Company Press Release
May 31, 2000
BOCA RATON, FL -- As part of an ongoing initiative to expand and enhance the marketing and delivery of its timeshare
resorts, golf communities and residential land, Bluegreen Corporation (NYSE: BXG) Friday announced the launch of
the first phase of its new web site at www.bluegreenonline.com. The
second phase of this project is expected to commence in approximately six to eight months.
In phase one, Bluegreen's new corporate web site unveils a new look and architecture based upon the theme of ``colorful
places to live, play, and work.'' Although phase one incorporates links to Bluegreen's land and golf property sites
(``colorful places to live''), the site's emphasis is on the Company's resorts, especially The Bluegreen Vacation
Club (``Vacation Club''). Launched last year, the Vacation Club is a new system that sells consumers points as
opposed to traditional weekly vacation intervals. Timeshare owners may then use these points at any of Bluegreen's
Vacation Club resorts to suit their individual lifestyles and vacation desires. Points-based vacation clubs have
emerged as the new trend in timeshare, or ``vacation ownership,'' because they offer consumers a greater degree
of flexibility than traditional fixed-week products.
George F. Donovan, Bluegreen's President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, ``Technology is opening up new ways
to market vacation ownership. With the launch of phase one of our new site, Bluegreen timeshare owners, rental
guests and potential customers have instant access to complete information about the Company and its products.
Our new web site is just one example of Bluegreen's commitment to employing leading-edge technology to gain a competitive
advantage.''
The first phase of the site is content driven. Resort pages include descriptions of the area, property and accommodations,
as well as point values, rental rates, floor plans, interior and exterior photographs and location maps. A unique
feature of the site, which will appeal to both Bluegreen owners and potential owners, is the ability to search
through more than 40 resorts by geographic destination or by type of vacation experience desired. In addition,
phase one includes answers to frequently asked questions about vacation ownership and the use of the Vacation Club.
This is in keeping with the Company's commitment to educate owners about how to use the Vacation Club. Shawn Ericson,
Bluegreen's Senior Vice President of Resort Management, commented that, ``informed owners use the product and report
strong satisfaction levels. We have found that this experience results in increased referrals from Vacation Club
users, which leads to a cycle of more satisfied owners.'' Additional features in the phase one launch will be an
online version of the May 2000 issue of Bluegreen's award-winning Lifestyles vacation ownership magazine, links
to industry exchange companies, information about residential land and golf properties offered by Bluegreen and
investor information. Site visitors who email the Company with a request, comment or problem will receive follow-up
in as little as one business day.
Phase two of the site, which is expected to launch by the end of this year, will enable visitors to conduct a range
of online transactions, from booking vacations to obtaining mortgage balance information.
Joe Russoniello, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Bluegreen's Resorts Division, says that the site is a major
initiative of a vigorous new corporate strategy aimed at enhancing owner service and increasing marketing effectiveness.
``The site will include promotions and offers designed to capture high-quality leads which should result in an
influx of qualified prospects at a lower cost-per-lead than the industry average. Beginning in phase two, we will
also include a vacation survey linked to an incentive that will provide us with prospect profiles to use in our
permission marketing programs, in which potential customers consent to various tiers of marketing involvement.''
The site will develop vacation profiles of visitors through the use of surveys and ``cookies.'' Based on this information,
targeted offers can be delivered to those visitors through low-cost media such as emails. The lower marketing cost
of email combined with the greater effectiveness of permission marketing should, according to Russoniello, create
another benefit from this new strategy.
``The next step,'' continues Russoniello, ``is to develop a totally seamless transactional experience. We are already
working on such additional site features as online reservations and are currently investigating the legalities
of interactive chat rooms where a potential owner can engage in a discussion with a vacation consultant about the
Vacation Club.''
Other features of the phase two site are expected to include a Vacation Club members-only site where owners can
access their personal account information, such as point balances, participate in special offers, view rewards
earned from referrals and make and confirm reservations. Plans also call for the site to provide Bluegreen Vacation
Club members with an online ``vacation album'' where they can create their own site to share their Bluegreen vacation
memories and plan their next vacation. The Bluegreen site will also include numerous links to relevant sites, such
as weather.com. Another important feature of phase two of the web site will be the expansion of the owner referral
program. Although Bluegreen owners are currently able to submit referrals online, phase two will enable them to
track their referral rewards at the click of a mouse. Plans also call for owners to be able to track the progress
of a referral through the Bluegreen sales process. ``Owners want to know what happens to their referrals,'' explains
Russoniello. ``We'll be able to give them an extra measure of confidence, which should help remove a traditional
barrier to referrals.''
The new site currently enables cross-selling between Bluegreen's golf communities and residential land division,
although this facet is expected to gain prominence as the year progresses. Traditionally, the Company's timeshare
and golf communities/residential land the divisions have marketed separately. With the introduction of this new
web site, Bluegreen will be able to take advantage of the synergies that exist between its Vacation Club owners/prospects
and owners/prospects of the golf communities and residential land, thus further leveraging the Company's marketing
investment.
Bluegreen is one of the leading companies engaged in the acquisition, development, marketing and sale of timeshare
resorts and residential land and golf communities. The Company's timeshare resorts are located in a variety of
popular vacation destinations including Orlando, Florida; the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee; Myrtle Beach, South
Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Branson, Missouri; Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin; and Aruba, while its land
operations are predominantly located in the Southeastern and Southwestern United States.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Any statements contained herein that are not statements
of historical fact may be deemed forward-looking statements. The words ``believe,'' ``expect,'' ``intend,'' ``anticipate,''
``should,'' ``will'' and ``project,'' and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which speak
only as of the date the statement was made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Forward-looking
statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified.
Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying
such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties to which forward-looking statements are subject include,
but are not limited to, regulatory changes, national or regional economic conditions that can affect the real estate
market, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's annual report and other filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission.
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Contact:
Bluegreen Corporation
John Chiste
Chief Financial Officer
561/912-8010
or
Investor Relations Counsel:
The Equity Group, Inc.
www.theequitygroup.com
Devin Sullivan
212/836-9608