RIV and Blue Bird "Brand"

[pattypape]

I visited and took the BB factory tour last year.
I may be mis-taken, but I got the impression, that a newly
built Wanderlodge is always ordered by an owner or a dealership.
They are not built for stocking inventory.

Bill 88 FC


--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "mbulriss" <mbulriss@y...>
wrote:
>
> 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
> >
>