A long time trusted advisor and mentor to Truck Camper Magazine had a uncharacteristically passionate response to Monday’s color camper poll results and analysis.
With decades of truck camper industry experience, he relayed three deep concerns about the manufacturer ramifications of going down the path of color matching campers to trucks:
1. It is extremely hard to color match trucks. The different truck brands do not use the same color white, black, red, blue or silver. And then they often change those colors year to year. Color matching trucks in a production environment would be especially difficult.
2. Over time, colors fade in the sun. Furthermore, the camper color fade will be different than the truck color fade due to differences in the paint chemistry, paint application, and the material being painted. You might get lucky and nail the right color at the factory, but the colors will drift apart over time.
3. For truck camper dealers, keeping the right color campers in inventory is nearly impossible. He pointed out that camper shell dealers – of which he has direct experience – have a difficult time dealing with this very issue. Truck camper dealers already have a hard time knowing what to inventory, without exterior color choices and matching.
These are all excellent points that should be carefully considered by industry leaders and consumers.
After reading the mentor’s feedback, I had a another thought. What if we had asked, “Would you rather the truck camper industry focus on (a) improving overall quality and quality control, or (b) coming out with new floor plans, interiors, and exterior color choices?”
Experience tells me the overwhelming majority of Truck Camper Magazine readers would enjoy seeing more floor plans, interiors, and colors available, but would answer (a) focus on improving overall quality and quality control.
Color matched campers are fantastic for getting marketing attention via social media and news outlets like Truck Camper Magazine. That’s a no-brainer. However, color matched campers are probably best produced as special factory-ordered units. Even then, color matching to a truck may be more of a distraction than it’s worth.
