In an unprecedented move, Go RVing television ads will run during coverage of three of sports’ biggest events – the Super Bowl, NASCAR’s Daytona 500 and the Summer Olympics.
The $16 million 2008 media plan was unveiled during the Outlook Breakfast today (Nov. 27) at the opening of the 45th Annual National RV Trade Show at the Kentucy Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky.
The media plan is set to launch on Feb. 3 on FOX with Go RVing’s first-ever NFL spot, during the final half-hour of the Super Bowl XLII pregame show. A Go RVing ad will also air during the 50th running of the Daytona 500 on FOX, Feb. 17. The spots on these two events allow Go RVing to enter approximately 127 million homes and boost awareness in the midst of the busy retail show season.
Six months later, the 2008 media plan reaches its peak with a major buy on the Beijing Summer Olympic Games, Aug. 8-24. Go RVing has purchased a package of 133 30-second spots on NBC and its cable affiliates, CNBC, MSNBC and USA.
“It’s like the perfect storm of advertising,” said Gary LaBella, vice president and chief marketing officer, Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA), which manages the campaign for the industry-wide Go RVing Coalition. “Through great negotiations, we were able to lock in buys during three of the most powerful television viewing events, anchoring a 2008 campaign designed to generate 2 billion consumer impressions.”
In 2008, Go RVing is increasing the campaign’s NASCAR presence with a $1 million buy on ESPN and the Speed Channel, featuring spots on the Nextel and Nationwide (formerly Busch) series races and RV “on the road” vignettes between race locations. A vignette featuring legendary NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace was shot on location during the 2007 National RV Trade Show in Louisville.
On March 9, in Norwich, Conn., the nation’s top professional bowlers will take to the lanes to compete in the 2nd Annual Go RVing Classic. As in 2007, Go RVing ads and lane signage will be featured during this and all Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) tour coverage on ESPN and ESPN2 in February and March. Go RVing is officially sponsoring a three-man team of bowlers who will wear Go RVing shirts and carry a ball with the Go RVing logo. “Team Go RVing” includes bowlers Riga Kalfas (who travels by RV), Tom Baker (on the PBA Tour and the Senior Tour) and Joe Ciccone. The PBA’s all-time leading title and money winner, Walter Ray Williams Jr., remains an RVIA media spokesperson and will continue to sport a Go RVing shirt in competitions and in interviews with his motorhome.
Go RVing will be prominent once again during Triple Crown Horse Racing programming on ESPN leading up to the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes and the Preakness in May. New additions to the lineup are the PowerSports ATV ProTour on ESPN2 and Xtreme Bulls Tour on ESPN. And, Sunday major league baseball on TBS will feature Go RVing ads, April through June.
Go RVing TV spots also run February through October on a total of 30 major national networks, also including the National Geographic Channel, Discovery, TV Guide Channel, Lifetime, Nickelodeon, Weather Channel, A & E, Animal Planet, Golf Channel, Hallmark Channel, TV Land and Sci-Fi. The total TV investment for 2008 is $8.76 million.
Hitting the newsstands in February, the “What Will You Discover? Go RVing” print ads are slated to run through December in a mix of 32 national and regional publications. Go RVing’s $4.7 million print plan includes the traditional one-and-one-third page ads in top-rated publications like Better Homes & Gardens, Family Circle, Ebony, Outside, Conde Nast Traveler, Family Fun, National Geographic Adventure, Southern Living, Travel & Leisure, Sporting News and Woman’s Day.
Six new lead-generating, smaller ads (one-third to quarter-page formats) have been created to appear in new publications like Outdoor Photographer, AARP Magazine, O-The Oprah Magazine, Cooking Light, Cooking with Paula Deen, Dog Fancy and ATV Magazine. The demographics of these readers and their hobbies/leisure pursuits makes them prime targets for the Go RVing message.
With an Internet investment of over $2.2 million, Go RVing ads will appear February through December on 19 popular websites and search engines including Yahoo!, Google, Weather.com, Away.com, Military.com, Hallmark.com, Kaboose, HGTV/DIY network and Yahoo! Pets.
The Go RVing Coalition, formed in 1994, consists of RV manufacturers, component suppliers, dealers and campgrounds. Go RVing works to provide the public and media with pertinent information about the benefits of RV travel and to foster customer satisfaction with the RV experience through customer research conducted by its Committee on Excellence.
