Trick-or-Treat Trailer-to-Trailer
I had one of those “Doh!, why didn’t I think of that” moments after reading the Halloween story out of Moriarty, N.M., last weekend.
The staff at RV Sales had developed a brilliant plan for attracting families – especially families with young children – to the dealership. On Halloween night, they arranged 40 RVs in a circle around their sales lot. Each of the “homes” was staffed by costumed adults and teenagers who eagerly gave out candy to costumed children as they canvassed the “neighborhood.”
“Trick-or-Treat Trailer-to-Trailer” has become a major community event, according to an article appearing in the Mountain View Telegraph. So big, in fact, that extra law enforcement staff are required to handle the crowds. Okay, dealers, when was the last time any of your sales events required police officers to direct traffic?
This is not just an RV Sales event, the entire community has taken ownership of it. Candy is donated and volunteers step forward to help staff the stations and run the event. The children must pay a $1 admission or bring a can of food, all of which is donated to a local charity. The staff sets up a haunted house, too, to raise even more money $1 at a time. I can’t imagine a better event to invoke goodwill in the community.
Parents can bring their children to a safe environment to trick-or-treat at dozens of homes without having to walk a mile and a half. All parents need to worry about is hyperactive children, not traffic, perverts and poisoned candy.
Best of all, this event is a brilliant sales bonanza for the dealership. It’s a great way to get a thousand families to check out close-out models or new inventory. It also helps set the tone that RV Sales is a great place for family fun. Campgrounds, which are normally closed by Halloween, often host similar events in the summer. But, I’ve not heard of an RV dealership opening its doors for such a community service.
I’ll gladly tip my hat to Kay Wilks and Kathy Chowning, the RV Sales staff charged with planning the successful annual events. Whatever they are paid, it’s not enough for coming up with this type of marketing brilliance.
November 8th, 2006 at 12:23 pm
Creavitity lives … at least with one RV dealership. This sounds like a great promotion that could certainly be duplicated across the country. Perhaps the RVDA or one of the large dealer groups (Freedom Roads, Route 66 or ReDex) could take this to a national level with their organizations.
This is an outstanding way to drive new prospects to the dealership and expose many of them to the RV lifestyle and the many wonderful experiences it holds for families.
Congratulations to Kay and Kathy for thinking outside the box and doing something that was refreshing and exciting in their community. No tricks here, just a great treat for all the kids and parents that spent Halloween at their dealership.
Any other “off-the-wall” creative ideas out there?