The Marketing department is formed of 8 separate functions as follows:
Membership marketing
The membership marketing team focus on recruiting and retaining members, as well as marketing The Club's insurance and financial services. We are also committed to adding value to the membership proposition by offering different products and services to members, as well as creating relevant affinity partnerships with companies who can really offer something of "value" to our membership. The membership marketing team also project manage The Caravan Club's presence at the caravan exhibitions across Britain and Ireland.
Public relations
The PR Department is tasked with raising the profile of caravanning and motor caravanning to consumers and industry bodies. This is carried out via strategic alliances with like-minded partners such as Sustrans and the RSPB together with high profile PR campaigns, events and awards ceremonies. A programme of strategic press releases and articles are compiled and distributed to regional, national and specialist press journalists to ensure The Club remains at the forefront of peoples minds with regard to caravanning. The department has represenation at relevant EU meetings with matters concerning caravanners and motor caravanners. We also work closely with tourism bodies such as VisitBritain and organise tourism receptions in Wales and Scotland.
Sites marketing
Responsible for maximising the occupancy on Club Sites. Markets the site network to the membership via the monthly Magazine, twice-yearly Site Collection brochure and a fully bookable website. Also promotes sites to non-member caravanners both in the UK and overseas through links with VisitBritain, Regional Tourist Boards and Tourist Information Centres. Works with third parties/alliances to develop a raft of ‘reasons to travel’ to sites throughout the year. In conjunction with sites operations and estates, defines requirements for ongoing site acquisition and site redevelopment.
Insight and planning
A new area within the marketing department, this covers market and member research, competitor intelligence, data analysis and planning. Its main aim is to gain a deeper understanding of member needs and anticipate how The Club can improve services and products to meet these.
E-Commerce
Management of The Club website ensuring it is up to date and contains interesting and relevant content. The website is constantly evolving and there is the need to oversee and test any developments of the website and introduce new services to ensure the best possible member experience.
Publications department
A small department with big responsibilities! The team has only four full-time posts (with some temporary assistance in peak periods) but compiles the biennial Sites Directory & Handbook and Sites location map (the members’ ‘bible’) and the annual two-volume Caravan Europe guides which give information on campsites and everything you need to know about motoring and caravanning in Europe.
In addition, the department also buys all The Club’s paper and print requirements from business cards to directories, brochures and The Club Magazine (currently over 350,000 copies printed each month) and organises their distribution.
UK technical advice and information
We are a small team (5 staff plus manager), providing Club members and other enquirers with advice on a very broad range of caravanning-related topics, including towcar choice, caravan/motorcaravan selection, problem solving, accessory choice, and guidance for novices. As a section responsible for helping people solve problems and improve their enjoyment of caravanning, the work can be very rewarding.
Events
We are responsible for organising all of The Club's events including the National Rally, several well known competitions and awards and Caravan and Motor Caravan Courses - as well as acting as the main point of contact for the FICC. In addition, we will be undertaking responsibility for many of the special Centenary events throughout 2007.
Our competition and award ceremonies are held annually and bring together a wide range of industry leading companies. The events we organise are Towcar of the Year, Motor Caravan Design and Drive and the Caravan Design awards.
The National Rally is The Club's largest rallying event and sees around 10,000 caravanners congregating at some of the UK's most prestigious locations. 2007 sees the Centenary Rally taking place at Blenheim Palace.