CAMPS Marketing: The 7 Ps of Marketing

The 7 Ps of the CAMPS marketing strategy will be explored in this paper. The contents of the strategy can be summarized in the table below – 

Product 

Key features that can be emphasized for the CAMPS product to create the best possible marketing strategy are real-time information on road conditions and partnerships with popular campsites. These features should drive up interest and engagement with the application. 

Real-time information is something that is often missing from navigation applications for remote places. For the most part, real-time information on navigation applications is restricted to urban areas and only indicates traffic. There is a need for updates on traffic and weather, terrain, and the state of the road for campers. In one relevant study on local travel by self-driven vehicles, Zhang and Tao (2006) found that drivers' most commonly stated challenges were terrain and accessibility. Thus, this will be an attractive feature. 

The second feature, partnerships with popular campsites, will be a way to drive up both the use of the application and the customer traffic to a campsite. As a result, it should be easy to partner with popular campsites. The clients should access features exclusive to CAMPS through these partnerships, such as priority booking and virtual tours. The packages' exclusivity will drive up the application's use, as events will be unavailable without it. 

Price 

The pricing strategy that would best apply to the marketing strategy for CAMPS will include bundles and discounts. Under the uncertain time of the current global pandemic, there is an element of undesirability or uncertainty regarding travel, especially travel across the state or country borders. As a result, recreational traveling, and associated services such as CAMPS, will be less appealing to consumers due to environmental and political factors. To further encourage the use of CAMPS, and trip planning, it is important to price items at a level that will be attractive even to consumers that have been discouraged by the current conditions. This is the rationale behind providing bundles and discounts. 

Bundles, or bundling, refers to a marketing technique wherein the business sells several products together in one unit for a lower combined price. The CAMPS application will place partner events on a pricing tier list and allow users to bundle their subscription fee with a specific tier of events to use this bundling technique. For example, with a monthly subscription of $6 and a mid-tier event costing $12, CAMPS users can pay $13 in one month and gain access to both the application and any mid-tier event of their choosing that month for a lower price. One study by Choi et al. (2019) showed that bundling was especially effective at raising sales when it came to the sale of online services and downloadable applications. 

The discount strategy will be used for subscription fees. Discounted subscription fees have been associated with higher sales (Byun et al., 2015). Users who purchase six months of subscription at a time will be given a 20 percent discount. This will encourage long-term use and engagement with the application. 

Promotion 

Promotional activities for the CAMPS application will take place on social media, with a reliance on targeted social media advertisements and the use of popular social media influences with platforms revolving around camping, vehicle-dwelling, and recreational vehicles. Examples are channels such as 'Tiny Home Tours' and 'We're The Russos' on YouTube. These channels garner millions of views and often feature sponsored content from brands with successful marketing campaigns afterward. 

Place 

As the product is an online application, few considerations are made with the place aspect. For sale and distribution, CAMPS will be available on Google Play Store for Android users and the Apple Store for iPhone users. Links to both listings will also be available on the company website landing page. 

People 

With regards to human resources, there will be an emphasis on high-quality customer service. The primary goal is to give consumers the impression that staff members are friendly and welcoming. One of the focuses in hiring and training staff will be experienced with camping or traveling extensively. This experience will make them well equipped to understand consumer viewpoints and concerns and offer friendly services and during package development. 

Process 

The CAMPS operation process will consist of a sales funnel, a distribution process, payment systems, and customer relationship management. These processes will focus on design and optimization before the launch and after the launch for continuous improvement. 

Physical Evidence 

Physical evidence of CAMPS' existence will be provided via electronic business cards and the delivery of formal invoices or quotes for consumers interested in learning more. CAMPS' development will also create a professional website featuring staff visits to partner campsites to further physically validate the brand. 

References 

Byun, J., & Jang, S. S. (2015). Effective promotions for membership subscriptions and renewals to tourist attractions: Discount vs. bonus.  Tourism Management ,  50 , 194-203. 

Choi, H. S., & Chen, C. (2019). The effects of discount pricing and bundling on the sales of game as a service: An empirical investigation.  Journal of Electronic Commerce Research ,  20 (1), 21-34. 

Zhang, C. L., & Tao, Y. G. (2006). Challenges and Countermeasures on Scenic Spots from the Development of Self-driving Tourism.  Journal of Tourism College of Zhejiang .