From editor Chuck Woodbury: We issued this news release to the media.
EDMONDS, Wash., Feb. 23, 2017 — Readers of RVtravel.com got a treat this month, a free roll of gaffer tape courtesy of Gaffer Power and the popular RV travel website. The USA-made product is widely used in television and video production, but is gaining popularity among the general public.
“It’s as strong as duct tape but doesn’t leave residue when you remove it,” said RVtravel.com editor Chuck Woodbury.
When Gaffer Power approached Woodbury about offering a free 10-yard roll to his readers, he jumped. “When we can offer our readers something of excellent value, no strings attached, we’ll go for it,” he said.
And so, in his RVtravel.com newsletter early Saturday morning, February 11, he announced the offer. By 5 a.m., Pacific Time, the 750 rolls of the tape set aside for the promotion were claimed. Latecomers received offers of a discount, but no free tape. Angry comments came “fast and furious,” said Woodbury. “They accused the company of pulling a scam or bait and switch.”
“I spent a good part of my weekend sending emails and responding to comments,” he explained, assuring readers all was okay, the offer would return the following week. “The folks at Gaffer Power simply had no idea of the size of our audience. I think they thought it was pretty small, and that 750 rolls would be more than adequate.”
The week after the initial fiasco, Gaffer Power restocked with plenty of inventory. In the end, nearly 8,000 readers clicked through to its website, with 4,800 of them claiming their free roll of tape — about $63,000 in retail value.
“The RVtravel.com community is a very engaged audience that frankly took us by surprise,” said Gaffer Power President Marty Gagnon. “Not only did we get thousands of people wanting to try out our tape, but the engagement afterwards was awesome.”
Woodbury said that about 60,000 RVers a week read the RVtravel.com newsletter with another 250,000 views a month on its popular YouTube channel. Woodbury started the newsletter in 2001 and has published weekly ever since, making it, he believes, the longest-running RV consumer newsletter published today.
EDITOR’S NOTE: If you missed out on the free tape offer, you can order it at a discount at Amazon.com. Simply click here.
