“The women-in-skiing market has not been fully developed,” says a marketer who has a major (six-figure) investment in promotions aimed at that customer this year. “The potential is fantastic. All our promotions are directed specifically at the woman consumer and are geared to involve that consumer as much as possible.”
Another viewpoint: “We don’t identify our customer as being male or female,” says a representative of a major ski binding company. “We concentrate on marketing to a skier audience, rather than buying men’s or women’s media, e.g. Playboy or Mademoiselle.”
Why should ski area marketers concern themselves with the so-called “women’s market”? Well, maybe they shouldn’t. Except that the demographics of certain major segments of that market duplicate the demographics of the so-called skier market—white collar professionals, educated, upper-income brackets; interst in self-fulfillment and physical fitness; oriented to travel and risks; high self-image; high percentage of discretionary income spent on recreation and self-improvement, etc.
Except that publications and electronic media programs directed to women, especially the working woman, are on the increase. Long-time publications which recognized the women’s movement trends have recently grown “fat” with advertising; new publications directed to a working woman audience have proliferated as well.
Speaking at the recent Women’s World Ski Exposition seminar at Stratton, Vermont, Joshua Peritz, vice president/consumer research, Yankelovich, Skelly and White—the research firm that continually monitors social trends—noted: “Recently the press has implied that the ‘women’s movement’ is passe. Our data shows that is not true. Changes continue to be greater in the female population. Marketers still treat men the same way they did ten years ago. Their attitude toward women—’something funny’s going on’.”
Peritz went on to predict that the number of women participating in alpine skiing in the next ten years would exceed the number of men.
Speaking at the 1978 Discover America (DATO) National Conference and Domestic Pow Wow in Chicago, Frances Koltun summed up the women’s movement well: “Women’s liberation is really an attitude. It’s not a series of statistics or facts. It’s a consciousness that now women want to be treated with the same fairness and the same privilege and the same set of rules that men have been treated by for a long time before this. That’s what women’s liberation is about and it is having tremendous effects on marketing operations. It means that you can no longer think in the same old stereotypes. You can no longer use the same vocabulary . . . It means a whole new look at the way you are illustrating your brochures, the way you are designing your advertisements and the way that you are planning your direct mail . . . We are a new force sweeping the country, sweeping our legislatures, sweeping our market places, sweeping our product designs, sweeping our communications, and it is time that the travel industry recognize what that new force is. Because the facts are absolutely and unequivocably true. Women make up the majority of pleasure travelers. Women are the researchers in the families, and 80% of the traffic in and out of travel agents’ offices are women . . . Women are vitally interested in the products that you sell and whether they come your way or not is the result of whether you perceive them correctly and whether you market to them correctly.”
Research (Consumer Behavior, Inc.) tells us that a wife makes 60% of the decisions to take a vacation and 90% of the decisions on what destination – they will go to. More than a man, she likes to read brochures. Research shows women travelers like a vacation with a purpose. Cultural events, sightseeing, luxurious accommodations, good packages, visiting new places, being pampered—all are important components in her vacation. Exotic destinations, lots of activities, family discount plans and advance reservations are more important than relaxation, wilderness experiences, sedentary and spectator sports. The nonworking (outside the home) woman wants to get out of her everyday rut; the working and career woman wants a place to unwind, get away from it all and to concentrate on improving her fitness, appearance and state of mind.
Most advertising and marketing budgets don’t allow for a lot of specific target marketing. So, when looking at your existing budget, how do you develop programs with the woman traveller in mind?
Brochures: forget the helpless ski bunny lying in the snow. Show women instructors teaching adult classes; women skiing well, shopping, active in sports like swimming, running; with the family at dinner, on the mountain, in the condo—all looking good and in control. Show two women, or a woman and a child, together in a restaurant or skiing together.
Remember, self-image is a strong point with this consumer. She won’t be sold by pictures of ladies looking helpless in the snow, clumsy on skis or beautiful in bathing suits.
Direct mail: send a special mailing to women on your mailing list. Or, buy a list from women’s banks, business and professional women’s organizations, etc. Write and tell those people why they would find your ski area attractive—from their viewpoint.
Single travelers (male and female): promote singles’ packages. Assure them that they will meet people and won’t stand out like a sore thumb. More important: treat singles like human beings in your dining rooms, lodges and ski week get-togethers. Sometimes people really do want to get away from everyone they know. Don’t make them feel lonely or “second-class”.
Advertise features attractive to women, whether it’s the nursery, the daily exercise classes, the shopping center or the social activities. If packaged and easily accessible, this is bound to sell your resort, if the buyer knows these amenities are available.
Pamper her – remember self image?
Tell the truth – today’s consumer— female or male—won’t buy a shoddy product twice.
Time is of the essence to the working woman (single or married). One-stop shopping for her ski vacation is an appreciated convenience. That’s where creative packaging is an asset. She’ll pay the price, as long as you make the product attractive, convenient, and of obvious value.
Finally, forget promotions like “Ladies Day on Wednesday”. Half the population is too busy or too committed to ski that day.
Besides, its probably discriminatory and, after all, skiing is for people.
