Efrem ''Skip'' Zimbalist III discusses his famous dad, his St. Petersburg Boat Show, and direction of Show Management |
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To obtain the most authoritative voice on what is in store at the St. Petersburg Boat Show, which will take place on Nov. 16-19 at Bayfront Yacht Basin, St. Petersburg, Florida one needs to talk to the president and CEO of a company named Active Interest Media. AIM’s subsidiary Show Management owns or manages five of the Florida boat shows including the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat show and Miami Yacht and Brokerage Show that were previously run by Yachting Promotions Inc. (YPI). While the successes of YPI are legendary in the yachting world everyone over 40 years of age will recall the family name of AIM and Show Management’s president and CEO as his father was Efrem Zimbalist Jr. who played the lead role in the television series the FBI. There is also a famous sister named Stephanie who played the role of Laura Holt opposite Pierce Brosnan, in the hit 80’s television series Remington Steele. His other sister Nancy was also a success playing tennis and making a career at Phillip Morris promoting women’s tennis and their Virginia Slims tournament.
AIM President and CEO Efrem “Skip” Zimbalist III like so many others in his family did not rest on his laurels. He graduated the Harvard Business School, and served as Chairman of Times Mirror Magazines, and CFO of the Times Mirror Company prior to creating AIM three years ago. Yet, no introductory discussion with the son of Efrem Zimbalist Jr. would be proper without a request for reflection by Zimbalist III on his father’s success and accomplishments on early network television.
“One thing that most people don’t know is that when my dad first moved out to California in the late 50’s his agent said a name like Efrem Zimbalist Jr. won’t fly in this town and we’ve got a new name picked out for you,” Zimbalist III said. “My dad said what’s that? He said its Eric Gunter. Dad said, no. I think I’ll stick with my own name. He was told well it will never fit on the marquee and no one will be able to pronounce it. So you will never be able to make it in this town with a name like that. I think he took some pleasure in proving him wrong.
He had just finished another series called Seventy-seven Sunset Strip, which was in black and white and they worked six days a week for about 28 weeks a year, which was a very grueling schedule to put out those shows. He did that for seven or eight years and made movies in the off time. So when that show was done he decided he wanted to try and do more movies rather than get back into another series. The producer of the FBI who had been the producer of Seventy-seven Sunset Strip called him up and said we would really like you to do it. He told him no. It is not something I’m that interested in right now. I really appreciate it, but I’m going to do more movies. Well he called him back a few weeks later and dramatically increased the salary that he was offering. My dad said that is not the reason I said no. I’m really trying to focus on movies and spend a little more time with my family. Then the producer called back a couple of weeks later and offered him a piece of the equity in the show. And pop said again, I really appreciate that, but I really want to concentrate on movies. Well a couple of weeks later the phone rang and it was J. Edgar Hoover the head of the FBI. He said Mr. Zimbalist you know we are authorizing this show and we are giving them access to our files and there will be an agent on the set at all times, but we will only do that if you play the lead in it. We respect your character, values and the image that you have. And we would like you to represent kind of the best of the FBI on television. If you don’t do it we are not going to do the series. And we really think you help your country by doing it. So he is a patriotic guy and said well if that is the case I’ll do it. It was one of the first shows in color. I remember when it first came on Sunday night at the end of the prior show they would say now stay tuned for the FBI in color because it was a big deal because still 80-90 percent of the shows were in black and white.”
While Zimbalist III can wax nostalgic his plans and strategies for his media business are up to date and strategically oriented for the future. Until recently AIM focussed on other niche markets, but the have headed full force into the marine market owning events such as the St. Petersburg Boat Show outright. Plus, they recently acquired Yachts magazine, which was announced in late October while at the same time acknowledging interest in acquiring more marine oriented magazines and shows.
“I love the marine field,” Zimbalist III said. “We are a special interest media company meaning that we provide information to people for their hobbies, for their sports, and for their aspirations. And to be a successful media company in that field you need two or three things. One of the things you need is a sport or an activity that has enough people in it to support one or more magazines. The second thing you need is a lot of information that people need in rapidly changing fields with technology changing, with methods and techniques changing. The third thing you need is an activity in which people spend a lot money. Therefore, there is a healthy group of advertisers out there who are trying to reach the readers or attendees. And I can’t think of a better activity than the marine industry both the fishing and the pure boating side of it that meets all of those criteria. It is just terrific. And that is one reason you have so many magazines and shows around, because the industry can support it.”
Events such as the upcoming St. Petersburg Boat Show are a crucial part of the business model as Zimbalist III sees it. “When you look at it from the point of view of the boat owner or someone who is interested in boating or fishing, that is a 24 hour a day, 365 day a year passion,” Zimbalist III said. “They have done their research through the magazines and through the web and now they want to see it first hand. And there is no better place to see marine supplies, boats, electronics, and fishing equipment than at a boat show. And so you are completing the information circle for them where they have read about it, they’ve researched it, and they have got the information. Now they want to see it first hand and maybe buy it. And they want to compare two or three or 20 different things first hand in person.”
Accustomed to nurturing relationships with advertisers to keep magazines afloat Zimbalist III knows the importance of connecting them to potential customers. “,…they are reaching the reader 12 months a year through the pages of the magazine and through the Internet and they’ve made the buyer or reader aware of what they make and what they sell and now the show completes the sale because people do come to the show to buy,” Zimbalist III said. “These are order writing shows that we do. They are meant for people to buy things. There are special prices and lots of variety there that they cannot get anywhere else. All of it works well together to benefit the reader, show attendee, the advertiser, and exhibitor. It completes the cycle.”
They are not trying to reinvent the wheel at AIM and Show Management. Rather they are building media savvy and expertise gained with acquisitions such as YPI that excelled in producing in-the-water boat shows. “We have the equipment to build large-scale marinas virtually overnight,” Zimbalist III said. “For the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show we’ll produce marina space for about 1000 boats with electrical, telephone service, Internet and all kinds of things. We build that in about three weeks.”
Rather incorrectly perceived as a West Coast sort of guy Zimbalist proves otherwise with his Florida acquisitions and broader interests and business appetite. “We are looking along all the coasts where we could bring those skills to bare,” Zimbalist said. “So it is not just limited to Florida. Florida happens to be the marine capital of the world. And Ft. Lauderdale happens to be the marine capital of Florida. That is where the center is, but we are looking on the West Coast, up the Atlantic Coast and along the Gulf for locations and towns where we can bring our skills to bare. We are also looking not with any immediate eye towards an acquisition, but just to get educated right now overseas. I was at the Monaco boat show and Cannes Boat Shows in September and they are very impressive, quite a bit smaller than the Ft. Lauderdale or Miami Boat Show, but very high quality and beautifully produced.”
Closer to home at the St. Petersburg Show Zimbalist III finds value in the magnitude of this event being the largest boat show on the West Coast of Florida with over 600 boats in the water this year in a beautiful setting. There are a plethora of scheduled new product introductions, family fishing clinics for young and old alike and lots of fun in store.
“In St. Petersburg and Sarasota, the two boat shows we do on the West Coast of Florida, the boats tend to be in the 60-70’ and below range all the way down to 10-15’ boats,” Zimbalist III said. “We don’t want to limit ourselves to anyone size category. We want to cover it all and believe there is a strong market for all sizes. The people who buy the big boats start off in small boats typically and work their way up. We want to do our part and help promote the marine industry by showcasing all sizes of boats.”
Show Management provides space at shows such as St. Petersburg to all sorts of companies large and small that took the initiative and decided one day to get in the business. They are always looking for unique new products and vendors to exhibit, but make inquiries for vendor space early as there is a very high rate of return by exhibitors and though spacious the event vendor space can be at a premium.
For more information visit: www.showmanagement.com