Norman Jacobson of Lance Campers: Forty Years of RV Innovation |
| Gordon White | Friday, 27 March, 2009 |
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In his forty-year career, Norm has been booed out of boardrooms, launched political revolutions, and relentlessly pushed our RV industry forward. ...  If you have attended a RV Show with Lance Campers in the past twenty years, there’s a good chance you’ve met Norman Jacobson, Lance’s Marketing Manager. We first met Norm five years ago at the Washington Camping RV Expo in Chantilly, Virginia. Having just discovered truck campers, we were thrilled to meet an industry representative and were full of newbie questions. Norm immediately impressed us with his knowledge and positive spirit. Little did we know that we would meet again just a couple years later as industry friends. Within the ranks of the truck camper and greater RV industry, Norm’s accomplishments are legendary. From his visionary marketing and advertising efforts with Lance to his pioneering leadership at the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association, Norm has made a significant impact. As you’re about to read, Norm is responsible for many things the RV industry now takes for granted. There’s another side to Norm, one that includes “sin bin” custom vans, breaking up boardroom meetings, cunning behind the scenes diplomacy, and a relentless bull-headed drive for innovation. Is Norm Jacobson deserving of his legendary status? You bet. TCM: When did you first get involved with RVs? Norm: The first time I really thought about a RV was after I purchased my first boat. That was about 1962 or 1963. At the time I wanted a RV but I wasn’t ready financially. A few years later, I bought an Alaskan Camper. The serial number was something like 0063. It was one of the first campers Alaskan built. The owner of Alaskan was an interesting guy who had been an aeronautical engineer. He knew how to build campers. My Alaskan was very substantial, very heavy, and featured hydraulic lifts. I even have a picture of that Alaskan somewhere. TCM: I would love to see that picture if you come across it. What truck did you have? Norm: The truck was a 1959 Ford four-wheel drive stick shift. I think it was the first year they offered four-wheel drive in a truck. I had the truck and Alaskan camper for six years and really enjoyed it. TCM: Did you tow your boat with the Alaskan rig? Norm: Not as often as I thought I would. Sometimes you dream of what you’re going to do and it doesn’t always work that way. I used the Alaskan to camp in the Sierras on the east side where the fish camps are. I also used the camper to go surf fishing on the beach in Ventura. There was no need for the boat in either place. My kids grew up with the Alaskan Camper. It was very small and tight and my kids always wanted to bring as many friends as we could fit in the truck. They would sit on each other’s laps. I would sleep in the camper and they would sleep in tents. It was something different to do. TCM: How did you get involved in the RV business? Norm: My first real experience in the RV business was in 1968. I went to a wedding and met a distant relative of my wife at the time. He was converting VW vans into campers and thought he could start a business converting Ford and Chevy vans. My field and education were in graphic arts, so I offered to help him with the design of the product. I felt obligated to give him at least a few hours and I was interested in what he was saying. Well, I quickly got into what he was doing. At the same time, graphic arts and typography were quickly going away as computer type came in. All my college education for typesetting and seven years of apprenticeship were going out the window. So I decided to leave the graphic arts business and got involved in the van conversion business. TCM: How did that work out initially? Norm: One of the first things I did was talk to Galpin Ford, the world’s largest Ford dealer, and explained that I was interested in customizing vans. In those days, vans were an industrial product. They had one, maybe two seats, power breaks, and no air conditioning. They cost about $2,300 new. Galpin offered me one of their vans for conversion and we took it back to our shop and made the first version of what later became known as a sin bin. TCM: A sin bin? Norm: Yes (laughs). Three-inch foam on the floor, some carpet, and bubble windows in the sides. We converted that first van and took it back to Galpin and it sold almost immediately. So we went back and got another, and then another, and then two and three vans at a time. A short time later, other dealerships started contacting us and our business expanded. What we were building became more elaborate with many more features. Our van conversion company did a significant volume. The East Coast had no clue about the van business in the beginning. It was a West Coast phenomenon. Then Coachman and Starcraft and a few others started manufacturing them in Elkhart. Van conversions got to be big business in the Eastern US almost overnight. More and more companies got into the business and some were building fifty to sixty units a day. One year there were 100,000 van conversions built in the US. TCM: How did you get involved with the RVIA? Norm: While we were converting vans I joined the TCA, or Trailer Coach Association. The association was made up mostly of manufacturers who built mobile homes and travel trailers. At the time, motor homes were hardly in existence. Half the people at TCA meetings were from the mobile home industry and the other half were RV builders. The mobile home people were making decisions for the RV people and the RV people were making decisions for the mobile home people. It didn’t work too well and I was very vocal about it. As nice as it was to have one association, I thought the RV industry should be separated from the mobile home industry. At the same time, the Eastern United States had a similar association in Chicago. They too had mobile homes and RVs together in the same association. I broached the idea of splitting up the two associations and joining the associations from the East and West Coasts together. I was booed out of the room. TCM: Booed? Norm: I wasn’t very popular (laughs). I got together with other RV manufacturers from the West Coast and we organized the Recreational Vehicle Association (RVA). We had quite a few manufacturers on the West Coast building small trailers and there were some start-ups building Class-Cs (cut-aways) and motorhomes. The RVA made me President in 1972. I still thought we should get the East Coast and West Coast associations together. I made a trip to Chicago and met with the chairman of the East Coast association (RVI) Dave Struck. We agreed that joining the associations was the right thing to do. Soon after that, we planned a meeting between the two associations in Louisville. On one side of the table was the East Coast association nicely dressed and on the other side was the West Coast association in their flower shirts and jeans. We were an interesting group of people (laughs). TCM: How did the meeting go? Norm: It was a very amicable discussion. Dave Humphries was attending as a young attorney and we asked him if he would be our legal guide as we put the national association together. TCM: So it was a go? Norm: Yes. Within a short time, the RVIA was established. We had six members on the Board from the East Coast and six members from the West Coast. We had an additional six members who we picked (at large) to be on the Board. Dave Humphries was very instrumental in putting the whole thing together. In the mean time, the mobile home people did the same thing and formed their own national association. It made a lot of sense and it was the right move to make. All this took place during the first oil embargo. Actually, the embargo helped to galvanize the need for a solid association. I was a Board member from the beginning, helping to establish industry guidelines. In 1983/1984 I was given the opportunity to be Chairman of the RVIA Board. That was a terrific experience. I could write a book about those two years. I am still on the Board because they cannot vote off past Chairman. I still get enjoyment out of contributing. When I started at the RVIA, I was the youngest on the Board of Directors. Now I’m the oldest. They can’t get rid of me. TCM: Did participating in these associations help your van conversion business? Norm: Oh yes. I also joined the Truck Managers Association in Los Angeles and met John Sillick. He was the Los Angeles Regional Truck Manager for Chevrolet and the President of the truck club. Shortly thereafter, he was transferred from to Los Angeles to Detroit. When John was in Detroit, I called him and explained how difficult it was to grow our van conversion business getting trucks one at a time. I suggested that a pool of vans should be created that would only be sold to authorized auto dealers. The vans would come to us in bailment until we sold them. John explained the idea to Al Olson, the Chevrolet National Truck Manager, who liked the idea. That was the beginning of the industry Bailment Program. We would get a shipment of vans and convert them in a short time before selling the up-fit to a Chevy dealer while Chevy would invoice the van to the same dealer. We had physical possession, but not financial possession. We had no money tied up in the truck. This has since become the basis for the entire RV industry. After Chevrolet launched their Bailment Program, Ford and Chrysler followed. I wasn’t totally responsible for that program as it was essentially a modification of an existing program used by companies who converted cars and trucks for police departments, fire departments, and utility companies. My part was insisting that the RV industry be allowed to have a similar program. It was this Bailment Program that allowed the van and cut away RV business to come into existence in volume. Dave Humphries titled me the Henry Kissinger of the RV business. TCM: What happened to the van conversion company? Norm: Like all trends that start in California that get popular on the East Coast, van conversions started to wane here. People wanted more fancy toys and vans were no longer the trend. My two partners started to do things other than van conversions to pay the bills. I couldn’t see a market for what they wanted to do so I got out. I had no idea what I was going to do but I needed to take some time off after working for seventeen years in the van business. TCM: What year are we talking about? Norm: It was 1987 when I separated from the company. TCM: Is that when you went to work with Lance? Norm: That’s when Jack Cole, the owner of Lance Camper came into the picture. His business was about a mile away from Contempo Vans. We used to eat lunch at the same restaurant. I told him that I was leaving Contempo and it wasn’t long before he offered me a job. He said that he had a Marketing Manager he didn’t care for and a Sales Manager that wanted to do something other than sales. He said I could be the manager for the Sales and Marketing departments. It took me a couple of months before he finally convinced me. I thought I’d do this for a couple of years. I really liked what Lance was doing. The existing Marketing Manager and I lasted about two weeks. He didn’t like having a boss. He was also wasting money on the wrong things. The Sales Manager and I got along okay. It worked out. TCM: What were your goals at Lance? Norm: Lance was already established and had a dealer network. My goal for the company was to build the image of Lance with the consumer. I knew if the consumer knew Lance, the dealer organization would come together well. So that’s been my focus for twenty-one years here at Lance. I wasn’t planning to spend this long here, but I’ve always liked what I was doing. TCM: How did you convince Lance to invest in marketing? Norm: The guy who was the Marketing Manager before me had convinced Jack how much he should devote to marketing. When I came to Lance, they had some very nice brochures, but not any significant advertising. They had done a little with Trailer Life and a few others. Jack was always open to growing the company and image of Lance through marketing and advertising. TCM: How is Lance doing with this recession? Norm: We’re here for the long run. Financially, the company is sound. We can get by with low overhead. Like most companies, we have had some layoffs in both administration and production. From week to week we are adjusting the working hours depending on our order backlog. We still have two production lines running. Every Tuesday morning we have a conference call with our reps in the field. They are required to call their dealers for an update on what happened over the weekend. We want to know what’s pending, what models are most popular, and what dealers might need help. We go through a series of questions that keep us close to the pulse of the market. TCM: Why is Lance building travel trailers? Norm: The reason we got into trailers is that the trailer manufacturers on the West Coast were the first to go out of business seven, eight, and nine months ago. Trailer inventory turns two to three times a year and about half the inventory in the field is already gone. With a number of West Coast trailer manufacturers out of business, and some others in trouble, there is a need for a West Coast quality manufacturer to build light weight, smaller, quality travel trailers. And we already have a dealer base of forty dealers on the West Coast. We have a facility that can build both camper and trailers side by side. We have two trailer models in production and a third is going into production today and more on the way. TCM: What achievement at Lance are you most proud of? Norm: I’m most proud that almost everyone in the RV business and on the consumer side knows the name Lance. Sometimes I’ll talk to someone who’s not even been in a truck camper and they’ll say, “I’ve heard of Lance. They’re the Cadillac of truck campers”. When I hear that, I know I’ve done my job to build a reputation for Lance through editorials and advertising. Even people in the motorhome and trailer businesses know Lance is the number one camper. I just helped to project the image. The guys in production really deserve the reputation for quality. They are the ones who build them. We have a system here that helps me to determine the best media to invest our marketing money. We track every lead including anyone who requested literature in my database. I can enter a serial number for a sold camper and see when the customer first inquired for literature and from what marketing or advertising source that inquiry came from. About 40% of our sales start with a request for literature through us. We are a company that brings pleasure to people. That’s what keeps me working. I’m proud to wear a Lance jacket when I go out. TCM: Where do you see the truck camper industry going? Norm: In terms of volume, we’re still doing a little better than the rest of the industry as a percentage. Business right now is poor for a wide variety of reasons. One reason is that dealers don’t have the credit to replace sold inventory. If camper manufacturers can hold on, we’ll do well. There’s very little camper inventory in the field compared to motorhomes and towables. There’s an abundant amount of motorhomes and towables from companies that are in and out of business. In the truck camper industry, there’s actually very little inventory in the field. Once things begin to turn around, and credit starts flowing, we will be in great shape to replenish the pipeline. TCM: What’s next for Norm Jacobson? Norm: That’s a really good question. I’m living day-by-day and coming into work at Lance two or three days a week. Retirement is not a word that I really understand. A lot of people haven’t had the opportunities to do what I’ve done in my life. I don’t have pent up issues. I work because I like what I do and who I work with. I’m spending as much time as I want golfing and fishing and enjoying my ranch. I’m also investing my time helping Lance get through this economic situation. If Lance found someone to replace me tomorrow, that would be okay with me. I’m seventy-four years old and any day something could happen to me. 90% of the people I know and love are the people I work with here and in the industry. They’re a big part of my life. This really isn’t a job for me. It’s part of my everyday life. That’s the way I think about it. If I leave here, I’ll stay involved in something charitable or consult in the RV business, if asked. If I can be helpful, I have a lifetime of experience to share. TCM: Thank you Norm. I really enjoyed our conversation. Norm: You’re welcome. For more information about Lance Camper, visit their website at www.lancecamper.com. |
