by Steve Cony
Following this year’s round of national and regional conferences, several
questions and issues turned up frequently during marketing seminars.
How long should our video be?
As long as it takes to tell your whole story convincingly and then not
a moment longer. I once viewed a camp promotional video that was thirty-nine
minutes long — fascinating from start to finish. I have also seen videos
as short as five or six minutes. The average length of promotional messages
seems to be twelve to fifteen minutes.
Should it be a VHS or should it now be a DVD?
DVD is fast gaining on VHS as the desired format. This year it is predicted
that DVD production will exceed videocassette production for the first
time in the commercial market. DVD players are now in about 30 percent
of households and are expected to be in 70 percent of households within
five years. We can hypothesize that ownership of DVD players is much higher
now in affluent suburban communities, as well as pockets within major
urban markets. You need to consider the makeup of your camp’s target market.
For the time being it would probably be better, in most cases, to use
cassettes or to make the message available in both formats — if this is
affordable in your budget.
When you do begin to use the DVD format, be cautious about one factor
— the use or misuse of the ability to create chapters. One of the newly-found
delights of the DVD is the division of a full-length movie, for example,
into chapters. With a menu, the viewer can easily get to a favorite scene.
It would be a mistake to do the same thing with your basic promotional
message — which should have a beginning, a sequence, and an ending. You
should not abdicate control of your important promotional message to families
with ready remote controls.
One camp director said, “Great, now I can let the family decide which
parts of camp they want to see and which are not important.” I do not
agree with his plan. You should have a complete, multi-faceted story about
your camp that comes together to create strong perceptions of the higher
value of the summer camp experience. Skipping and dancing around a DVD
menu may delight the user, but it will not serve you well.
What do children like to do on a camp tour?
Our children’s panel at the Tri-State Conference answered this question
by stating that they would generally be happy to play with campers while
on tour — to be included in a game or activity. Any hesitation they had
on this point resulted probably from wondering if the staff would be certain
to integrate them carefully into the already established dynamics of the
campers’ group. However, once they were made to feel welcome and included,
this would probably offer them a good perspective on the types of children
who attend the camp.
Can we use digital photos in our new color brochure?
Yes. In fact, you will save significant production costs. Some photographers
feel that digital images do not hold up to enlargement as well as traditional
film images do. However, most use of camp photos in brochures does not
involve oversize enlargements.
How can we develop an improved basic message to promote
our camp?
You can improve your basic promotional message by determining a positioning
— a unique point of difference. Categorize the various aspects of your
camp — location, activities, special events, staff, facilities, philosophy.
What sets you apart from those camps that are also considered when you
are being shopped? Do you do something or feature something that others
do not? Is this aspect of your operation something that translates into
a message that says “different and better”? Once you identify this unique
point of differentiation, it should become the central point of communication
in your marketing campaign.
How often should we re-do our marketing tools?
Your rates and dates, of course, need annual updates. Beyond this, many
camps become prematurely bored with their own materials and find themselves
reprinting, re-filming, and revising far too often. If you take the time
and effort to create an enduring message about the significant value of
the camp experience you offer, your color brochure, video, and much of
your Web site should serve you well for five years or even longer.
Shouldn’t we constantly update our Web site?
Certain parts of your site need updating. The core introduction to your
camp for prospective campers and parents, however, is not unlike a printed
brochure. If you have carefully crafted your message at the onset, you
have better things to do than to constantly tinker with it.
We have a limited budget. If we can only begin with one
project, which one should come first?
Every camp’s marketing situation is different. In some markets and for
some operations, the brochure receives major attention. In other situations,
Web sites have become valuable front line points of contact. When forced
to generalize, I would put your video first place in line. This is the
medium that best allows you to accomplish several objectives — give a
thorough tour of your camp, encapsulate the spirit and the emotions of
camp, and introduce directors, staff, and campers through interviews.
The video still remains the marketing tool that is most likely to be shared
and viewed together by family members, allowing the interaction that is
so valuable during the camp decision process.
How do we know if our marketing tools are working?
The perfect measurement strategy is to conduct all sorts of expensive
research, which you are not about to do. Another approach begins with
asking prospects about their responses to your materials — What did you
learn? What questions do you have? Did you view other camps’ messages?
How did ours compare?
A next form of measurement is the number of enrollments versus packages
distributed. If you enrolled one child for every ten packets mailed, then
make changes to your marketing package and now enroll one child for every
eight packets, you know that the changes were improvements.
Resist the temptation to turn parents and children into advertising experts.
In other words, do not ask them how you could improve your brochure, video,
or Web site. Instead, make sure to understand which of your messages persuade
and which fall short. Then combine the talents of those who understand
your camp best and those who can produce a persuasive new message.
How can we deal with feelings that the whole marketing
process seems kind of unpleasant?
Occasionally, marketing may indeed seem like it ought to be reserved
for consumer-packaged goods but not for something as wholesome and tradition-bound
as camp. At these moments, it is best to think of marketing in two ways.
First, it is the means by which we fill camp. An almost-full camp means
that we are not doing the good things we do for the maximum number of
children we can handle. In short, when we market less than effectively,
eager and deserving children may miss out on all that we have to offer.
Second, your marketing package is actually like a grandparent’s brag book
— something to proudly pass around. You’ve worked hard at programming,
staffing, training, maintenance, capital improvements, transportation
— and much, much more. Your brochure, Web site, video, and all the other
carefully crafted descriptions of camp are your opportunities to say,
“Look what we’ve done here!
Originally published in the 2002 July/August
issue of Camping Magazine. |
