Wow – just 3 more days ‘til the 2016 Snow Show! And if you’re attending Industry + Intelligence, make that 2! After hearing the rave reviews from last year’s inaugural Industry + Intelligence education day, industry insiders know that heading to Denver a day early pays off big. This free day of seminars and clinics is a must-do for anyone who wants to get a leg up on the latest data, trends and all-important networking time.
Just announced – the complimetary lunch and keynote presentation will be moderated by professional skier and mountaineer Chris Davenport and features Bryan Johnston, Vice President of International Marketing at GoPro.
Johnston will present A Million Warren Millers: How Digital Media is Revolutionizing Winter Sports. In this talk, Johnston highlights how short form content and the democratization of video production has created a grassroots explosion in the promotion of the winter sports industry. Davenport will join Johnston on stage to lead a dynamic Q&A discussion.
Bryan Johnston is the Vice President of International Marketing at GoPro where he is responsible for overseeing the company’s global advertising and marketing. He joined the company in 2015 with more than 20 years of experience in sports, working previously as the CMO for the Ultimate Fighting Championship organization, the Vice President of Marketing for Burton Snowboards and the Vice President of North American brand management for Adidas-Salomon.
Industry + Intelligence has expanded this year with a new collaboration between SIA and NSAA, helping attendees get a comprehensive view of the entire industry. This cooperative effort gives all facets of the industry, including suppliers, retailers and resorts, a better handle on their customers’ needs. The industry day is scheduled to have nearly 20 sessions covering five core intel tracks – State of the Industry, Manufacturing and Production, Business Development, Marketing & Social Media, and the Specialty Retailer Series.
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Industry + Intelligence #SIAintel | January 27, 2016. from SnowSports Industries America on Vimeo.
Other highlights from Industry + Intelligence include SIA Research Director Kelly Davis’ ever-popular category-specific Market Overviews; RRC’s Nate Fristoe presenting An Exploration of the Evolving Snow Sports Consumer; and Trends in Style, Snow Sports and Culture, presented by Jessica Kaplan, style and trend consultant.
Industry + Intelligence continues to bring you educational opportunities during the Show with the introduction of I+I Live. This gathering space on the Show floor offers panels, clinics and seminars daily, including How To Create Story Driven Brand Experiences, presented by Origin Design and Connect to your Customers with the Power of Passion Driven Branding, presented by Verde Communications.
Take the time now to browse the current 2016 SIA Snow Show Seminars and Clinics schedule.
To give you a feel for the seminars that will be presented at Industry + Intelligence, we sat down with three seminar presenters: Greg Zakowicz, Marketing Strategist at Bronto Software; Justin Poole, Strategic Partner Manager at Blue Acorn; and Craig Randall of Verde Communications.
Verde Communications provides PR, marketing, social media services and content solutions for the outdoor action sports industry. Verde’s passion for snow sports and the outdoors combined with experienced practitioners who are standout in their field, and the result is an agency that not only brings unparalleled authenticity to its work, but one that seamlessly integrates with their clients’ teams and goals.
Bronto Software is a NetSuite company that provides a cloud-based commerce marketing automation platform to mid-market and enterprise organizations worldwide. Bronto is the number one ranked email marketing provider to the Internet Retailer Top 1000, with a client roster of leading brands, including Lucky Brand, Vivienne Westwood, Björn Borg, Theory and Vince Camuto.
Blue Acorn is an eCommerce agency that focuses exclusively on the design, development, and optimization of eCommerce sites for brands and retailers. We have clients who have come to us for a new site, others who needed help fixing and maintaining their current site, and some that already had an amazing site but wanted it to provide a better experience for their customers.
Can you give us a quick preview of your seminar?
CR: Verde’s I+I seminar, What To Do With Your Customers In The Off Season, is designed to help brands (and retailers with mature owned media) understand the tactics needed to keep customers engaged in the off season using digital media. I believe brands will benefit most, but retailers who have an established owned media presence and/or qualified influencers or store ambassadors will also stand to learn from this seminar. Attending retailers should come prepared with some aptitude for influencer marketing and knowledge of some web tools for social marketing and research.
GZ: Bronto’s seminar is Key Lifecycle Marketing Tactics That Drive Revenue . The idea of mapping your marketing strategies against the customer lifecycle is not new. A fundamental element to any successful marketing strategy is knowing where your customer is in their journey and how to keep them moving toward a purchase. What has changed, however, is that consumers have redefined that journey from awareness to the purchase. Consumers know that a lower price or a free shipping offer is only a few clicks away. Mobile devices have given the consumer the power position in the commerce world. Many retailers struggle to meet these shifting expectations and deliver an experience that keeps customers shopping and buying.
In my presentation, I will step through these twists and turns in the customer journey and show retailers how they can use automated message to create an engaging consumer experience that delivers a relevant message to the consumer as they interact with your brand.
JP: Blue Acorn’s Industry + Intelligence Seminar is Know Your Customers to Keep Your Edge Online. At Blue Acorn, data is the cornerstone for everything we do, and more often than not, we’re talking about customer data. It’s a universal truth for any business: the more you know about your customers, the better off you’re going to be. This seminar will focus on the tools and techniques that brands and retailers can employ to help them learn as much as they can about their customers to offer up the best experience for each type of customer or even each individual customer. Know Your Customers to Keep Your Edge Online will be presented by our director of optimization, Jay Atkinson, who is not only terrifically qualified to talk about this topic, but has spent more time on a snowboard than he has on his truly unbelievable mustache, so this show and audience is definitely special to him.
And can you also tell us a little bit about Blue Acorn’s January 29 seminar, Essential Questions for Choosing the Right eCommerce Technologies and Service Providers?
JP: I will be presenting, and this seminar is very personal to me. We’ve seen a lot of brands and retailers come to us frustrated over broken sites or other problems that are getting in the way of their success. That’s because they have an overwhelming number of options when it comes to software and service vendors, and due to the sheer amount of choices available and new technologies entering the space, they don’t always pick the best tool for their needs. Too many times, I’ve seen what happens when they select inexperienced vendors, don’t have their expectations set appropriately, or don’t know what to ask to ensure that an integration goes smoothly. Helping our clients make the best decisions is a big deal to us. This won’t be a seminar identifying our favorite vendors. We just want to make sure attendees knowthe right questions to ask when selecting vendors for their site.
What do you all hope will be some key takeaways for people attending your seminars?
CR: To leave with a better understanding of how to leverage customers during your slow or “down” months.
JP: We want attendees to be inspired, to walk away with new ideas about how they can be leveraging technology to give their customers a better and more personal experience, which will in turn help them grow their business. We also want them to feel well-equipped and confident when selecting new technologies and/or service providers. In the end, we’re here to serve as experts in the eCommerce industry that your attendees can lean on for advice at the show or after.
GZ: I hope attendees will leave the session with a concrete idea of a new message series that they can launch when they get back to their office that targets a moment in the customer lifecycle that will boost engagement and sales. Whether it’s evolving a basic message, such as going from one welcome email to a welcome series, or launching a cart reminder series that helps the shopper to reconnect with items they may want to buy. I’ll have lots of data and examples to share!
For more information on this seminar and other I + I highlights, go to SIAsnowshow.com/intel. Join the conversation about Industry + Intelligence by using #SIAintel.
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