The most remarkable thing about this past season’s crop of resort ads is just how wholly unremarkable they were.
Coming off the double whammy of war and a still-stagnant economy the season before, you’d think ski areas would have been desperate to break from the pack. But no one was daring enough to pull a Janet Jackson and expose themselves to risk for the sake of sales—even in youth-market ads. Controversy and negativity were largely absent in last season’s campaigns, and that aversion to risk may qualify as last season’s biggest miss. There were some clear winners, but mostly for all the right reasons. How safe!
As a Vail-based journalist who has written numerous stories on attack ads aimed at Vail and Vail’s sometimes litigious responses over the past decade, I’m saddened by last season’s lack of vitriol. Products and resorts that use controversy—and the collateral media hits it generates—will forever stick in my mind.
Who can forget the vodka bottle in a cast with the “Absolut Vail” tag line that sparked a lawsuit and a settlement in 1999? (I’m still convinced Vail Resorts CEO Adam Aron, never one to miss an opportunity for free publicity, purposely stirred the pot on that one.) Or the Budget Rent a Car ads showing a skier painfully entwined in a tree and promising a free pair of Bollé goggles after four rentals so next time you’d see the “menacing tree coming”? Grabby, memorable stuff.
Then there were the negative but humorous resort ads that took shots at Vail (it’s tough being on top) and created plenty of buzz. In the early ‘90s, Jackson Hole attacked with “Range—If the next word that popped into your mind was Rover, come on up. We don’t get to see that many pompous asses this far from Vail.” Vail was set to fire back with “Hole—The first word that popped into our minds wasn’t Jackson, either.” Unfortunately, cooler heads prevailed, and the ad never ran.
Crested Butte in 2002 ran its highly aggressive “This is not Vail” campaign. “You can tell because the car is too old and the people are having too much fun,” said one print ad.
That same season, Vail Resorts stepped in it with the local community by running Breckenridge ads in youth-market mags that proclaimed: “The hill may dominate you. But the town will still be your bitch” and “Each night, a new chance to earn your balls back.” Those ads were ultimately yanked, but not before the point was made.
Alas, nothing nearly so steamy appeared in last season’s marketing blitzes. Without controversy and negativity, few of last season’s ads managed to rise above the rabble.
Here are the hits and misses, starting with ads aimed at the older audience (people who read Ski, Skiing, Ski Press and maybe Powder). I consulted marketing gurus and advertising experts, but in the end let my selections reflect my own impressions. After all, I’m closer to the target customer than they are.
Adult Market Hits
1. Telluride’s illustrated storybook ads, including “S is for soul” and “C is for carvoholic.” Two of my consultants tried to talk me out of this distinctive three-year-old campaign. One said, “If I had their terrain, I sure as hell wouldn’t use illustrations,” and another remarked, “Carvoholic? How about ‘P is for powder’? Who the hell goes to Telluride to carve corduroy?”
But I’m sticking to my guns. The ads were effective for three reasons. First, the illustrations stand out from the endless and gratuitous scenic shots. Second, they speak to Telluride’s biggest market challenges—that it’s too hard to get to, too hard to ski and too expensive. And third, they transfer well to radio and billboards.
Plus, they worked. Telluride had its greatest number of single-day records for skier days during 2003-04, its strongest February and March numbers on record, record ski school and private lesson totals, record airline load factors into Montrose, and it rose to No. 10 in both Ski and Skiing’s resort rankings.
That ought to shut up the campaign’s many detractors, especially in the local business community. But as one advertising exec told me, “If you want to build creative, differentiated, impactful ads and stuff that’s remembered, you have to piss off a certain amount of people. And most of the time, they’re not your market.” This especially applies to the local business community, which often has no clue when it comes to national marketing.
2. Tahoe’s Blue World campaign. Very blue. Very beautiful. Just like Lake Tahoe. Talk about great branding. Plus, it shows that the resorts around the lake can work together to come up with a contemporary message (I like the play on the popular Blue Man Group) about around-the-clock- and around-the-lake fun. Nice headlines, too: “The blue world has its own language. There is no word for boredom.”
3. Breck’s “Turning tourists into locals since 1961” ads. Every tourist secretly wants to be a local. That’s why resorts and businesses that give destination skiers the inside scoop and make them feel like they’re part of the scene are so successful. This is exactly the right tone, and the ads are well executed, with wistful photography and whimsical copy.
4. Beaver Creek’s “The resort holds nothing back. Neither does the mountain.” The Beav had a big image problem: it’s too easy to ski, it’s a gated country club that caters only to the über rich. These ads effortlessly blew those misconceptions out of the water with killer photography, great headlines and targeted type.
Adult Market Misses
Now for the misses. And to show you I’m no Vail Resorts homer, let’s start with:
1. Keystone’s “The evolution has begun.” So why didn’t they tell us about it? True, they were stuck between the conceptual stage of their new, youth-oriented facilities and actually rolling them out. But a clever ad campaign would have worked around that small problem. (Hint: look at the Telluride ad. Or Breck’s.)
2. Big Sky’s “mmmm. Hotdog.” The picture of the guy hucking on 10-year-old straight K2’s is as old school as calling someone a hotdogger. Do you really want to attract people who won’t break down and buy shaped skis?
3. Copper Mountain’s “Consider wasabi a vegetable?” Huh? Who’s that speaking to—youth market (they can’t afford sushi) or old guys (they probably consider wasabi wasabi)? Regardless, what does any of it have to do with skiing?
4. Okemo’s “The next big hit” ads were definitely a miss. Points for playing up their “news”—the rollout of the new Jackson Gore terrain. But please, splurge for some decent photos. I know the Muellers are probably a little cash-strapped after buying Crested Butte, but snow riders have an eye for detail, and they’ll notice dark, out-of-focus photography.
Youth Market Hits
Finally, a few youth-market (Freeze, Snowboarder, Transworld Snowboarding) hits and misses.
1. Mammoth gets the best all-around campaign award. The ads centered on their park and facilities and had a very clear message.
2. Park City’s campaign came in a strong second. They signed a team of athletes and effectively used them to promote the resort. According to one insider: “Park City two years ago wasn’t on any kid’s radar screen as the place to go. Now it’s the buzz.”
Youth Market Misses
1. The Vermont Tourism Board’s “Get more in Vermont” campaign. Not even remotely contemporary, with a bad photo of a skier on six-year-old boards. Kids “will think the resorts in Vermont are six years behind because the equipment is six years behind,” one insider noted.
2. Whistler’s ads showing a guy reaching around and undoing a girl’s bra. “It seemed like an ad that an outside agency put together—something you’d see in Maxim,” said one critic.
Kudos for trying to be edgy, though.
So there you have it, a sampling of last season’s best and worst. Send me your own nominations and feedback at [email protected]. And please, try to do better next season.
David O. Williams is a Vail-based freelance writer and former Vail Trail editor whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, LA Weekly and Skiing Magazine.
The Guest Editor’s Take
As an industry, we, like many other business, somehow think that we will prosper the more politically correct we are in our advertising. How and why this happened in the industry that has produced legends that were anything but politically correct is beyond me.
Our ads are very bland. They try to be all things to all people. The real winners have always been and will continue to be those who have the courage to step outside this self imposed box. Each resort needs to determine what its current and future market is and develop a campaign that promotes the hell out of it. You can’t waffle. You can’t be one thing one year and another thing the next. You can’t try to please everyone. The best campaigns will piss off, and SHOULD piss off, a portion of the population. The old saying, “if they’re not cheering for you or they’re not booing you, who are you?” has never been more true.
My biggest disagreement with David is that many resorts have come a long way in youth marketing and have developed very successful campaigns. I would also disagree that Whistler’s ad did not serve a purpose. I do agree Park City’s campaign over the past two years has more than created a buzz.
So as a group, let’s look at our campaigns. They should project a long-term vision of where we want our individual resorts to go. Let’s stop worrying that they might be too offensive, too edgy or too controversial. Bland campaigns and individuals are not what made this industry what it is. It’s people who took risks, promoted excitement, fun and energy that have been and always will be successful.
—Karl Kapuscinski, Mountain High
Tuning Your Ads—The Youth Hit List
by Fran Richards
The resort community has come a long way in reaching out to active freeskiers and snowboarders. In a quick review of the primary enthusiast publications (Snowboarder, Freeskier, Powder, Freeze, and TW Snowboarding), this year’s ads are vastly better. Today, the only truly hokey images of missed maneuvers, poorly focused shots and outdated equipment are the domain of non-industry supporters like Jeep, Chevy and Visa.
What makes a good ad? Credibility and authenticity. These are the motor of the word-of-mouth engine, possibly one of the greatest sources of youth sales. Resorts benefit when they provide straight-ahead simple communication and avoid using young peoples’ lingo, as it gets outdated rapidly.
Insight into the scene is important. Many snowboarders have their roots in action sports rather than winter sports and have little knowledge of resorts’ terrain, size and scale. Many new snowboarders in SoCal think Bear Mountain has as much terrain as Mammoth. It’s essential to show them in pictures what your resort has to offer.
Ask your local elite freeskiers and snowboarders for insight into what young people look for and value in advertising. And remember, age is a state of mind, not a birthdate.
Okay, here are the hits:
1. “The Park” at Bear Mountain. This ad clearly shows the scale of the terrain features in the context of the resort overview. It has state of the art action and creates a call to action: you could be here. It also implies community, that top pros ride here. How can a young rider resist?
2. Mammoth Mountain’s West Coast Freeski Invitational ad. This intentionally messy ad is very credible. It shows Mammoth has a strong scene, and that the resort supports the sport and the top riders. It calls out clearly and simply that if you want to be in the scene, Mammoth is the place to be, and that there are great lodging deals to be had. Contrast that with typical lodging deals ads. Another plus: Mammoth’s overall youth marketing mix includes comprehensive partnership and event marketing, as this ad shows.
3. Whistler’s “Eric Berger’s photo files” shows that there is a great scene in the Whistler’s terrain park. It says that the resort is paying attention to up and coming amateur athletes as well as elite photographers. What young rider wouldn’t be excited about being discovered by a top mountain photographer at Whistler’s park?
4. Aspen’s print campaign this year highlighted top pros who call Aspen home. These ads are truly authentic, and the voices of the athletes carried a lot of weight in the youth community.
5. June Mountain: Another hit ad that shows unique park terrain, with very credible photography of pro Colin Langlois. It also shows the beautiful mountain backdrop and communicates a good deal of information about the area.
And the misses:
1. Ski and Snowboard Grand Prix advertorial insert in Snowboarder magazine: This ad agency is trying way too hard. Stripping top athletes out of the context of their action shots results in embarrassing, trivial images.
2. VISA’s color-by-number photo is awful, and the minimal text manages to detract even further. What does “Total Disrespect for Gravity” have to do with anything? Visa missed an excellent opportunity to simply remind snowboarders that the company supports the sport through its sponsorships and gives something back to snowboarding community. That’s the easy way for a sponsor to show it’s part of the scene.
3. Vermont Tourism’s “Get more in Vermont:” Get more of what, weak fluorescent photos? The photo action is weak, a very small jump to a flat landing. This ad should not be running in enthusiast publications. The rider’s gear has been airbrushed to remove the board’s brand; the agency didn’t realize that authentic brands offer credibility. Vermont should capitalize on having a great scene and snowboarding heritage: the US Open, Burton and many legendary athletes as well as incredible scenery.
Fran Richards operates Modern World LLC is a youth culture consultancy firm. E-mail him at [email protected].
The Guest Editor’s Take
I totally agree that the key to youth marketing is credibility and authenticity. Ads must be straight up and communicate a simple message, and that message needs to be, “this is where the action is.” Glossy brochures, too cute ad campaigns and 40 plus year olds trying to be cool will render you nowhere. Too often we see generic ads and/or promotional material created by bland, out-of-touch marketing agencies that look great to the resort executives but mean nothing to the youth, or worse, turn them off because they feel the resort is trying too hard to be cool. Keep it basic, keep it clear, involve youth in its development and, as a resort exec, get out of the way.
The hits: The Park at Bear Mountain is definitely a home run. Mammoth’s overall youth marketing campaign has come a long way over the last 5 years. It has taken one of the largest resorts in the country and still defined its position as youth friendly.
Who can argue with Whistler’s success? When it comes to selling fun for all age groups across North America, Whistler is light years ahead of other destination resorts. If you are a destination resort and not trying to emulate what Whistler has done, you are missing the boat.
The Aspen campaign sends a message, although I am not convinced top pros calling Aspen home means as much to a 15-year-old as it does a marketing agency or a resort exec.
The misses: Many times it is our fault as industry execs and leaders that our sponsors miss the mark. We should be reviewing and developing all material that is going to represent our industry. If Visa is one of your sponsors, or you’re a member of the Vermont Tourism Association, you should ensure that the sponsor’s message hits the target. Shame on us if a Chevy, Jeep, Visa or other non-industry supporter produces an ad or promotion that we feel is not representative of our sport. We need to take responsibility.
—Karl Kapuscinski, Mountain High
