A Close-Up Look at Good Sam’s New ‘Wildsam’ Magazine – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
AUSTIN, Texas – New to the national RV media scene is a consumer publication called “Wildsam,” a magazine published by Camping World Holdings Inc.’s (CWHI) Good Sam Media and Events that replaced its “RV Magazine” in January as a high-visibility print-and-digital consumer title.
Of course, it’s a logical step for Good Sam and its corporate predecessors who are well known over the years for generating popular RV lifestyle magazines like Trailer Life, Motorhome, Highways and Woodall’s.
Having acquired Wildsam as an independent, 10-year-old publisher of travel guides back in 2022, Good Sam has scheduled eight annual print and four digital-themed issues of Wildsam for 2024 targeting 13 million North American RVers as well as “an extended and expanding community of adventure and road trip enthusiasts.”
And things are frankly going well, according to Director of Sales and Operations Tom Rendell, who says the renamed Wildsam magazine has picked up thousands of new multi-generational recipients.
“Our audited print circulation for Wildsam magazine is 320,000,” reports Rendell. “The vast majority of copies are sent directly to paying subscribers. We have a small newsstand presence including locations like Barnes & Noble and we also distribute copies at Camping World’s Ultimate RV Shows and events like the Overland Expo. In addition to our print circulation, we publish content on Wildsam.com and RV.com and reach an audience of over 2.1million email subscribers.”
Editor in Chief Taylor Bruce says Wildsam is produced by about 18 editorial and advertising staffers, a third based in Austin, the rest located around the country, which works for contributors covering stories in distant locales.
“We were a travel and road trip book publishing company previously and we’d done about 60 books starting about 12 years ago about American destinations and road trips as well as national parks, whole states and more iconic destinations,” said Bruce. “And then we joined our friends at Good Sam two years ago and kind of locked arms since there was so much common ground between the consumer base that they were serving and our travel guide readership. So, we got together two years ago and this magazine is kind of that partnership in fruition.”
Wildsam’s current editorial coverage includes a wide array of topics centered on everything from specific RV models to current and classic gear, how-to technical information and road trips running the gamut from private parks and campgrounds to national parks and forests.
Advertisers in the latest issue ranged from mainstream industry companies such as Progressive, Blue Ox, Newmar, Tiffin Motorhomes, Ultra-Fab, B&W Trailer Hitches, LiquidSpring, Camco Inc., Leisure Travel Vans and KZ RV in addition to less familiar sources from Montana’s Yellowstone Country to coolers (Yeti) to outdoor sound systems (Turtlebox) to cookware (Gerber), clothing (Faherty), dog food (Jinx) and canine kennels (Gunner).
Editorially speaking, Bruce maintains, Wildsam has been clearly migrating from its previous status as RV Magazine to where it is today as an outreach of Good Sam, the world’s largest RV consumer club. “We’ve definitely invested in it,” added Bruce. “It’s a larger magazine. It’s an improvement on paper quality and cover stock. We’ve invested in photography and writing and the information that’s going to come across. And in some ways we want it to be a reflection of the industry’s own growth.
“I know there’s been some (national economic) challenges in the last 12 months,” he added, “but if you look at the last 10 years, the lifestyle of RVing and who’s interested in recreational vehicles and camping, it’s just booming. And there’s so many people that are exploring it, maybe for the first time. And so we want the magazine to feel like it represents both the present and the future of the industry.”
That comment, Bruce emphasized, applies to both the editorial and commercial aspects of Wildsam.
“We, again, want to address the growing landscape of the RV life,” he added. “Our core is certainly the manufacturers and the gear (accessories) brands, but we’ve found that companies like Yeti and outdoor brands like Chacos (outdoor footwear) and others are really interested in talking to this large audience because those products go hand in hand with these experiences as well as destinations. The tourism industry is very aware of the fact that this is a growing form of adventure and exploration. And so we’ve worked with Montana and New Mexico tourism and the state of North Carolina. That’s a big opportunity for us, too.
“And we’re launching a big campaign with Toyota Land Cruiser this summer. So, that’s exciting, getting into the automotive market, too,” added Bruce. “And the outdoors is certainly a content pillar. RVing and the outdoors have always gone hand in hand. And so covering both national parks and wilderness areas as well as state parks and campgrounds is definitely a part of every issue of the magazine.”
Bruce, who worked at Time and Southern Living before starting Wildsam 12 years ago, says plans also call for the July addition of a new magazine component called “The Rally” containing reader input from how-to tips to campground strategies.
