Ski area attitudes today towards the consumer ski shows is mixed. There are still some area marketing executives who display genuine enthusiasm — Buzz Bainbridge of New Mexico, for instance, who feels there is no better or less expensive way of stirring up skiers in the fall, or for distributing brochures effectively. But the prevailing attitude in a national sampling was more on the negative side, ranging from “It’s a necessary evil” to downright hostility.
The objections center around two main points. First, they are getting to be much too expensive for the individual area, and cooperative exhibiting as an answer means a lessening of area identity. Secondly, as expressed by one upset Pennsylvania operator, “All the emphasis is now on the stage, and the traffic is away from the booths . . . It’s a lot of loud background music and milling masses.”
In any case, the shows are with us, and they represent one of the marketing tools available to ski areas. If your area wants to use them as an expensive excuse to visit old industry friends, treat deserving employees to an expense-paid business trip, or exhibit with other ski areas just to keep one of your board members happy — then that’s one thing. But if you want to use them as a marketing tool, then a check of “do’s” and “don’ts” may be useful. Many of the sour and disastrously expensive experiences described by some areas are more fairly laid to faulty or non-existant planning.
Evaluate opportunities. Pick the show(s) that best fit your geographical and marketing needs and list what other selling opportunities might exist in that same region while you are there. For example, appearance on television shows, speaking to ski clubs, visiting members of the press and cultivating travel agents, important ski shops and others who can send you business.
Set show objectives. Define the exact purpose of your exhibit. This is not wasted effort, but a basic requirement. In order of importance, list the specific results to be achieved. Be harsh on yourself. Avoid generalities and pinpoint the things you wish to attain. This is a very expensive medium to use, so make sure you know what you want to get out of it and then get it.
Negotiate for space early. Anticipate traffic patterns and pick the spot you feel is best for your specific needs. Select for maximum visibility, but take into account entrances and exits (don’t get too close to either), obstructions and the like.
Plan your exhibit. Start fresh! It’s tempting to salvage odds and ends of exhibit material from past shows. Unless they are outstanding, don’t!
Check printer. Avoid a last-minute rush to the printer to get a partial run of literature for the show. Rush print jobs, needless air freight and the like tear a budget to shreds.
Plan your own publicity. Capitalize on ski show publicity by supplying facts and photographs to the promoters, but produce your own in addition. This can be especially effective if you plan any special activity at your booth, or if there is a key personality on your staff who will be attending or participating at the show. Know precisely how you’ll distribute left-over literature at show closing time. Rather than the ash can, how about nearby travel agents, bank travel bureaus, and tourist information centers?
Staffing is the key. Don’t hire outside help to staff your booth and explain your ski area unless absolutely necessary. Polite, well-groomed and knowledgeable staff members are much better. Establish a reasonable work schedule. It’s far better to pay for an extra person than project an overtired image. Before the show opens, take a few minutes to review with all staff what the objectives are. Also, the specifics of literature distribution, display operation and so forth. Hold a critique after the first day; better still, hold one each day.
Evaluate results. Vital to your investment paying dividends, and basic to even considering such activity in the future, is the need to evaluate the show and your performance at it. What rent right to cause you to repeat the show next year? Did, indeed, you reach the kind of people who are likely customers? How will you really know if they convert to customers, or whether they were just people coming in out of the cold for an hour or so? What did you do wrong that could be avoided or corrected in the future.
If you can’t answer these and other obvious questions, don’t budget for ski shows. You’ll be wasting precious marketing dollars which might best be spent elsewhere.
