Zone RV came to me first as a media client at my business Adventure Curated. When the CEO invited me to Queensland to review their marketing, I expected to find a marketing process that needed work. What I found was a bigger challenge than that.

The situation

Zone RV was manufacturing approximately 15 different caravan models, each with extensive customisation options. On the surface it looked like a compelling offer. In practice it was creating serious problems throughout the business.

Quote turnarounds were running to 30 days. Every custom configuration required manual calculation, back and forth between the customer and the sales team, and lengthy internal coordination. Manufacturing was complex and inconsistent. Warranty issues were accumulating. A Facebook owners group, originally created to build community, had become a forum for complaints that was actively damaging brand trust.

The marketing budget was being spent trying to attract customers into a sales process that was not working. Better marketing would just bring more people into a broken funnel.

The diagnosis

Before any marketing work could be effective, the product and sales process needed to be simplified. The 15-model range with endless options was the source of the problem, not a feature of the brand.

My recommendation to the CEO was direct. Simplify the range to three core models with a clearly defined set of options. Build a digital configurator that allowed customers to choose their model, select their options, see live pricing and live weights, and generate an instant quote without any sales team involvement. Automate that quote to the customer by email and feed it directly into a CRM so the sales team received warm, informed leads rather than cold enquiries.

I also recommended closing the Facebook owners group. It was a difficult call but a necessary one. The brand needed space to fix its problems without a running public commentary alongside it.

To strengthen the product offering I introduced Zone RV to Redarc and Maxtrax as premium options partners, adding credibility and commercial value to the configurator from day one.

The CEO and Managing Director both backed the strategy in full.

The execution

From November 2021 to July 2022 I worked alongside the Zone RV team to bring the strategy to life.

The caravan range was redesigned around three models with set configurations. I briefed and managed a new WordPress website through my developer, built around the configurator as its centrepiece. The configurator displayed live pricing, live weights and instant quoting. Every quote was automatically emailed to the customer and integrated directly with HubSpot CRM.

With the new website and range in place, I planned and executed the launch campaign across email, Meta, Google and YouTube.

The results

The impact was immediate. Within the first months of launch the configurator generated over $400 million in quotes. Average order value grew 175% as customers, presented with clear options and transparent pricing, chose to specify their caravans properly rather than defaulting to the cheapest configuration. The new system effectively unlocked the potential the team had built to date.



The sales team shifted from managing a slow, manual quoting process to following up warm leads with full configuration details already in the CRM.

Zone RV subsequently changed ownership. The new owner, having acquired the business, chose to keep the website and configurator entirely unchanged. In a post-acquisition interview he described the platform as industry leading and noted it was something his other caravan brands could learn from. The full interview is available on YouTube and the configurator remains in use today.

The lesson

The brief was to improve Zone RV's marketing. The real work turned out to be making the business easier to buy from.

That is a pattern I see often. Marketing budgets get spent pushing people toward a product or process that creates friction at every step. The instinct is to advertise harder. Often the foundation and funnel need work before marketing can scale profitably.

Strategy earns its keep when it identifies and solves the right problems and then allows brands to scale with confidence.

Working on a similar challenge?

If your marketing is not delivering the results your business deserves, the problem may not be the marketing. I work with leadership teams and in-house marketers at outdoor and tourism brands to find the right answer, not just the obvious one. Get in touch.