Bridging the gaps
Another workshop examined how various club organisations can develop products and services that will meet a unique demographic niche for them. Oliver Schmerold, Chief Executive Officer of the ÖAMTC, spoke about how his club is appealing to a younger demographic. One example is offering a pre-paid credit card and free membership for teenagers in a member’s household. The club also distributes newsletters designed for younger generations, as well as having an active social media presence to appeal to this demographic.
Similarly, Rob Ganley, Senior Communications Manager of the UK’s Camping and Caravanning Club, said his club is looking to appeal to a younger generation but its approach is to target families with developed programmes and strategies to make camping more of a family activity. The club is trying to instil a love of camping in children and has commissioned studies that show how children who camp tend to do better at school and live happier more fulfilled lives.
Conversely, Neil Greig, Director of Research and Policy from the Institute of Advanced Motoring, a UK based charity, is focused on seniors driving. His organisation has developed an exam for senior drivers that offers a perspective on whether or not they should be driving. The focus is on ensuring that seniors become safe drivers and to demonstrate that ability to drive is not really age-specific. You can have a very alert 80-year-old and then you can have an un-alert 65-year-old, so their programme deals with that.
Session moderator Frank Fotia, Chief Operating Officer of the Canadian Automobile Association, said that clubs have come to the realisation that they have to change and offer new services to remain relevant to all sectors, especially the younger demographic. The old model of basing the business around breakdown services does not necessarily work anymore.
“Because your car does not breakdown very often anyway, if you only have a road-side call once every few years you’re not going to have people wanting memberships,” said Fotia. “So having savings and rewards programmes, that appeal to the youth, such as credit cards and discounted movie tickets, can help bind a member to your organisation, independent of your core service.”
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