Did your candidate win? Are you satisfied that your interests will be adequately represented by the new crop of officeholders? Were you a part of the process that got your candidates elected? Did you vote, contribute money, organize fundraisers, call your neighbors in support of a candidate or a particular local referendum, organize car pools to the polling place, etc.?
Or, do you have to stop and think: do I know who my U.S. Representative, state senator or county commissioners are?
And, what’s that got to do with marketing, anyway? Depending on your goals, it could have a lot to do with marketing, specifically with public/community relations. It can affect sales goals as well.
Good corporate public relations starts at the top. The chief executive who is active in community and state affairs, embodies the company’s intention to be a good citizen, anxious to interact positively with its various publics. Good politics is definitely good business.
But public activity shouldn’t stop there. In larger ski areas, a member of the management staff is often assigned to monitor public affairs activities and determine the extent of the company’s involvement. In smaller companies, where functions overlap, a variety of management personnel may be called upon to play particular political roles.
It would be wise for the marketing executive to be actively involved in this process. Involvement can range from attending monthly town meetings to writing testimony for a U.S. Senate or House subcommittee hearing.
Examples of Political/Marketing Interaction
- Some time back, due to poor town/ski area relationships, the town police force often enforced a “chain control” on a mildly steep grade about a half-mile from a ski area parking lot. Skiers who had already driven two to four hours and had installed chains to cross one mountain pass, had to put them on again just short of their destination—a great way to start a ski day.
- A major destination resort which hadn’t stayed on top of local sensitivities to lift ticket pricing, ended up being the catalyst for drafting of legislation governing U.S. Forest Service permits for ski areas across the country. Local activists convinced their senior U.S. Senator that such legislation was justified.
- Deregulation of various aspects of the transportation industry certainly affects ski areas. Major air carriers are adding—and dropping—service to particular gateway cities. The ski industry in a particular state would like to see the end of regulation of bus companies by the Public Utilities Commission so that more bus transportation options might become available for skiers. They’re gearing up for what may be a long-term effort—it took three to four years to deregulate the trash haulers in the same state. Meanwhile, the consumers’ cost of transportation increases.
- Another example of transportation problems occurred at a major ski area that has weekend rail service and is working with private (railroad) and government entities to expand that service. They’re looking ahead to the growth of the need for mass transportation, due to the cost/availability of energy. Meanwhile, they offer lift ticket price incentives to carpoolers.
- Area liability caused the drafting of laws in various ski states with regard to skier safety/injury. An offshoot of this is the necessity of warning the skier that skiing may be hazardous to his or her health. That’s not a comfortable “sales pitch” for anyone and it affects all sorts of communications with the customer, from lure brochures to snow reports to in-area signage.
Another offshoot of the liability situation is that events such as freestyle competitions are affected, not to mention freestyle classes, as an additional revenue source for ski schools.
- A number of ski towns in one state have organized to share information and to recommend policy with regard to the impact of ski area development on their communities. They’re even seeking involvement in the setting of lift ticket prices. Some area operators want to ignore the organization, while others are establishing lines of communications in order to tell their side of the story.
- A community fights the installation of snowmaking equipment on in-town ski slopes. The ski area argues that the community’s welfare is dependent on whether early-season skiers can ski. The skiers will ski in marginal conditions if the overall product is worth the trip. An unspoken concern: if the area is closed at Christmas, will the “closed” word-of-mouth in the marketplace continue through March, thereby requiring unbudgeted dollars to be spent on advertising and publicity? The town agrees to the snowmaking installation.
- A bill that failed in one state legislature authorized state highway department snowplows to literally plow illegally parked cars off the road during snowstorms. It primarily affected ski tourers who parked at the side of major roads, but during peak periods it could have affected a number of customers at major Alpine resorts. How do you tell a Mercedes owner—who also owns a season pass to your area—that his car was legally dented by the snowplow?
You may have thought of many local examples like the above incidents, but the point of all of this is that if you’re communicating with your local, state and national public policymakers, you’ll be able to influence policy. Furthermore, they’ll let you know about all the “messages” sent to them by all their constituents, and which messages are prevailing, perhaps affecting the way you do business. Needless to say, if they knew you before your particular problem arose, the communication process will be expedited.
In politics, you win some and you lose some. Keep yourself in the win column—if you and your political representatives promulgate policies that benefit your customers, you can’t help but win.
