MotorHome & Trailer Life To Merge Into New RVing Format
Camping World Holdings, Inc. announced today that they were ending the print publications of both Trailer Life and MotorHome magazine and combining them into a new digital format with a single print publication. It seems that Camping World has finally figured out what the rest of us already knew, print is dead.
For the devoted few who still received their monthly copy of MotorHome, this is no surprise. What has arrived in my mailbox the last several months is a battered shell of its former self. After removing the several blow-in cards that help give the magazine a little bulk, the amount of remaining content was embarrassing. More importantly, much of it was outdated, due to the lead times involved in print media.
A surprising revelation
2020 has us already feeling like it’s the end times. What is surprising to me is how an organization so broad and RV centric is just now figuring out the obvious. While I don’t doubt the digital soothsayers at Camping World, Marcus Lemonis was quoted as saying about their customers that;
“They (customers) feel it’s too hard to find information today.”
Really? Have their customers not heard of Google? They can’t Google “RV” or “MotorHome?” I have never had a problem with Camping World products or stores. Given their reputation lately however, and the scores of folks complaining about them, perhaps their customers really don’t know how to use Google.
For what it’s worth, it feels like Mr. Lemonis has been working hard to repair the sullied reputation at Camping World. He reinforced that message when speaking about the new magazine and website;
“It’ll have my hand prints all over it. So, I’ll be driving the framework of the content.”
You’ll have to be your own judge as to whether that’s a good thing, or a bad thing. The man has been successful. If he’s deeply involved, perhaps Camping World can see a positive turnaround, at least from a perception standpoint.
RVing content for RVers, by RVers
At RV LIFE, our print magazine was retired back in 2016. Five years ago we saw the writing on the wall as digital content was already ascending the steps to the media throne. Through our major content sites, RVLife.com, CamperReport.com, and DoItYourSelfRV.com, we have been providing great RVing content for RVers for years.
Google anything to do with RVing and you will end up on at least one of those three content sites, or our widely regarded industry staples like iRV2.com and CampgroundReviews.com. These two sites have been around for 10 and 20 years, respectively.
Utilizing dozens of writers that are also real RVers, motorhome owners, campers, and outdoor enthusiasts, the team at RV LIFE is already providing “outdoor enthusiasts with everything they need to enhance their lifestyle no matter where they are in the journey” and have been doing it for years.
Can you trust Camping World?
Whether or not you can trust Camping World to sell or service your travel trailer or motorhome is not for me to decide. Like I said, I’ve never had a problem with them. Will I trust them to resurrect a dead magazine that I used to cherish? Will I trust them to have relevant RVing content, given that other sources have at least a 5-year head start on them?
I don’t know. I trusted them with my trip planning until they blew up the RV Trip planner that was included with my Good Sam membership. Fortunately for me, that change turned me on to RV LIFE Trip Wizard. The result was far better and more efficient trip planning, and a huge change in my RVing life, and lifestyle.
Time will tell
Only time will tell if Camping World can compete in the digital arena with brands like ours that have been doing it a long time. They have already shown that just throwing money at a problem hasn’t helped. They’ll need talent, foresight, and honesty to be successful. We’ll see.
Speak for yourself. Print is only “dead” because so many publishers are making it that way – and it’s not only for RV magazines. I cannot count the number of people who have said how much they miss being able to take a magazine out on the patio to read in the sunshine or shade.
It’s long past time for mobile owners to be told to their face that not everyone needs to have a gadget under their nose as they sleep, eat, pray, or cross the road. Personally, even though I use a computer in my work, I’d like to see a revolution until some magazines get that message.