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May 2016

Best/Worst Marketing 2015-16

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VIDEO

MOST FUN IN ONE RUN: MAMMOTH, CALIF.

Mammoth Mountain is known equally for its Unbound terrain parks as well as its prolific freeriding zones. In an effort to showcase its depth of acreage and variety of natural and man-made features, Mammoth launched Legends of the Fall Line, a video series centered on edits that start at the top of the mountain and follow a group of snowboarders down a different run each time. The series was an immediate hit. Not only did it showcase archetypal Eastern Sierra terrain, but also local pros like Garrett Warnick and Brandon Davis, as well as visitors Jamie Anderson and Sebastien Toutant. In the short, two- to three-minute videos, Mammoth was deftly able to showcase a variety of its hallmark attributes: expansive trail system, iconic residents and visitors, and plentiful snow. —M.W.

BEST VIDEOS OF CHICKS WHO SHRED: BRIGHTON, UTAH

best videos of chicks who shred

Brighton Resort, just outside of Salt Lake City, has in recent years become a hub for burgeoning female snowboarders. The ladies flock to the pristine parks that Brighton offers, dialing in rail tricks and turning heads both in person and on social media. This season, Brighton dedicated a filmmaker to work with these athletes to produce Brighton Femme—a series of videos filled with hard-hitting riding from the talented ladies. The videos and subsequent social media support have made the rounds successfully on the Internet, placing both Brighton and its affinity to celebrate its local girls in the spotlight. —M.W.

BEST USE OF DINOSAURS IN A VIDEO: MOUNTAIN CREEK, N.J.

We’re not totally sure where the inspiration came from, but as a nod to Valentine’s Day, the crew at Creek released a Jurassic-sized video across its social channels that featured a snowboarding Tyrannosaurus Rex (a snowboarder in a massive, dinosaur costume) cruising down the hill, lonesome before meeting up with a lady peer on skis who was in the lift line. It was quick, it was cute, it gave new meaning to the term, “T. Rexing,” and the unusual social celebration of the romantic holiday that falls in the middle of the winter season was shared in spades across the Internet. —M.W.

BEST INSTANT GRATIFICATION: WACHUSETT, MASS.

Wachusett took the concept of instant content, normally reserved for social media, to a place no other marketer had before: television. By coordinating directly with TV stations, Wachusett is able to film a commercial in the morning, edit it during the day, and have it on the air that night. The result was 30- and 15-second spots that broke through the generic noise of typical ads. Marketing director Tom Meyers and co. showed Bostonians that while there may not have been snow in their backyards this morning, there was plenty at Wachusett. —G.B.

best instant gratification

MOST OUTSTANDING TV ADS: COPPER MOUNTAIN, COLO.

For every person you talk to who loves Copper’s 2015-16 “Snow Day” videos, you’ll likely find someone who despises them. But that polarity is the beauty of the campaign. So much content, especially video, is incredibly similar and vanilla. Full of powder turns, catchy soundtracks, and smiling skiers. That content is hard to dislike, but it’s also hard to get genuinely excited about. Copper knew that the only way to achieve the best emotions was to break out of the blah box, and that it did. The series of awkwardly entertaining skits, depicting what happens inside the human body on snow days (like peeing yourself), is must-watch TV. Love them or hate them, these offbeat spots made Copper the only resort to make Adweek’s “Ad of the Day” and AdForum’s “Top 5 Travel Ads.” —G.B.

most outstanding tv ads

MOST HONEST SNOW REPORTS: MAD RIVER GLEN, VT.

“We kind of have a vertical ice rink forming up here right now. It isn’t pretty, folks, it really isn’t.” These are not words you typically hear from a resort, much less in a snow report. But Mad River Glen’s brutally honest snow reports broke the typical spin-cycle and rebuilt priceless trust with its skiers. In one video report, Mad River marketing director Eric Friedman showed skiers as they hiked and skied small patches of snow left over after a rainstorm. In a play off of MRG’s slogan, he closed the video with, “Come on out and ski the patch, IF YOU CAN.” In many ways, MRG was able to make lemonade out of this lemon of a season. When it had virtually nothing to gain, honesty managed to pull out a big win. —G.B.

MOST TRANSPARENT MANAGEMENT: TENNEY MOUNTAIN, N.H.

Transparency. It’s a word marketers claim far more often than they deliver. But as Tenney Mountain rose from the grave last year, its owner, Sir Michael Bouchard, went all in on transparency—and won. His daily video updates covered everything from vandalism in the lodge that totalled $50,000 to a novel siphon used to drain the snowmaking pond. Locals and industry enthusiasts alike followed along as Tenney’s Facebook fan count doubled, tripled, and then quadrupled, all in a matter of months. When other resorts struggled to get their fans’ attention in a warm, dry December, Tenney’s engagement rate was double that of any other New Hampshire resort. A strong Facebook following won’t magically put Tenney in the black, but it won’t hurt, either. —G.B.

most transparent management

BEST USE OF PERISCOPE: LOVELAND, COLO.

As Periscope’s initial wave of buzz crested, Loveland began making snow for the season. Recognizing the opportunity and power with this content, Loveland’s Dustin Schaefer pulled open the app one snowy morning, hit record, and created some of the most compelling content of the fall. The script read like a well-planned action sequence: run into the shed before jumping on a Polaris RZR just leaving the base only to narrowly avoid getting stuck multiple times. Then jump off and wait for a snowmobile to complete the exciting ride to the top, looking over the shoulder of a seasoned snowmaker. The content, created in real time, gave skiing enthusiasts around the world a compelling behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to get a ski area open, and made Loveland the most successful resort Periscope user yet. —G.B.