Modern Marketing & The Ski World . A Seminar by Trevor G. Goodman, Vice-President, Mammoth Mountain Inn Corp. and Michael Stein, President, Stratagema before the Professional Ski Instructors of America Annual Association Conference Friday, May 14, 1965 Mammoth Mountain Inn Mammoth Lakes, California INTRODUCTION by Bill Lash, President, PSIA We are living in changing times. For those of us who have been around a few years, we can recall that it was only a short time ago that chair lifts were virtually unheard of. That on~y a small handful of hardy types would venture up onto the hills. Release bindings, metal skis, and even tapered poles are all relatively new developments in a very, very young sporting industry. Now this industry has grown like Topsy. The PSIA and all it stands for has really just been born, it hasn't gotten into high gear yet. While the numbers of skiers grow, while technical improvements are made in equipment, and new areas are developed, we may not realize it but we are not doing much more than standing still! I say this in so far as the progress we make as an industry (the ski industry) in relation to others. Could we not be expanding at a much more rapid and profitable rate? Should there not be many thousands more on the hills? and most importantly to us, as instructors, why don't many more skiers take lessons? And, why don't those who have had a few lessons continue to take more? What plans do we ,have, or can we formulate, to meet the intense, and ever in­ creasing, competition from other sources such as travel abroad, fly here - fly there, take a ship to South America, go deep sea fishing, take a month off for a Safari to Africa all kinds of package deals -- no money down, pay later. All of these things compete for the leisure vacation dollar and hence are directly competitive to us as a group and as a part of the ski industry. Recognizing that this is the age of high powered advertising, we invited two men from this modern world of Marketing to try and relate some modern marketing techniques to our business of skiing. One of our guests is Trevor Goodman, until a few weeks ago a Vice President of Young & Rubicam, Inc., one of the world's largest Advertising Agencies. -1- Associated with Trev is another gentleman from the modern marketing scene. Mr. Mike Stein, President of a partnership called "Stratagema," a marketing consulting firm which bases all of its findings and recommendations on detailed consumer research ••• We welcome Trev Goodman and Mike Stein, who will take us through ••• a seminar -- "Modern Marketing & The Ski World." , . \ -2- "Modern Marketing & the Ski World" Trevor G. Goodman Michael P. Stein It is a unique pleasure to be invited away from the dog-eat-dog jungle of the advertising profession -- it is so nice to be here amongst you gentlemen of ... PSIA who are all of one mind co-operating together in complete harmony. \ You know, you gentlemen of PSIA have a much better image (I think) among the public than we in the ad business. We are supposed to all wear gray flannel suits, polka-dot ties, and drink martinis as though they were water. Not true­ we all wear blue suits, pale blue shirts, striped ties, and drink Screwdrivers as though they were water. (You know what a Screwdriver is - Vodka & Orange Juice. You know what Vodka & Prune Juice is -- it's a Can Opener.) Definition of an ad man ••• Yes Sir, No Sir, Ulcer. Now to get down to business Modern Marketing ••• just what does this mean-- people confuse Marketing with advertising, sales promotion, merchandising, pub­ licity and numerous other things. Let's try to clear up the confusion ••• Would anyone here venture to give a definition, or explain the word "Marketing?" Marketing is an all-encompassing thing the best definition is ••• Everything that happens to a product, or a service, from the moment it is conceived until it has been so14 and re-sold again. In other words, marketing includes the development of a product which incor­ porates those features and capabilities which make it most usable and saleable. It includes production and distribution aimed at getting the product to the right place at the right time in proper working condition ready to go. And marketing covers the advertising, promotion, sales and service departments. The idea of the product or service must be properly introduced; lile public must be told how it can be of benefit or of use; the sale must be closed; and the -3- customer must be kept satisfied through continued contact with the seller and satisfactory performance of the product or service purchased. Now -- to the title of our address -- "Modern Marketing &. the Ski World" ••• In this day and age so many things are happening and so many things are possible that we might think of this as the age of alternatives and the job of marketing that of considering thdse alternatives to find the quickest, easiest, surest, most profitable ways - and to carry them out effectively. The whole game of Modern Marketing is to find the most profitable way. It has to be, because today's business climate is so doggone competitive! ,. Let's take a very brief look at just how competitive a climate the ski business, or industry as a whole, operates in. Ski-instruction is Just one facet of the ski industry -- other are equipment, clothes, resorts, travel, lifts, etc., etc., as you well know. Skiing is big business, and getting bigger -- with 4 to 5 million participants, and increasing at the rate of 20-25% annually. But that's not so fantastic when you compare it with: 1. Boating 38 - 40 mi Uion participants 2. Fishing 32 - 35 " " 3. Bowling 32 - 35 " " 4. Roller-Skating 25 - 27 " " 5. Camping 20 - 22 " " 6. Hunting 19 - 20 " " 7. Softball 14 - 15 " II 8. Basketball 12 - 13 II " 9. Tennis 8 - 9 II " 10. Water Skiing 8 - 10 II II 11. Golf 7 - 10 II " 12. Skiing 4 - 5 " II Skiing then is uE against tough comEetition for the time and money of sports minded people. The real competition -- as reflected in the pages of our leading magazines, radio, TV, and newspapers - appeals directly in the areas of ••• l1tAVEL TO FOREIGN LANDS, and TRAVEL AROUND THE STATES. A trip to Europe or Jamaica or to the World's Fair requires vacation time and money that might otherwise -4- fir "lIh:,t ~h()IJt Somp. of the myriads of things that are not 1/_ ~11""f tlldlflv,. I'ISI'tllitl hilt fUn to hllVfl Anyway and cost money -- money that maybe is syphoned Awny f .. om Lnkll1~ (\ nld -vacati()n tid B year? Then there are those necessities that crop up every so often •• , a major drain on available funds that might have been directed to a winter vacation or week­ end relaxation. There is a never ending list of propositions and luxury items which competes for attention, time and dollars. Now all of these represent areas in which competition exists for the consumer dollar and time ••• what does it all mean in terms of competing for a share of the consumer mind? Time Magazine says that the average housewife is assaulted by some 1500 adver­ tising messages a day. It is estimated that she shuts out about 1400 per day, and only reacts (in varying degrees) to about l3! Maybe that is why the battle for attention is getting bolder, more expensive, and less effective. In our economy where so many basic needs of so many people are satisfied and so many alternatives exist beyond meeting daily requirements, mar­ keting plays a major role in helping people make those choices. But while adver­ tising and marketing have become a way of life for many businesses, we must con­ stantly remember that simply being there is not enough. It's a buyer's market. You have to market aggressively and effectively. We'll come back to this point of getting attention and what are the guidelines to effectively communicating to the public -- you can see that in the face of such fantastic competition for the public's time, money and attention, you have to be pretty astute. No more facts and figures are needed to establish that though the ski business is big (and lessons are but a part of the total), it is up against tough, tough competition - and lots of it! If we want to make our presence felt, then we will have to understand more about the markets in which we are competing and we must get straight in our own minds exactly what we offer and what we would like to accomplish. Do you think it is PSIA's prime job to get more people to ski? No -- this is an industry job; the qualified instructors help through their influence on skiers who take lessons and who in turn tell their friends. You play an important role, but many other factors influence people to ski before they even think about a lesson. And so too, still other factors help determine and shape a person's further interest in skiing once they begin. Then what are the prime objectives of PSIA? i) get skiers to t~ke lessons .. \ ii) get skiers who take lessons to continue with instruction iii) get recognition for qualified instructors We are not talking about recognition from your fellow instructors allover the world with whom you debate the merits of the American Ski Technique.