Getting teens on the hill

Click to Enlarge Browse Vail Daily Photos Ski resorts are trying to market towards teenagers. One way is by adding terrain parks as well as competitions for younger skiers and snowboarders. Preston Utley/Vail Daily Get News Feeds

Alex Miller
April 3, 2005

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COPPER MOUNTAIN - Today's teenagers were the kids whose parents had "Baby on Board" signs on the minivan; the generation that grew up wearing helmets for everything from bicycling to skiing.

As teens, though, they like to be perceived as risk-takers - just so long as it's relatively safe. In other words, today's teenagers are the perfect demographic for the ski industry to target as it strives to get more first-timers on the hill.

That was the message brought by Michael Wood of Chicago-based Teenage Research Unlimited. Wood was speaking at the 2005 Snow Industry Summit, which took place at Copper Mountain last week.

"I think there's a gold mine of opportunity for the ski industry with teens," Woods said. "You can show them the risky side of things in a safe way."

Citing statistics gleaned from a 2004 study involving 2,000 teenagers around the county, Wood said skiing and snowboarding place relatively high in popularity among the 13 to 19 set. Even if snow sports aren't as popular as basketball or paintball, he said, research shows that, once they try it, they're hooked.

"Thiry-seven percent of the guys who tried snowboarding rated it as one of their top three favorite sports," Wood said. "So if you can get them exposed to it, chances are they're going to like it a lot."



Teen marketing

In marketing to teens, Wood said ski areas need to keep a few things in mind, according to the research:

- Today's teens are "passionate pragmatists," meaning that their zeal for things is accompanied by practical considerations. Today's youth, he said, are more likely to identify intelligence as a desirable character trait than, say, cool. And they're less likely to identify with exclusive stores and products.

"About a third of teens live in rural areas, so when a Super Wal-Mart opens in their community, it's big news," Woods said. "There's no stigma to shopping there or at Target or Burlington. They're proud if they find a good deal."

- Teens also go for fun that's functional, and technology is a big part of that. As Wood said, technology - from the Playstation to the cell phone to the Internet - is their fun "enabler."

- There's an expanding middle ground about what's cool. That can range from the wide variety of teens who listen to rap to the stores they shop. Wood cited Abercrombie & Fitch as an example of a retailer that's "tanking" because today's teens don't like the exclusive air of the brand. They go instead for something like American Eagle, which has lower prices and embraces diversity.

- The "helter-sheltered" generation say they want to be rebels, but when asked about their desire to do risky things, only four out of 10 said they'd be up for that.

"Paintball is a great example of a sport where they can experience danger and risk, but it's actually pretty safe," Woods said.

With the consolidation of media, the internet and the chain stores, Wood said, today's teenagers are less likely to be affected by regional differences. In some ways, he said, that makes them easier to market to, easier to turn on to the "next big thing."

When asked to identify a winning outdoor marketing campaign, though, he couldn't think of one. "I think there's a lot of potential in the (outdoor) industry to jump out, but no one's really nailing it yet," he said.



Alex Miller can be reached at 970-949-0555, ext. 615 or by e-mail at amiller@vaildaily.com.



Vail, Colorado