer: it's the wealth of advertising. Unfortunately, US RV manufacturers dedicate a very small percentage of their budgets to national advertising, both in terms of their own ads and co-op funds provided to dealers. UK manufacturers appear to spend more, relative to their overall revenue and the country's population.
Also, in the US dealers prefer to use local ad venues (billboards, local newspapers, Craigslist, radio) probably because there's so much territory here. UK dealers have a much smaller country and thus can attract buyers from "across the country" where US dealers tend to deal with local customers. That means less ad dollars for national publications.
Finally, in the US the culture of shopping, buying, and researching online is a little further ahead than in the UK, thanks in part to an earlier penetration of Internet infrastructure. As the Internet culture takes further hold in the UK, I'd expect to ad revenue start to move online (as it already has done here) and that will have an negative impact on those great UK print publications.
I think that the UK hasn't gone digital as much as we have.
(Btw, I heard you loud and clear, so those who didn't must have had local issues.)
Brad in FL
I wonder how the financials compare. What do the publications charge for ads, how much to they pay their contributors, how much goes into staff and overhead, and what are the expectations for revenue (or maybe even profit) for the publications. And who owns the publications. That might provide some insight into the differences.
Another aspect might be the relative maturity of the RVing public. Americans have been doing it for quite awhile, if the British have not, then their thirst for new information may be a factor.
Intriguing, let us know if you find anything!
I wonder, is there comparative competition? We seemly have so many choices. Those dollars can only go so far. Just wondering did you see a dozen or so magazines like MMM?
-Mike
I have traveled America from one end to another and the published material does not reflect this. Most folks I meet have second owner rigs that they work on and love. The go to places that have meaning to them and few if any travel "retired". There are "full Timers out there. Most of us travel on weekends, a day or two here and there, as our schedules will allow. It is a life style, but it is a life style that reflect a busy life.
Around the fire, after driving all day they talk about problems with their rigs, place that they enjoyed (or hated) and get ideas about where to go next. They laugh about dealers that tried to cheat them, outdoor shops that got confused about their "special" needs and always Walmart.
They invite bikers over for a beer, help stranded motorist and again continue their busy lives.
More importantly they are not this monolithic upper class White couple with the 300k rig that travels one week a year as if were 1999. They are Black, Brown and from all over the world. They teach and learn from all that they meet. They are on a budget, they may antique, but they are on a budget. They may fish, race cars, ride motorcycles, whatever other excuse they can use to justify their just loving being "out there".
"They stay at the KOA's, truck stop and rest area to save money. They share knowledge and gain experience.
You ask what is wrong with American Mags? They need to go back to their roots, More off season fixes, find good shops and wrench pushers, look up that side of the rode picnic place, get out of that 40 foot gas guzzler and into a VW Vanagan and really "see" American, highlight some of us other folks that also travel the rodes. Remember that 'rode trips' started with a "a pack of cigs, a tank of gas and a destination" (Blues Brothers) Get your advertisers to do the same.
The thing that has always struck me is that on the rode, like Viet Nam, ain't no such thing as color. We are all in this together. We just happen to be driving around a country that we are in awe of and in love with.
Sure, I can throw in my two cents. As someone who has lived in England and France it's pretty obvious. The European community cherish their vacations. After all, most get four to six weeks every years compared a measly one or two for the typical employee. When people have that time for themselves they travel. They will rv all throughout Europe and many will come over here to the states, rent and rv and go down the coast to Florida. The English, French, and Germans are crazy about rv'ing. I don't know about the Italians. Spain seems to have a thriving rv community as well.
The rv industry in the US is pretty stagnate right now. Sure there may be thousands of people rv'ing but we don't make a big deal of it! We buy a camper and toss it aside. We're lucky if that camper gets used once a year because of our limited vacations. Anyway, that's my two cents.
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