The same Club, just better...
Comments
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We are a members club, we elect a committee to run the club on our behalf. Whilst you may pay a joining fee for the AA or local gym you do not get to elect the people who run them,
If the club were run as a business you would soon see a lot more site closures as no business would continue to run unprofitable sites as a service to members.
I do not agree with the latest rebranding exercise but the club would be a lesser entity if we did not have a committee curbing the most profit centric excesses.
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New Logo: I don't like it but I can live with it
New Name: I can live with that as well
Inspire - Simplify - Pioneer: is just management speak which means whatever you want it to mean.
The statement I take issue with is:
Inclusive - We're a diverse community of adventurers, drawn together by our passion for the great outdoors.
I have just watched the 'We're here for everyone' video.
Everyone in the video is white and able bodied. Not a single representative from an ethnic background and/or with any form of disability.
I question that showing members of management on the golf course and horse riding are also the correct images?
When on site, and at exhibitions and shows, it is really noticeable that there are very few people of colour who are caravaners. Encouraging people to join the club who are not white/caucasian is where the Club ought to be spending its PR budget and not on those of us who are already committed to the cause.
Until the Club is able to encourage and embrace people of colour into caravanning/motorhoming the Club can never be considered to be inclusive.
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Orange does not convey anything to do with the open outdoors. Orange brown looks ugly, old fashioned Stick to greens!!
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Rochelle
Now that you are aware of the views of the majority of members on this forum, which with the number of posts, should provide a good guide of the opinions of all members.
Perhaps you would be kind enough to report this back to the representatives on the committee for a rethink.
It's not too late to abandon this costly and unnecessary rebrand.
An estimate of the cost must have been obtained by the club so will you please give us the figures.
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I find that the rebranding is one aspect that I have less of a problem with than the explanation of how it will improve the club. Like much of the recent advertising of the club it is light on fact and heavy on hype. Definitely the hand of a publicist. There is a list of answers to 'Why we are Changing'. It speaks a lot of forthcoming hope and improvement whilst saying nowt of substance.
I never was impressed by smoke and mirrors. Much is made of the fact that if you join the club you save £12 a night on pitch fees. Simple fact is that if you were not a member you would be unlikely to pay an additional £12 to use a CC site ad so not a real saving.
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What on earth are you doing, introducing what looks like a grammatically incorrect motto?
"Open your doors on great"
????
Great what? It makes me want to change the spelling to "grate", because that's what it does to me when I read it.
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It is too late to change the name back. It is not too late however to sack the publicist and rehire a more appropriate team.
Maybe to be clear about the goals rather than rely on meaningless hype. Is the 'New' club really a better and improved product? Or has the publicity team been watching too many cleaning product adverts?
Obviously if it is new and improved then bot only is their no meat provided on the bones to show in what way there is damn all in the way of a skeleton. It is a bit like looking at an empty zoo enclosure labelled 'Big Cat' when there is nowt in the cage.
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Great has more than one meaning Y3-
great
ɡreɪt/
adjective
1.
of an extent, amount, or intensity considerably above average.
"the article was of great interest"
synonyms: considerable, substantial, pronounced, sizeable, significant, appreciable, serious, exceptional, inordinate, extraordinary, special More
2.
of ability, quality, or eminence considerably above average.
"the great Italian conductor"
synonyms: prominent, eminent, pre-eminent, important, distinguished, august, illustrious, noble; More
noun
1.
an important or distinguished person.
"the Beatles, Bob Dylan, all the greats"
2.
another term for Literae Humaniores.
adverbinformal
1.
very well; excellently.
"we played awful, they played great"
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There are not many positive comments on here which is a shame but I guess that represents the type of people that are more likely to go on to a forum to moan rather than be positive. Very few people use this forum so it could be argued the silent majority are in favour of the change.
well done caravan club in your attempt to move forward into 21st century I say
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It has just occurred to me, what is the cost of all this? The last change from dark green to light green signage at all Club Sites was not so long ago, so another re-brand is going to be yet another charge on us the members. As I have said in a previous post, we are all members of "THE CARAVAN CLUB" regardless of outfit used and it is known and recognized not only by caravanners but by industry and media alike. The change just seems to be yet another trendy exercise for the sake of it. I'm not impressed!
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Sorry, but I have to agree with most of the negative comments!
1. What a waste of money!
2. Why destroy 100 years of heritage and brand identification.
3. Why not spend this money on addressing the ACTUAL benefits for members, improving facilities.
Can't say the logo reaches out to me in any way!
....this is the sort of thing that I find frustrating, when I'm paying good money to a club who's services I'm already struggling to use due to sites I want to use regularly being fully booked, wasting my money on unnecessary changes, when they should be investing it in more network capacity!
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There are not many positive comments David, because the majority of members don't feel it is necessary to make a change. If asking for democratic vote of all members is moaning, I resent it. As a members club, all members should have a say in how it is run especially on such a big issue as this, not decided by a few people.
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I had to attend a funeral in Southampton yesterday so missed all the fun and quite honestly can't be bothered to read through 500 plus posts if the sample which I have read so far is anything to go by.
I welcome the change of name as it is more inclusive although the proof of that inclusivity will be how we see facilities for motorhomes on sites improved in the immediate to near future, waste disposal points being one which should be treated as a priority.
In terms of costs it will be expensive but for such a big change that has to be expected. I like to think of the Club as a professional organisation and if you are going to embark on such a change it can't be done on the cheap and I expect it has to be done upfront rather than spread over a period of time so the message gets across clearly.
I also don't understand this silly argument about whether it is a motorhome of a motor caravan. As far as I know motor caravan is a term that is hardly ever used. The likes of Swift, Bailey and Auto-Trail make motorhomes. The longest running motorhome magazine is called Motorhome Monthly so it is a complete red herring to question the name used by the Club.
Whilst it's good to see so many new members contributing to this discussion I do find it disappointing that so many first time posters seem to use the opportunity to complain rather than being positive or objective in their comments. Club Together is meant to be a community of members to share and acquire knowledge and provide feedback not just a place to complain.
Whilst I might have a nostalgic attachment towards the old Club name I am equally convinced that changing the name to the Caravan and Motorhome Club is the right decision. It will be costly but it is the right decision.
David
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SteveL. I don't think that the club discourages anyone from joining and I am sure that it would love to have members from all backgrounds.
My concern is that none of the images used in the relaunch reflect people from different heritages and the ethnic makeup of the population of the UK.
Look at any adverts, or other PR output in papers or on the TV, and you will see images and characters reflecting the diverse nature of our society. Why not the CC?
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There are many replies on this thread from members that I have never seen on the forum previously. They obviously read CT but don't often write on it but now feel so strongly about the issue that they have now done so. The vast majority of the complaints are about the enormous cost involved in the rebranding exercise. Money that should have been spent on keeping sites open, refurbishment and getting a fairer booking system. There is no point in attracting new members when the club can't cater for those that they already have.
Personally I don't have any issues at all with motor caravans but my gut feeling is that they are not here to stay in the long haul. It seems to me that it is the generation that are in their 50s, 60s and 70s that are buying them as they/we are perhaps the most affluent generation ever. But even we will not live forever. I don't believe the younger generation, generally, are, or will be, in a position to pay out the sort of money that motor caravans cost. It would be interesting to know the actual demographics of motor caravan purchasers to see if my gut instinct is correct and whether the club's claim that 40% of new members own a motor caravan continues over the next few years.
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Well said David. Like you I cant be asked to wade through all this negative drivel. The club needs to move forwards and yes its only a name and logo but it does more represent the outfits on site and the MH facilities do need upgrading ASAP on most sites. All the new posters on here it is a shame they cannot be positive, embrace the change and move on, the cost of rebranding is not that high compared to income and who knows it may tempt some younger blood into the club rather than the dinosaurs who seem to have crawled out of the woodwork on here., I personally though the old logo was terrible and the name has been changed over the years before becoming the Caravan Club so what's the big deal.
Accept it, move on and lets hope the club goes from strength to strength.
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Wasn't it inevitable that any change would be met with this sort of general response? This is CT.0
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It's worth doing a check at Companies House on this one.
It appears, and I'm no expert in this, the Caravan and Motorhome Club Limited was created on 19/12/2016 following the change of name from the Touring Club of Europe Limited, which appears to have been a dormant company since 06/03/2000. The Caravan Club Limited is still in existence. The same Club just better?
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Look at any adverts, or other PR output in papers or on the TV, and you will see images and characters reflecting the diverse nature of our society. Why not the CC?
Maybe because they are not represented on sites to include their image. I can count on one hand, without the use of thumb or pinkie, the number of obviously 'ethnic' people seen by me over the last 360 days on sites. I have met and spoken with quite a few in wheelchairs however.
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So what's the point??? Everyone knows them as a Motorhome, all the manufacturers sell Motorhomes, camp sites have pitches for caravans or Motorhomes, they have Motorhome service points even the Dartford Crossing have a tariff for Motorhomes. It is in lots of online dictionaries so perhaps yours is out of date??
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I cannot see that I have noticed many commercial sites advertising as Joe Bloggs Caravan and Motorhome site but rather as either a caravan site or a camping site. Does that prevent or discourage motorhomers from using them? I think not!
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Stop wasting money on the rebrand and get the website to work properly.
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Actually that's a good point Trevor, and now I've re-read Rochelle's reply I'm not so sure myself.
Rochelle - did you mean "that's strictly not true" - i.e pre-booking of specific pitches by (any) members is not going to happen (as opposed to site managers allocating suitable pitches for units) or is there some truth in the rumour that some members (in this case motorhomers) will be able to choose a specific pitch on booking?.
I'm not sure where the rumour started but it would be good to have a definitive answer.
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