Most people are aware of the impact that great advertising has on us as consumers. It makes us laugh, makes us think, makes us reassess our opinions about a product or company and, ultimately, makes us buy. If you question the impact of good advertising on the growth of a company, take a look at Nike.
Then, you might ask, how can I create that kind of advertising magic for my ski area?
Some managers may think that their advertising must tell about their product and consumers will happily read or listen to it and believe it. That’s not true. How you say something in advertising is as important as what you say. And the difference between bad and good advertising is not just five percent or even fifty percent. Tests of next-day recall and retention of key messages show that a good ad can score 1,000 percent better than a bad ad.
There are, unfortunately, no formulas for making great advertising. Every time someone makes a “rule,” someone smarter comes up with a brilliant concept by breaking it. (For example, blatantly lying in advertising would have to be considered against the rules, but Joe Isuzu broke that rule and Isuzu benefited from extraordinary leaps in awareness and image.) There are, however, some common mistakes that I’ve observed in ski area advertising that, if avoided, can improve the impact of ski ads. All media work differently, but the principles below apply to print, radio, television and outdoor advertising.
First, you must decide what your advertising needs to accomplish. Do you want to introduce your area to skiers who are unfamiliar with it, change a negative perception that skiers have of your area, inform your skiers of specific new developments or communicate a promotion or discount price opportunity? Each of these tasks requires a different advertising approach.
You must also clearly define the consumer to whom the ad is directed. Start by defining the target group demographically and psychographically, then try to describe your target in terms of a single individual. Is he or she young or old? A parent? Does he usually ski with friends? Why does he ski? How does he choose a ski area? Create as complete a picture of this individual as you can prior to creating the advertising.
The purpose of advertising is to persuade somebody (the target customer) of something (the objective of the ad). If you were to meet your target skier at a cocktail party, how would you persuade him to ski at your area? Would you spout off a series of statistics to prove that your area is superior to the competition? Chances are, if you did, you’d lose his attention to a bowl of corn doodles.
Instead, you might use a story from your experience to make your point. You would describe what it feels like to get first tracks on your favorite run. Maybe you’d relate how a particularly friendly employee welcomed you one day or how the view from the summit made you feel early in the morning. If you wanted to communicate the size of your area, you might tell him about the day you skied a different trail every run and still didn’t ski the entire mountain. In short, you would entertain your conversation partner to keep him interested and make him feel comfortable, and you would appeal to his emotions by making him feel what it’s like to ski at your resort.
Good advertising does the same thing. It treats the reader or listener as a friend and makes him feel good about the area rather than just providing information and rationale. Advertising that creates an emotional affinity with the consumer is much more likely to be remembered than advertising that provides information alone. With that, here are some specific suggestions that can improve the effectiveness of your advertising.
Skiing is fun; ski advertising should be fun. The biggest problem with ski area advertising is that it takes itself, and skiing, much too seriously. Skiers don’t care how many runs or how much vertical you have or that you have 7.348 percent more than the area down the road. If they want to know, they can look it up in a brochure.
Skiing is probably the most fun that your customers have all year long and, when they’re reading a ski magazine, they’re excited about the skiing they plan to do this season. Don’t dampen their excitement with an ad that looks like it could sell used cars. An ad that captures the fun of skiing tells consumers that the management of your area understands what skiing is all about.
Make sure your advertising reflects the personality of your area. Every area develops a unique personality and image that advertising should be careful to accurately reflect. If you want to position your resort as a friendly, family-oriented area, it doesn’t make sense to use photos of expert skiers skiing difficult terrain. Be aware of your broader positioning issues and make sure all of your communications consistently reinforces that image.
Talk about benefits instead of features. A new detachable lift is a feature. More skiing and less waiting in line is a benefit. The focus of your ad should be the benefit — more skiing — and the support for the claim is the feature that makes it possible. Your ad should always be talking to and about your skiers and what is important to them. Again, look through the magazines at all the areas with ads talking about themselves rather than about their skiers. Look at your copy. Does it talk about “we” and “us” more than it refers to “you” (the skier)?
Be unique. I once had a client who, upon viewing a new television filming technique, said, “Why can’t we do things that other people have done?” The answer lies in the fact that the average consumer is exposed to hundreds of advertising messages each day and one day later they will remember less than five percent of the messages.
Advertising must be different in order to be noticed. In ski magazines this means that, if possible, you may want to use something other than the obligatory photo of a skier to illustrate your ad. Understanding that skiers do enjoy looking at pictures of skiing, if you use a shot of a skier, make it an unusual photo that will compare favorably to other ski photos that the reader is likely to view.
Be single minded. The more your advertising tries to communicate, the greater the chances that it won’t effectively communicate anything. Remember, the vast majority of consumers don’t remember anything about most of the advertising they see. If you can make them remember just one point, you’re way ahead of the pack. Decide on one simple and compelling message and then use your entire ad to communicate it with impact. If you feel that you have two important messages, you may be better off creating two separate ads.
It’s useful to write down a single simple message that you would want a reader of your ad to take away from the ad. Anything that doesn’t support that message should be deleted.
Use professionals to help create your advertising. Very few businessmen can effectively create their own ads. As a manager, you are immersed in the nuts and bolts of operating your area. It is extremely difficult to step back and gain the perspective of how customers respond to your ads. Whether you contract with an advertising agency or hire a free-lance writer and an art director on a project basis, it’s worthwhile to have experienced professionals help you create your ads.
Ski area advertising needs to become more relevant and compelling to skiers. We all benefit from ski area advertising that reflects the diversity of ski experiences that are available, and the multiple dimensions of fun and enjoyment that skiers get from the sport. So get out there and break some rules.
