Challenge: The New England skier population was stagnant, particularly after multiple years of weak snow conditions.

Objective: To help the Killington, VT Ski Resort build the brand in the Northeast. Plan-it’s principals conducted a breadth of work among the skier population to help re-position the brand for competitive advantage and drive communications efforts.

Solution: After extensive exploratory work, a Quantitative Segmentation Study was conducted, interviewing over 1200 skiers. This study profiled the Northeast skier population, gauged perceptions of the Killington brand versus key competitors, and identified target groups based on the benefits each group was seeking from the overall ski experience and the proportion each represented of the Northeast skier population. Key target groups were then profiled on demographics, behavior/lifestyles, attitudes toward skiing and ski destinations, and media habits. PRIZM cluster code information was also overlaid to provide additional skier learning for targeting.

Result: Based on this work, Plan-it:
• Identified and named key segments
• Made recommendations regarding which target segments offered Killington the greatest potential for increased penetration
• Provided strategies and tactics for effectively reaching 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 then developed “predictor” questions which could be incorporated in database collection efforts and used to classify skiers into segments which could be used for more targeted marketing efforts. Killington is one of the three largest ski resorts in the Northeast.