Plan-it Marketing

Challenge: To retain competitive advantage, Killington, VT Ski Resort wanted to better understand potential areas for growth among New England skiers.

Objective: To profile the Northeast skier population, gauge perceptions of the Killington brand versus key competitors, and identify target groups based on the benefits each group sought from the overall ski experience.

Method: After extensive exploratory work, getting to know New England skiers, Plan-it conducted a Quantitative Segmentation Study, interviewing over 1200 skiers. Each target group was profiled in terms of the proportion of the northeast ski population represented, demographics, behavior/lifestyles, attitudes toward skiing and ski destinations, and media habits. PRIZM cluster code information was also overlaid to provide additional skier profile information.

Results: Based on this work, Plan-it made recommendations regarding which target groups offered Killington the greatest potential for increased penetration and driving sales, and how to most effectively reach each of these target groups in future marketing and communications efforts. Plan-it also made operational recommendations to improve the "Killington experience" and motivate trial/repeat visits among target skiers. Plan-it also developed "predictor" questions to be incorporated in database collection efforts and used to classify skiers into segments which could be used for more targeted marketing efforts.