From the October 2018 Club Leaders Forum

GEORGE CHEETHAM
Next Step Heritage

The Car Club Leaders Forum was established to promote knowledge sharing and best practice for car clubs in a changing environment. With digital technology advancing at a faster rate than ever, it is important for clubs and membership organisations to be on the leading edge of this change to provide the best member experience possible.

Car Clubs, of course, being volunteer-based organisations often encounter the same challenges – which is why we set up the club leaders forum to discuss these challenges and help each other negotiate a changing landscape.

The latest Forum was kindly hosted by Chris and the team at the Porsche Club GB clubhouse, where we organised presentations to help the clubs understand key aspects of their offerings.

Firstly Geoff Love and David Lillywhite of Octane and Hothouse Media fame joined us to review the club magazines and help the clubs understand where the magazine fits into a wider marketing plan. During the intensive workshop, the clubs were challenged on the decisions made with their magazines and asked to rate their marketing and digital marketing strategies to help them understand each part of the marketing process. The session helped the clubs understand how digital and print content can live together as part of a successful marketing plan, and adopt this understanding moving forward.

A club shop is not only a member benefit; it is also an entry point to a club.

If a club has unique products in the marketplace then online users can find it and be brought to the club property, however, few clubs treat their shops with the importance they deserve.

Car Throttle have revolutionised the way young people interact with the internet, labelling themselves as a ‘Facebook for car people’. Following successful growth creating viral media their shop is currently the fastest area of growth, they sell everything from key rings to suspension components and are growing rapidly.

Adnan Ebrahim (CEO) and Gabor Szedlak (COO) joined us to help the clubs learn about their journey in creating the largest automotive property on the internet and what makes for a successful marketplace. It is safe to say their marketplace goes beyond grill badges and umbrellas, however, these remain a staple of what brings users to their property. It was fascinating to have Adnan and Gabor join us, and the insight they gave to the participating clubs was invaluable.