“The shows are a really targeted opportunity to reach your market,” says Sue Baldwin, vice president for business development at Colorado Ski Country USA, which heads up the huge Colorado state delegation that exhibits at 10 or more major shows a year around the country. “It’s a concentrated way to get your message out, distribute collateral and grow your database. We see the shows as an opportunity to build brand awareness and activate customers.”
Wachusett, Mass., which exhibits by itself at just one major ski show—Boston—has a similar focus. “As a Massachusetts-based ski area we have to position ourselves at the show in competition with all the other ski states, which is a challenge,” admits Tom Meyers, Wachusett marketing director. “At the same time we are one of the most visible areas in Boston over the winter because of the high volume of advertising we do. As the local area of choice, we don’t have to rely on the shows as much as some other areas do, but it also means we should be at the show in a fun and positive way.”
For years, the Crowley family parked its 1950s vintage pink Cadillac on the ski show floor in their booth. “We always try to have a few extra bells and whistles,” Meyers says. “It’s all about exposure, getting people to stop by.”
For most resorts the shows are as much about sales as marketing. Thank the Internet for that. “Just giving show attendees information doesn’t cut it anymore,” says Bernie Weichsel, president of Bewi Productions, which produces six consumer ski shows. “They can get that on the Internet. People now look at ski shows as a marketplace, a place to find deals and discounts.”
Today, almost every area does some kind of on-the-spot selling at the shows, some with considerable success. “A lot of areas use the shows as a last-chance sales opportunity to convert a season customer,” says Greg Murtha, director of sales and marketing at Sugar Bowl, Calif. “A lot of resorts have gotten very aggressive with that, ourselves included.”
In fact, the push toward more selling at the shows is one of the circuit’s major trends, particularly at regional shows like Boston, Seattle and Denver. “Sales is definitely a big factor at Denver,” Baldwin says. “It helps to have a big retail anchor there. It creates the environment. People come to buy their passes, sign their kids up for the fifth grade passport program, check their back out with a chiropractor. It’s one-stop shopping.”
Strength in Numbers
The biggest challenge ski areas face at a consumer ski show is getting noticed. Size is one way of drawing attention; witness the trend toward state and conglomerate groupings.
“We have several presences at the shows,” says Chip Carey, marketing director at American Skiing Company, which as a group travels to about 30 ski shows a year. Besides exhibiting under the ASC banner, the eight ASC resorts may also be at a show individually or with a state delegation.
And if you’re a stand-alone resort—what then? Some resorts have managed to increase their show presence through partnerships. Sugar Bowl has parlayed a nine-year partnership with Jeep into a huge show presence, not only at the consumer ski shows, but in other markets as well, like the consumer auto shows.
“We’ve gotten Jeep to do a big sponsorship of a whole ski show which gets them a lot of floor space and all the major front and center islands,” Murtha says. “Then we collectively come together for creative co-branding opportunities.”
Last year, Murtha convinced Jeep to build the world’s largest snow globe, with a full-size Jeep inside. Jeep spent $80,000 to build two of them for the ski and auto shows. A few years ago, Sugar Bowl partnered with restaurants and hotels in the town of Truckee to build a replica of the town’s famous old railroad station, which became a centerpiece in the Sacramento and San Jose ski shows.
“We had a major presence, a lot larger than we normally would have, by getting the support of the local community,” Murtha says.
Partnerships, however, do not happen overnight. “You have to demonstrate that you can deliver a unique branding proposition for them that can tie into their resources. You can’t just say, ‘Hey, Jeep, let’s do this.’ You have to build relationships if you want them to do stuff with you with their money.
“We’ve done things that have been very beneficial for Jeep. They appreciate that, so when we ask their support for other ventures they’re more likely to step up to the plate for us.”
In addition to selling some extra last-minute season passes and pushing group business, Murtha says Sugar Bowl’s major objective for the ski shows is to build brand awareness. “We want to be in the consideration set a long time so that when people ski at Tahoe, they ski at a couple of resorts and say, ‘we’ve got to stop at Sugar Bowl.’”
The Importance of Staff
Whatever an area’s objectives for a ski show may be, sending the right staff, enough staff and an engaging staff is essential. “It’s a huge commitment,” Carey says. “We have people whose primary job in the fall is the ski show circuit, and depending on the show’s size, we have to pull in other people from reservations, ticket sellers, IT people.
“It’s a tough job,” he adds. “You need to stay up and energized. You can go through a show and see who’s benefiting and who’s not by what their employees are doing.”
What they should be doing is selling, either the brand in general or specific products. “You have to stand up and be willing to engage customers as they approach your booth,” says Baldwin. “There’s a fine line between being overly aggressive and being enthusiastic and having a lively presence. Finding that line and getting a person’s name is just as important as anything.”
