Gavin Slater, AMG group marketing assistant, speaks about how Vango’s family camping section puts sustainability at the heart of everything they do and how they continually innovate in a crowded market.
Vango is synonymous with family camping, providing quality tents, camping equipment and awnings.
The brand is also known for its technical tents, for the hardy outdoor enthusiast, from which technical innovations have filtered down to its family range.
Their family poled tent collection has benefitted from these innovations, none more so than the Sentinel range.
This range includes the Mokala, Cragmor, Harris, Castlewood and Lismore. All these tents are constructed with a special fabric which is strong while being waterproof to a 3,000mm HH rating, ensuring great quality and performance coupled with compact pack size.
Gavin said: “The Sentinel range has got a unique dying process. The ColourLok Eco technology increases colour retention and protection against UV light, while using up to 60 per cent less water in the dying process, which results in a reduction in chemical waste, energy usage and carbon emissions.
“It’s been explained to me as a radish example. When you dye something normally it will dye the outside. So, the outside of the radish would be red, the inside is still white. When you use the ColourLok Eco when you cut the radish open the whole thing will be red. So, it dyes the whole yarn. It uses a lot less water and energy throughout. So, we save energy while making a more sustainable bit of fabric, which is one of the main appeals of our Sentinel range.”
The Sentinel range has the regular Sentinel fabric but also boasts Sentinel TC fabric in the Mokala TC and Lismore TC tents.
Gavin said: “So the regular Sentinel fabric is a polyester fabric, waterproof, it’s got a 3,000-millimetre hydrostatic head and it’s a 70 denier fabric.
“When you look at the Sentinel TC fabric, it’s our technical cotton, which is a blend between the polyester and the cotton.
“It creates a rich polycotton fabric which is breathable and easy to maintain.
“It’s really popular in Europe. It’s quite good for their climate because it keeps you cooler when it’s warmer outside and it keeps you warmer when it’s cooler outside.
“We have a new technical cotton product coming out this year which is also quite appealing to the European market.
“But, with the way climate change is going right now and the way the British climate is going, it’s getting much more popular here as well just because we’re getting very warm summers.”
If you’re on a family camping holiday then one of the things you always worry about is extra space, can you get all your stuff in the tent or do you live out of the back of your car. But Vango has that covered as well.
Gavin said: “We have additional awnings, a few optional extras you can add to make your tents bigger in size or add more storage space. We have awnings like the family shelter, which is a canopy put in front of the tent, which is great for barbecuing or just having a little place to sit, a little sun shelter.
“We also have some additional side awnings you can, which is good for pretty much all the Sentinel range, an extra storage pod or whatever you’d like to use it for.”
While Vango is invested in the family camping sector they have also identified another growth area – millennials.
Gavin added: “We’re looking to not just target families; we have seen a growth in millennial camping – they like to camp in big friendship groups.
“Let’s say you have eight friends reconnecting from school and they want to get together – camping is a great activity. So, that’s an important area for us to target throughout the year. It’s quite an important area and that’s the way the market is going right now.”
Vango is always innovating and has their eyes on sustainability throughout their product range.
Gavin said: “We’re continually looking to innovate in what is quite a crowded market. So, throughout the year we’re going to be rolling out some new pole tents, with key innovations, which is proving to be popular. We want to hit that key price point and connect with these consumers, especially during this cost-of-living crisis, to make sure that they still can purchase new exciting Vanguard products.
“So, rolling out these new pole tents is going to be key to us. We offer a good, better, best model. So, with these new pole tents we’re looking in the good and the better bracket at a key price point. Some are going to be entry level, some are going to be slightly higher than that. But we want to offer consumers an option.”
Vango has also taken a leap in the digital world and, as they say, they are always innovating. And if you haven’t seen it yet then take a look at their industry-first augmented reality.
Gavin said: “We launched it at the NEC Camping Show in February. Throughout the year we’re looking to roll out our full product range. This will enable consumers to stick it in a flat bit of land and see the size of the tent. Also, you can see key features through hotspots on the tents. You can click on them and it will say this is a Sentinel fabric, this is a an eight person tent, it’s got diamond clear windows – so you can see all the key features.”
