RIV and Blue Bird "Brand"

[mbulriss]

Tom,

I believe that you raise some excellent points. My personal opinion
is that with the rounds of ownership changes in the past years, BB has
lost whatever semblance of lifestyle marketing that they had in the
past. Corporate cost cutting has been the main focus of the new
ownership groups. Additionally, the common ownership of Prevost and
Bluebird probably generated some indirect pressure from that parent
company over having two high end products addressing the same
relatively small market space (in potential number of units, not
dollar volume).

As a result, for the past few years they have had little to no
direction in lifestyle marketing, product and market segmentation, or
overall corporate direction with regard to the Wanderlodge division.
Cutting staff, cutting advertising in the FMCA magazine to zero for a
while (when they used to command the marketing coveted inside front
cover each month), and selling the marketing symbol of the donut wagon
(stated reason too expensive) that used to hit many of the RV
rally/shows (and always got additional free press exposure in rally
coverage), are all symbolic of the loss of direction/dedication to the
market.

In the past eight years that I have owned a Bird, they have never had
a strong and dedicated nationwide dealer network. Holland, Bleakley
and Parliament are the exceptions to that and the three shining stars
of their dealer network, carrying real inventory, but very regionally
spaced. The other "dealers" are mostly what you see at Shorewood,
IMO. Even when Buddy Gregg was a dealer, I never saw more than 4-5 BB
in total on his Dallas lot (new and used). Since Buddy quit, we have
had three "dealers" in Texas come and go. The first two after Buddy
never even had any inventory as far as I know, and the newest "dealer"
is historically a consignment lot and has one new LXi listed on its
website (unknown if it actually exists on-site or is on order) and one
1990 on consignment. I stopped at a then-listed "dealer" near Albany,
NY (Alpine?) on a trip a few years back in time and they had no BB
inventory, and no sales person that knew anything about them.

The less than stellar dealer network was not important a few years
back when BB actually had some marketing effort, was the brand to be
aspired to, was selling everything they made and there was less
competition in their market space. In the last few years while they
have been floundering, the market for higher end coaches has grown
tremendously due to baby boomers, and numerous other players have
entered the market space. We have to hope that BB regains some sense
of marketing and starts developing a real market segmentation and
product plan. In the meantime we have these wonderful coaches they
have produced that will outlive most of us on this forum. These
forums can also serve to fill the gap in the lifestyle marketing by
creating camaraderie, a knowledge and support base, and on-going
demand for the products. All of this is helpful to the company as
the management team tries to re-invigorate the brand. Maybe someone
there will realize this someday.

Mike Bulriss
83 PT40 "Stagecoach" - For Sale
91 PT40 "Texas Minivan"
San Antonio, TX

P.S. I would also be suspicious of a '91 PT 40 traded in on an
Allegro Bus! But in the meantime, if someone offered me $139K for my
'91, it would be gone.....



--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Tom" wrote:
>
> One of the selling points of MH ownership is the lifestyle...kind of
> like when Harley sells motorcycles. The "brand" rallies are an
> important part of that and if BB is to remain a quality brand...the
> rally must be an anticipated event and well attended.
>
> You read frequently about the "brand" rallies for Country Coach,
> American Coach, Newell, Foretravel, Newmar, Tiffin, Winnebago and
> others. Many owners pride themselves on not missing any annual
> rallies. If the BB loyalists sit on the sidelines (or accross the
> street) it is likely that the rally will atrophy and die. I don't
> think that is good for any Blue Bird owner or enthusiast!
>
> I believe I read earlier that BB understands that the changes to RIV
> may have been too much...too soon? If this is true I would think it
> would make sense to be supportive in helping define an RIV that would
> again be exciting and well attended. If, on the other hand, BB is non-
> reflective and non-supportive regarding the rally format and
> costs...well...that probably tells you where they sit relative to the
> BB "brand" future plans.
>
> Just the musings from a wanbee...not meant to offend...Thank You...Tom
> Rootness in Northern Minnesota
>
> P.S. Just visited the Minnesota BB dealer in Anoka...shows another BB
> issue. They have two BBs...both '04 (?) demo models used by the two
> owners. I don't think they sold a BB in the last 18 months...not
> really trying. Maybe they have the brand so the owners can have demos.
>
> Primarily a Tiffin and other brand dealer. BTW they did just take in
> a '91 PT 40 on trade on an Allegro Bus. The '91 is quite messy and my
> guess is they don't know how to sell it and will end up wholesaleing in
> 90 days. Asking $139K which IMHO is quite high for a bit dicey '91.
> If someone is interested you might want to call them. Shorewood RV in
> Anoka, MN. TMR
>