Preparing a press kit is a lot like going to a cocktail party. Look good, try to be sincere. Wear nice clothes and don’t tell off-color jokes. Choose your best pictures and stories, agonize over fact-sheet descriptions, search for hooks and aim for parallel sentence construction, complete sentences and verb agreement.
In the end, for media people, press kits serve two main purposes: to get an overall impression of the ski area and as a source for specific information. If a press kit delivers a good overall impression and specific information, it succeeds.
This article reports on how ski resorts across the country delivered their impressions and how they provided information to media people for the 1991-92 season. Sixty-six ski areas responded to Ski Area Management’s request for press kits in order to evaluate the state of the press kit art (or science?) in the ski resort industry.
Press Releases
The core of any press kit is its press releases and in the universe of story ideas, few in this sampling stood out. “What’s New for ’92,” “Families Are Special” and “Economical Vacation Packages” were common to most kits and arguably necessary. Mary Kerr, a freelance writer and former editor of the Valley Reporter in Waitsfield, Vt., suggests that much of this information on common programs could go into fact sheets saving the kit for news, information and unusual stories. Standard, too, were stories on snowmaking and apres ski activities at ski areas.
History and background stories were the exception and few of the kits contained stories designed to educate readers about the industry as a whole. A few of the one-of-a-kind releases were: “King Ridge Hosts a Fairytale,” “TGIF: Thank Goodness I’m Fifty” from Attitash and “Roffe’s Steamboat Collection Top Seller at Las Vegas.”
Release Format
Most press kit writers followed the old standards of double-spaced, one-sided press releases that are predominately one page long and if longer, are stapled. Two-sided press releases that save money and preserve the environment were found in one-third of the kits. Half the writers crunched more words on the page by taking advantage of computer printers’ font size flexibility and software leading and line-height choices. Only one kit’s releases were typed in all upper case letters, an improvement from what we would have seen 15 years ago when this was practically a standard.
About one-quarter of the kits surveyed carried undated releases, a practice deplored by Janet Nelson, who uses releases for a weekly ski column in The New York Times. “Releases get pulled out of kits and shuffled into story folders,” she says. “If I can’t verify the date of the information, I won’t use it.”
An embarrassing number of otherwise seemingly intelligent writers proclaimed “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” yet decline to give any indication of the date. “For Immediate Release” suggests a timeliness and an urgency to use the information at once. Kerr suggests more appropriate phrases are “For Release During the 1991-’92 Season” or “Release at Will.”
As to headlines, Nelson says they are the most important part of a press release. “Use them, but don’t be cute about it,” she says. “Creating a catchy headline or writing a news head is the job of the editor or the copy desk. The ski resort writer should make reading a press release easy and quick. A headline should tell the reader what the release is about. Nothing more.”
If there are press kits in the shape of skis, singing press kits, press kits delivered in dry ice or packed in snow, SAM didn’t receive them. In fact, press kits produced by ski areas are remarkably similar. Only Ski Liberty/ Ski Roundtop, Penn., sent a “gee-whiz” — a magnet in the shape of a ski.
Overall, based on the qualitative scoring system (see box), the press kit creators are good writers, good organizers and seem to have a consistent sense of the media’s needs. In other words, the press kits are all fairly similar and include the same types of information.
The Best Press Kits
From the sea of solid kits, some surfaced above the rest. They rose up not because of gimmicks or expense, but because they were written thoughtfully and carefully about resorts whose top executives had visions for their ski areas.
Others, while not rising to the top on all counts, contained inspired parts. The best press kits went beyond technically good, beyond the many that had correct spelling, topic sentences, dated releases, headlines and complete factual information that was cleanly presented.
What they had, in the cocktail party of press kits, was a hearty handshake and a willingness to look you in the eye and say, “This Is Who I Am.” Too often, ski resort people failed to declare what was special and unique about their resort. The best kits found many ways to reinforce the uncommon qualities of their place and insure that kit readers wouldn’t forget.
First, the envelope carried the message in words like Hunter Mountain, N. Y., or in a picture like the Balsams, N. H.
Second, there was a cover letter that worked like the cover letter of a resume or the instructions on the box of an airplane model kit. When well written, it describes how the pieces of the kit will look and work when put together. Without directions, the builder might think she/he is working on a Model-T. The cover letter tells the reader what to make of the contents. It isn’t just a welcome and a prose listing of the contents; it is a concise, hard-hitting description of how the resort is special.
The best graphics on brochures, letterheads and covers, reinforced the area’s uniqueness. With the Navaho blanket motif, Taos, N.M., very successfully declared “This Is Where We Are.” A Taos brochure and press kit can be easily retrieved from a corner floor-pile of kits because of this motif. Breckenridge, Colo., has begun to say “Victorian” and Steamboat, Colo., clearly says “Western Cowboy.” Of the eastern kits received, none had staked out a geographic claim that was translated into graphic terms.
The best kits were media-friendly. They fit into file cabinents and had name tabs that stick up for easy recognition. Fact sheets were quickly identified and got an A+ from Nelson if they were on colored paper to set them apart from releases. They contained trail maps. The facts, either in prose form or in lists, were there.
Fundamental to identifying a folder was the area name printed large and clear enough to be seen — no white-on-white, small or discrete type and no overdesigning that disguises the name amidst sumptuous art and illustration. Not surprisingly, the most eye-catching covers were four-color: Grand Targhee, Wyo., Crested Butte, Colo., Jackson Hole, Wyo., and Lake Louise, Alberta, had costly covers with spectacular pictures. Four-color maps or aerial views of the mountain and base area were used very effectively on a number of kits on the pocket flaps or on the backs of kits to further enhance the message: “This is who we are.”
This is not to say, however, that plain covers don’t work. Nelson says a folder of a distinctive color, such as the burnt orange used by Sun Valley, Id., especially when used over many years can be highly effective as well as less expensive than the fancy designs and photographs. “Press kits are not intended as hard-sell for consumers,” she says. “They need only be wrappers holding related data for people to use as references. A simple and sturdy, but distinctive cover works just fine.”
Many photographs supplied in the kits, beyond being in focus and interesting, stated their origins. Heavenly Valley, Calif., for example, showed Lake Tahoe or the signature aerial tram. The best of the seemingly obligatory children’s pictures carried the ski resort logo. On the other hand, many resorts are unintentionally providing newspapers and magazines with wonderful, completely generic pictures that are probably used with stories that don’t credit the picture source.
The Worst Kits
Technically, the bulk of the press kits were acceptable. Most writers knew what a press release format looks like. Grammar was good, punctuation acceptable and ideas were developed to answer the who-what-when-where-why-how journalistic style. Only one kit contained numerous misspellings.
The worst kits failed to set their ski area apart from others in the country. They projected no identity, no individuality, no personality of the area. Too often press kit writers seemed shy about describing their ski areas, hoping perhaps that readers would draw their own conclusions or discover something of importance on their own. The worst kit authors couldn’t decide what to say, so they said everything, often loosing the nuggets in a desert of sameness.
The heft of some kits must surely discourage readers before opening them and may cause headaches trying to make sense of the contents. Or, the reverse — some kits said too little or relied on brochures, article reprints and magazines to convey information, making the press kit a folder for brochures. Magazines, article reprints (over two years old) and more than three brochures bulked up kits and dissolved readers’ attention. Magazines and reprints, especially when they dominate a kit, reveal a ski area unable to stand up for itself.
In contrast to the best kits, the worst kits had no self-esteem. The evidence: generic pictures, generic graphics, generic stories and no cover letter. Additionally, press kit writers revealed nothing about themselves that might form a basis for a personal connection with a media person.
The worst kits also were dysfunctional for media. They lacked resort names on the cover, arrived too late, had poor headlines on releases, out-of-focus photographs — practically everything opposite of the best described above.
A word on timing. Magazine writers need to receive press kits in June or early July. Most newspaper writers, TV and radio people can wait until September.
Saving Money
Not every area has hundreds of thousands of dollars for press kits. Even a few who have it are splashing it in four-color extravagance with little care about the picture being painted.
A simple, useful press kit can be produced on a tight budget. After all, correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation are not costly, and store-bought student-type folders with one-color ski resort labels can hold releases reproduced at a quick-print shop on the ski area’s letterhead.
It’s the content that counts, not the cosmetics. A clean presentation of well-written prose that gives readers information, good story ideas, facts and a sense of place is worth more than all the colors of the Pantone rainbow. An easy-to-use and functional format simply works.
Evaluating press kits for this article may not be too unlike reviewing press kits for stories — the job of media people. If this is a similar process, it is clear to the writers of this article that less is more. Clarity of message and accessibility of facts should be the over-arching goal of a kit. When design elements force information into unlikely or uncommon places, the offending elements should be changed.
It may have seemed redundant in this article to continually refer to the need for a distinctive image and sense of place about a ski area in press kits, but that is the core element that makes them work or not. One positioning statement should serve as the umbrella under which all facts, stories and graphics stand. They also hold up the umbrella. The unique umbrella could be Taos’ Navaho heritage, Timberline’s history, Purgatory’s railroad, Steamboat’s cowboy, Deer Valley’s food and wine, Hunter’s snowmaking, Jay Peak’s natural snowfall or Smugglers’ family appeal. Having chosen the umbrella, every graphic, picture, press release and brochure should extend its reach and strengthen its support.
While this article serves as a critique of what the ski industry is providing journalists to get them to publish, show and report, it is also intended as a guide for press kit creators in reviewing their own products. Imagine yourself on the receiving end of your press kit and determine its effectiveness, image and usability. A fair and objective appraisal may give you some new thoughts about the cocktail party and your part in it.
Kathy O’Dell-Thompson has worked with Vermont ski resorts and in various public relations capacities for over 15 years and is a contributor to Ski Area Management. She lives in Waterbury, Vermont.
Nancy Marshall operates a PR firm specializing in resort and recreational properties and activities. Her major client is Sugarloaf USA, Me., where she worked for eight years as director of communications.
Replies and Content
The July request for press kits drew responses from August to January with the bulk arriving in October. In all cases, the kits survived the U.S. Postal Service; 15 percent also arrived in good shape through United Parcel Service.
The predominately 10-by-13-inch manila or white-clasp envelopes were sent mostly first class and cost between $2 and $3 postage. Addresses were either Cheshire-type computer labels or large mailing labels that carried a return address. A few resorts like the Balsams, N. H., used three- and four-color picture labels to announce what was inside. In only a few cases did ski areas use the expanse of white space on the envelope to carry a tag line or make important announcements, though a number incorporated a tag line into return addresses. The Hunter Mountain, N. Y., address reads “The Snowmaking Capitol of the World” and the Mount Snow, Vt., label says “No One Else Is Close.”
Fifty-eight of the press kits used folders to hold contents and eight ski areas sent press information in number 10 business envelopes or five-by-seven-inch envelopes. Fourteen used four-color, 15 two-color and 29 one-color folders. Except for four, the folders were all two-sided pocket types usually with business or Rolodex cards inserted into pockets or contact names printed on pocket flaps. Woodstock Inn/Suicide Six, Vt., broke the mold with a four-color packet that opened from the top, like a matchbook. Sunday River, Me., expanded the normal folder style to three panels that closed in on each other to showcase the area’s new Aurora Peak.
Whitetail, Penn., delivered the only humor in a kit that opened like a book with standard sized press releases perforated to tear out easily. With tongue-in-cheek, the cover read: “This is a collector’s edition for media pack rats. Don’t just file it away on top of the stack. It becomes more valuable with age.” Alpine Meadows, Calif., used a similar perforated release booklet.
About one-third of the areas provided a table of contents for the two sides of the packet, a practice Janet Nelson, SAM’s executive editor and a freelance writer, likes, but Barbara Johnson of the Concord, N. H., Monitor finds unnecessary and pretentious. Two areas, Mount Snow, Vt., most successfully and Boreal/Soda Springs, Calif., also, cut press release paper to varying lengths and printed the headlines on the top so that each release title could be seen when the reader opened the packet.
Fifty-five percent of the kits carried cover letters; of these, six were personalized and hand-signed.
Exactly half the kits included pictures and of these, four resorts sent slides as well as black and white prints. Steamboat, Colo., sent a one-page order form showing 18 black and whites from which to choose. King Ridge, N.H., enclosed a useful batch of three-by-five-inch black and whites, and Snowbird, Utah, saved money by sending two sheets with four photos each. Only Purgatory, Colo., and Arrowhead at Vail (a real estate development) included videos, although many areas offered to send one upon request.
Press Kit Checklist
- Folder — ski area name and season clearly visible and tab on edge
- Facts — mountain stats, trails, acreage, snowmaking, lifts, prices, packages, location, how to get there, lodging, amenities, history, key management, summer activities
- Calendar of events
- Vacation packages and prices for day and multi-day
- Trail map
- Black and white photos or a photodex sheet indicating available shots
- Story ideas in press releases or short takes
- What’s new for the season
- Other newsworthy or unusual topics in press releases
- Brochure with prices
- Business card with contact name, address and phone
How to Use Your Press Kit to Shoot Yourself in the Foot
Hire an ad agency to design a special die-cut folder, splash on the colors, then emboss the resort name and logo in half-inch, same-color letters.
Don’t indicate the state where the resort is located, stuff three conference brochures in the packet along with a fact sheet and send it out.
Use all upper case letters for press releases.
When in doubt, use exclamation marks.
Photocopy your letterhead for cover letters and the first page of releases.
Put “For Immediate Release” on releases, but don’t bother to date them.
Include a release titled “Kids are Special.”
Make your fact sheet hard to find.
Make your press kit hard to identify.
Misspell “accommodations,” use “its” and “it’s” incorrectly and refuse to place punctuation inside quotations, “like this.”
Send your kit out in December.
Send your kit to New England Monthly (it folded last July).
Scoring System
To organize generalizations, each press kit was evaluated against seven standard questions and described in four categories. Each question was answered with a rating of 1 to 10 with the exception of number six, which was rated at 20 points.
The results were tabulated and a 10-page printout gave mean, median, highs and lows on individual questions. The database also included the ski area name, state, lift capacity and vertical. The cumulative scores were a numeric translation of the subjective evaluation of the judges and, coincidently, reflected a near match. The vast majority supported those press kits the judges selected as the best and the worst. A well-designed survey plots scores along a complete curve; this one did so.
The questions were:
- Visual Identity — Did the kit present a unique and useful visual identity? How good? How bad? Consider for this, presentation, envelope, folder, business card as well as cute angles that make the reader remember the kit itself, if not the resort.
- Organization — Can the reader easily find family programs, rates, the year the resort began and what was new? Did the kit weight less than five pounds? How functional is the kit to the reader? Is the fact sheet on different colored paper? Is there a tab on the folder?
- Unique Qualities — Are the unique qualities of the resort clear from the writing and the print materials? Can the reader find three unique, interesting qualities in the first minute of reading?
- Technique — Does the kit meet the standards of the industry? Are materials dated, one-sided, with contact name, ending indications, telephone numbers and clear headlines? Are photos in focus with good contrast and reproducible? Is the photo identified and dated?
- Writing Quality — Are releases well written? Are spelling, punctuation and grammar correct? Are topic sentences used? Is the inverted pyramid used to develop releases?
- Excitement Quotient — Is there something overall that causes the reader to be excited, read and examine all the contents, call the area or want to visit? (This question, because of its importance to the value of the kit, could receive up to 20 points.)
- Newsworthiness — Does the kit contain newsworthy information?
To determine industry averages and standards, each of the 66 kits were described in the following objective categories:
- A. Cover — one-color, two-color, three-color, four-color or no cover.
- B. Cover letter — yes, no or personalized.
- C. Photographs — black and white, slides, none and/or video.
- D. Types of releases — snowmaking, family, history, apres ski, new, fact sheets.
Green Rating
Only 15 of the 66 resorts in any way indicated a concern for the environment by using recycled paper and its symbol, or by including a release addressing environmental issues.
In scoring, resorts received from one to three stars for demonstrated support of the environment. Using recycled paper and/or including releases on their concern for the environment earned stars.
The Competition
While ski area lift ticket prices and radio campaigns suggest fierce competition with other ski areas down the road, in our hearts, we know the blood rivals are the warm and sandy places. So how does the industry present itself through press kits in comparison to the islands, the Disneylands and the golf resorts?
Kathy O’Dell-Thompson, who writes family-related travel stories in addition to PR work for ski resorts, requested family info from 15 non-ski resorts through a computer generated “personalized” letter.
From all except Amelia Island Plantation in Florida, she received a personal, hand-signed letter that accompanied predominantly three-colored glossy press kit folders. Most letters included a short paragraph that said something like, “I am delighted to learn of your interest in the sunny Caribbean island of Aruba — the perfect destination for families with its calm waters, friendly people and island-wide activities programs.”
The biggest difference in kits was their origin. Two-thirds came from New York City PR firms or ad agencies rather than the resort. In contrast, while the ski area press kits may have been prepared by PR or ad agencies, very few let the agency identity/personality be known.
Initially, this speaks well of the ski industry. Media people want to know the resort people not the intermediaries. If the ski area people are available, helpful and value this relationship, then it’s best to keep the New York personality out of it. On the other hand, Jules and Effin Older, a free lance ski/travel writer/photographer team from Vermont report agency people to be incredibly responsive and very aware of their journalistic needs.
Sandy, warm kits appeared to have much larger budgets behind them than the ski resorts kits as a whole. Nevertheless, the budget was not used to create radically different kits nor did it produce a strikingly better content. PR people at non-skiing destinations do not have the one- or two-page release standard that the ski industry people value. Many releases were four pages long, double spaced, one-sided and stapled.
Resort identity conveyed in the kits spanned the same bell curve of success as did the ski areas. Cruise kits had the hardest time and put most of their energy into describing schedules and vacation package elements. The islands sold their unique geographic and cultural differences convincingly and didn’t fall into the trap of attempting to sell hotel rooms first.
Major destination ski resort PR kits compare favorably to warm kits in this SAM sample. The glitz and glossy gauntlet has been thrown down by them, however. It is this writer’s opinion that if PR people at ski resorts keep up their professionalism and, most importantly, their personal relationships with media people, then we should not pick up the glove. Let’s keep our ski mitts on. — K.O.T
