RV News Interviews Affinity's Mike Schneider |
RV News conducted a short telephone interview with Mike Schneider, executive vice president for the Affinity Group, Inc (AGI)., relative to Affinity's acquisition of Camping World. RV News appreciates the courtesy shown by Schneider in light of the fact that one of the Affinity Group's publications is RV Business magazine, a competitor of RV News. In the spirit of fairness and evenhandedness, we are formatting this report as questions and answers to avoid the possibility of editorializing and misrepresenting Schneider's comments. It should also be noted that Schneider's time was limited and the interview was rushed and shorter than RV News had hoped because there were other questions we would have asked had time allowed. In our preliminary discussion prior to the formal questions and answers, RV News shared with Schneider that in our interviews with manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and dealers, the only group that had significant reservations about the Camping World acquisition were RV dealers. Some RV dealers, not all of them, had concerns about the acquisition ó and described these feelings as "scary." Schneider said, "I don't know why anyone
would be afraid. To the contrary. If someone were to
purchase Camping World I think the industry would want it
to be someone with a lot of skin in the game ó like
Affininty." The following interview was conducted by telephone
on March 13, 1997. The general tone of the interview was
friendly and good natured. RV News: Mike, first of all, thank you for taking
the time to talk to us. I know your are especially busy
now. Mike Schneider: Yes. And unfortunately I don't have a
lot of time. I may have to leave and go back into the
meeting. RV News: Fine, so let's get started. What was the
incentive for buying Camping World? Mike Schneider: Aside from the fact this it is good strong company, access to their databases and distribution channels. If we proceed with diligence, sensitivity and
consideration for the whole picture, we think this will
take us ó both companies, Camping World and AGI, ó to
the next level as businesses. RV News: The Affinity Group has reported that
membership in the Good Sam Club and Coast to Coast has
been declining. Is adding the Camping World database
designed to be an infusion of new blood? Mike Schneider: That's part of it. I can talk about both those issues. First of all, membership in Good Sam has started to go back up. The reason for the drop was simply because of the cost of direct mail solicitation when paper was so high the last couple of years it didn't make it cost effective to really go out and build the file up. Now that the cost of paper has started to drop we are going back in with more direct mail. On the Coast to Coast side, Coast to Coast membership
has dropped slightly as a result of the universe of
resort members. But we think that also will change in the
next year or two and turn around and increase Coast to
Coast membership. RV News: In your public release announcing the
Affinity Group's acquisition of Camping World, it said,
" . . . both companies expect this formal alliance
to realize great synergies in delivering timely
information and quality products and services to their
customers." Can you describe those synergies? Mike Schneider: In broad terms Camping World buys
"X" amount of paper a year for their catalogs
and for their direct mail offers and we buy "X"
amount. By putting them together we will get the benefit
of increased purchasing power. RV News: We thought there might be more to the
synergy issue than that. What about the synergies of
integrated programs marketed through Camping World -
Coast to Coast, Woodalls, the Good Sam Club and the
Trailer Life publications? Mike Schneider: They are all healthy, separate
entities by themselves. We are going to keep them as
separate entities. If we were to mix them up too much
that's not smart business. They are all operating nicely
and independently now and it would not make sense for us
to change that mix. RV News: Would those synergies reflect exchange of benefits between Good Sam members and Camping World's president club members? Mike Schneider: Not that we currently have planned. We
are obviously going to cross-promote Good Sam Club
membership in the President's Club and vice versa. RV News: In the near term, then, members of the
Good Sam Club will not automatically become members of
the Camping World President's Club? Mike Schneider: Right. They are going to maintain
their independence. RV News: Over the past few years, AGI has been
buying up a variety of companies ó Woodalls, and other
RV publications. Adding those to Trailer Life, the Good
Sam Club and Coast to Coast and now the acquistion of
Camping World pretty much closes the circle for capturing
avenues to the RV consumer, aside from a few exceptions
such as the FMCA magazine. If any company wants to talk
to a consumer, they basically have to do it through an
AGI company, right? Mike Schneider: We have quite a few avenues, yes. I
think we offer a pretty good array of services. RV News: On another issue relating to the
acquistion, the National Alliance Insurance Company in
St. Louis, has a law suit pending against Camping World,
Camping World's President Tad Donnelly and others
relating to the allegation of misuse of proprietary
information? Will the former Camping World ownership or
AGI be responsible for any liabilities resulting in an
unfavorable verdict? Mike Schneider: I can't comment at all since it is in
litigation. RV News: As we discussed earlier, some dealers
have reservations about this alliance. You've obviously
considered those possible reactions prior to the
acquisition. Has Affinity written the RV dealer off? Mike Schneider: No, not at all. In fact we feel like
we are still very much part of the industry, including
the dealer body. Camping World for instance has embarked,
before Affinity got involved, on a very aggressive
program to partner up with dealers at their store
locations. RV News: Right, but that's limited to a potential
of about 27 stores today. Mike Schneider: Not necessarily. RV News: That's interesting. Care to elaborate? Mike Schneider: Nope. RV News: What would you say to those who have
reservations about whether or not this acquisition is in
the best interest of the RV industry? Mike Schneider: Before people jump to any conclusions,
they should let a little time pass. Schneider at this point indicated that his time
had run out and he needed to get back into a meeting. RV
News again thanked him for his courtesy. RVN
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