Many people take advantage of the warm summer months by going to the lakes for swimming and boating or to campgrounds for cooking and sleeping out under the stars. It's normally a three-month opportunity. No doubt it involves the annual ritual of digging out the canoe, life vests, beverage cooler, tent and sleeping bags.

There are, however, some folks who are "using" these outdoor necessities year-round. No, they aren't retired or financially set for life. They're making improvements on these products so that others can better enjoy them not only during the summer months but year-round.

These particularly dedicated people are from The Coleman Co. In addition to the products already mentioned, the company manufactures lanterns, jugs, propane stoves, heaters, inflatable boats, life vests, bags and sacks, frame trailers and inflaters.

Customer questionnaire

With a product-specific questionnaire, Coleman keeps tabs on who's using its products, how it can improve them and if it should start manufacturing new products.

The two-page, check-off question survey is tucked into boxes of the company's big selling items, says Brad Bartlett, director of marketing and advertising at the company's Wichita, Kan., office. These are the thermal coolers and jugs, lanterns and stoves, life vests, canoes, sleeping bags and tents.

The front side of the questionnaire asks the particular model the customer purchased; who made the decision to buy the product; where the product was purchased; how the product will be used; how the customer became aware of the Coleman product; what factors influenced the customer's decision to purchase the product; the customer's birth date, marital status, occupation and number of children; the customer's annual family income; which credit cards the customer uses regularly and if the customer owns or rents.

Customer interests

The back side asks customers to indicate their interests and activities that they participate in on a regular basis. Bartlett says this section enables the company to better understand the types of people buying its products so that it can develop new products based on those interests and activities and target market its advertising more effectively.

Generally, the purpose of the questionnaire, which Coleman updates annually, is to keep abreast of who's buying the company's products because the demographics are always changing, says Bartlett. "Coolers and sleeping bag buyers have gotten younger; people who purchase lanterns and stoves have gotten older, more mature."

The company also wants to make sure its advertis-ing is reaching the right people. It uses the zip codes off the questionnaire to reach other potential customers. "We want to rifle shoot our target instead of using a shot gun approach," Bartlett says.

The kind of advertising Coleman uses has also evolved.

"Our advertising has become more category-oriented instead of image-oriented. We used to rely on the Coleman name and 'The Great Outdoors' to sell our products. We used to spread our name every where. We now advertise specific products we sell, such as a propane lantern or a certain kind of sleeping bag."

The number of returned questionnaires varies from "mediocre to excellent," says Bartlett.

"It really depends on the product. With the big ticket items such as tents and canoes, the response rate is excellent. For the lower-priced items, it's not as good."

Despite the roller-coaster effect, the research effort is positive and worthwhile, believes Bartlett. The technique has become exceptionally useful in letting customers express what features of a product are appealing or not appealing.

Some customers, for example, have suggested engineering changes on particular products, explaining what they like and dislike.
 
"A lot of people like to store their lantern in the box they purchased it in," explains Bartlett, "and have suggested we make a box which is more suitable for storing. So, we have redesigned the box, making it more substantial and sturdy so that it can be reused."

The research results are developed into market research reports and studies which are then distributed to the product manager of that particular product, the divisional manager, Bartlett and the ad agency.

Coleman also continually conducts focus groups to find out what its customers think about all of its products. These are conducted in Boston, Minneapolis, Austin, Texas, and Los Angeles. Bartlett says focus groups are used primarily to assist the company in improving the design of its products.
The company also hires an outside consultant to track competitors to get market share information.

Although the end of the summer season signals the retirement of some Coleman customers' products, it's not a signal of rest at the Coleman Co. The outdoor outfitter is always busy improving existing products and developing new ones for the next season and the next and the next.