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« Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » Brochures Alive And Well – CTM And Sports Authority Bet On ItBy Craig Altschul 
CTM, a 30-year-old company stocking 10,000 "strategically placed" information displays in 32 U.S. states and Canadian provinces, has reached a partnership agreement with Sports Authority, the largest chain of full-service sporting goods stores in the U.S. CTM will supply resort brochure displays in 300 of the 400 Sports Authority retail stores, reaching potential visitors as they shop to buy their equipment. The deal brings CTM kiosks to 700 sports retail stores. "The relevancy of printed brochure distribution as part of a mountain resort's media mix remains very high," Rob Shannon, CTM's National Director of Sport and Outdoor, told the IR. "The link to point of sale is the key to someone's start of planning a mountain vacation or getaway." Shannon is a 30-year ski industry veteran himself, dating to his years as marketing director at Vermont's Stratton Mountain Resort before joining CTM. "Brochure displays like the ones in the Sports Authority stores reduce the need and use of wasteful mass bulk mailings that just find their way into landfills. The retail store kiosks also support the trend toward greener marketing, while playing an important role in a resort's media mix," he said. Shannon says it's "not print versus wireless" today, but rather "print plus wireless." He believes – and there is research data to back him up – that "the vast majority of consumers still want to have a physical brochure, guide, or magazine in their hand while making seasonal sports and outdoor plans and reservations." Shannon said it's also wise to compare the cpms in the media mix as brochure distribution is extremely competitive. The most recent relevant study was conducted by Dr. Patrick Tierney at the University of San Francisco involving 1,259 travelers in 14 cities in three countries. The study showed almost all respondents on a multi-day vacation got a brochure from a brochure rack to help them plan it. "There is strong evidence that brochures distributed in racks continue to have their basic appeals of simplicity, colorful presentation, and placement relevancy," Dr. Tierney wrote. "They are used by a broad cross-section of travelers, even those who accessed the Internet. Brochures were more effective than other tourism information channels – not just to change travel plans and result in new reservations and purchases." The Sports Authority is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado. The first store opened in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., in 1987. The chain was briefly acquired by K-Mart and spun off five years later. It has since merged with Gart Sports and is no longer publicly traded. WHAT IT MEANS: The temptation may be there to toss the baby with the bathwater and head solely to the Net. But, it may be wiser to remember the dire predictions that TV would eliminate newspapers were wrong. The predictions that the Internet would wipe out printed magazines have been equally erroneous. The combo of printed brochures at point-of-sale of related sports equipment, combined with a quality mix of other media – including the Net – seems prudent. CTM's tie to the Big Kahuna of sports retailing seems more than prudent. « Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » |
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