Camping Trade World – Issue 09

DOING BUSINESS WITH... USA
JAROD LIPPERT, VP OF MARKETING AND PR AT LIPPERT.
“At Lippert we believe that
the interest in RVing and
Camping is still at an alltime
high. The pandemic
certainly drove more and
more Americans to the great
outdoors and RVing was a
safe and easy way to get out of
the house with their families
and enjoy an affordable
vacation. We believe that some
Americans are still a little bit
weary of traveling overseas
which also helps our industry.
Airline tickets are getting
more expensive as well. While
rising fuel prices make it tough
for RVers, we believe they still
take the same number of trips,
however they may just travel
shorter distances. Overall,
we believe the industry is as
healthy as it has ever been
regardless of the economical
situation we find ourselves in
today.
“Regarding our own
business, we are taking the
responsibility to make the
RVing experience easier and
safer for the end user. Towing
an RV for the first time can
be a bit of a daunting task.
With the industry largely
unregulated compared to the
Automotive Industry, Lippert
has taken the opportunity
to innovate several products
in the safety and security
categories. We have recently
developed the first ever
Anti-Lock Braking System
(ABS) for towable RVs. This
system works just like the ABS
systems in the automotive
market, pulsing the brakes
electronically in an emergency
situation so they don’t lock
up and cause the trailer to
skid. We have an Electronic
Sway Control module that
works with our ABS system to
make towing even safer. We’ve
developed a tire pressure
management system (TPMS)
that will alert the driver
before there is a potential tire
blow out. With the influx of
new RVers, and new towers,
that are in the market now
because of the pandemic,
we feel that it’s necessary to
innovate products that will
make these customers feel safe
and therefore stay in the RV
lifestyle for as long as we can.
“Fuel prices are obviously
something that is weighing
on a lot of Americans’ minds
right now. Rising inflation is
certainly not helping either.
The biggest challenges we
see that date back to prepandemic
times are 1) the lack
of RV-ready campgrounds
and camping spots. There is
simply more demand than
there are places to go camping.
2) there is a need for more
RV service technicians. We
need to keep our customers
on the road. Currently service
times can be several weeks to
several months and this isn’t a
good customer experience for
anyone. The industry needs to
hire, train and retain more RV
technicians in order to keep
RVers in the mobile lifestyle.
“I think there is a huge
opportunity to better educate
and market to would-be
RVers. We have our Go
RVing campaigns that do a
nice job of advertising the
mobile lifestyle to the general
public, but I think there is an
opportunity to cast the net a
little wider through advertising
and public awareness.”
www.campingtradeworld.com | 31