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Part I: Marketing Skiing to the Masses
Letting the rabble have their say in the best-worst ads debate.
by David O. Williams

Besides the obvious determinants of location, snow conditions and price, what makes the ever-fickle paying public choose Brand X over Brands Y and Z? Word of mouth? Stellar Web presence? Brilliant guerrilla marketing campaigns? Mind-blowing print ads? Or the all-elusive, well-balanced combination of all of the above?

Having taken some significant heat last season for my elitist Vail-centric approach to evaluating the resort campaigns in the major ski pubs, I decided this season to reach out to everyman (and woman), enlisting a panel of actual paying powder poachers to peruse the ski pubs and essentially do my job for me: i.e., give me their opinions of this season’s best and worst resort campaigns.

Their specific assignment was to go with their collective gut and tell me what ads might actually make them do more than merely skim by en route to the next ski-porn photo spread or article on shredding gnarly spines in the Chugach. On the flipside, my deep-undercover advisory cabal was also charged with calling out the dogs—ads that would do no more to motivate them than the average Tony Robbins video.

My panelists, culled from the ranks of highly discerning and frequently cost-conscious consumers, crossed all socio-economic, sexual and skiing-skill stratums. There were frequent destination travelers, occasional destination guests, homers who virtually never swerved from the cozy confines of their home hill, U.S. nationals (mostly) and even a few foreigners with enough disposable bucks to huck stateside. I purposefully polled people who ran the gamut from frequent heli-skiers to weekend warriors battling bumper-to-bumper to get to the bumps. All of my panelists cared about cost, but some far less than others. I also tapped into a few folks less concerned with snow conditions and more dialed into the whole package, basing destination decisions on events, lodging, amenities, shopping, dining and family fun.

None of my devoted analysts received a red cent in remuneration, unless we count the odd round of beers to entice them into honestly appraising the acres of glossy offerings from the winter resort industry’s top marketing minds.

In all, my crew liked the increased number of call-to-action ads this season, particularly anything event-specific. It seems the era of the image ad may be waning. And they were very turned off by anything that didn’t include immediately apparent contact info. They didn’t seem to care how much you spent on top-shelf photography and catchy copy, if your 800 number and Web address didn’t jump off the page, you lost major cred with these folks.


The Best of 2005-06

Let’s start with the campaigns that across the board drew generally upbeat responses that might translate into a Web hit, request for more information, or—gasp—an actual reservation.

Mammoth Mountain: Mammoth’s “Anticipation . . .Dedication. . .etc.” ads drew an emotional response. While I personally felt the imagery was vague and lacking focus, my erstwhile panelists weighed in with comments such as, “Love this. Sums it up in a word. Appeals to a majority male market with a sexy female mountain. Yum.” That comment came from a female panelist, by the way.

Jay Peak: The blue-collar members of my hardworking panel reacted well to the Jay Peak (Vermont) ads featuring an office worker confined to a cubicle with a season pass superimposed over her head and shoulders. They liked that the imagery broke from the standard scenics or epic skier shot, appealed to the escapist in all of us, and was a double call to action in a sense, asking snow riders with its “Move up” tagline to upgrade to a better mountain with the enhanced status of a season pass.

Big Sky: Back with its scenic Lone Mountain ads (turned sideways in Powder), Big Sky scored props across the board—in part, some panelists admitted, because it’s a place they’ve always wanted to ski but never had the chance. A sampling of comments: “Great copy. Good collaboration with Moonlight Basin. Refreshing for working together instead of against.” And: “Emphasizes expansive terrain. Cool image. Real and simple.”

Tamarack: The new kids on the block in Idaho are obviously appealing to an upscale, real estate-driven market, but they’re doing so with ads designed to send shivers down skiers’ spines. Many of my “experts,” some of whom are actually in the target tax bracket, loved the use of action photos in serene settings. Exclusivity is a hot commodity, and copy like this conveyed that message: “Surprisingly, many of your neighbors don’t ski. That’s because many of your neighbors are elk.”

Loveland: Let’s hear it for the little guys. Loveland, a day skier area in Colorado, got a lot of bang for its no doubt limited buck with its “Locals know” ad, which featured a simple panoramic shot of its deserted runs arrayed temptingly along the Continental Divide with the tagline “More snow. Less crowds. No fuss.” That theme resonated with my group, exhausted by beefy lift lines in a solid snow season and in some cases eager for a return to the roots of their sports.

Whistler/Blackcomb: Not surprisingly, the megaresort got high marks from foreign nationals and even some lower-48ers with its black-and-white spread of a skier picking a line on a snow-choked rocky ridge. The text: “More groomed terrain than anywhere else in North America. If that’s your thing.” The tagline: “Whistler. Always real.” The comments: “Speaks to their variety of terrain, for the experts and all levels.” And more: “Whistler, B.C., is hard to get to but looks/sounds worth it from this ad.”

Colorado Ski Country USA: Representing all the state’s resorts, CSCUSA drew praise with its graphically minimalist “Spend your time carving lines, not waiting in them” call-to-action ads. Said one critic: “Simple, clean, good tagline. This ad is telling you what to do and lets you imagine it on your own.”


The Least Good of 2005-06

Now for some generally negative (or at least confused) commentary. Few ads truly alienated my panelists, but some ads struck them as stale, and several left them wondering just what the ad’s message was.

Colorado Ski Country USA: To prove just how subjective this entire process is, Colorado Ski Country’s campaign (see above) drew some harsh criticism as well: “Boring, unimaginative, two-color, geriatric and full of misinformation about lift lines. It’s an old, tired message.” Their words, not mine, but I do have to agree that the simplicity of the imagery was a bit jarring given the wealth of photography available. I give them points, though, for trying something different.

Copper Mountain: The “More soul. Less sold out” campaign struck a chord with me, but then I realized that reaction stemmed from my elitist Colorado insider take. As one fellow Coloradan familiar with Copper’s battles against surrounding Vail Resorts’ ski factories put it: “Appeals to those in the state who know of the competition wars. On a national level it’s lost.” Another skier liked the photography and imagery but was perplexed by the tagline. “Does less sold out mean they’re not as crowded or not as corporately inclined? Aren’t they owned by Intrawest?”

Vail: Speaking of corporate ownership—and confusion—Vail’s campaign this season was much-discussed, which in my book is never a bad thing, but generally my panel was not impressed. To me it was clear Vail was going big-picture and attempting to set itself off against other forms of discretionary adventure-travel spending, but my guest reviewers weren’t sure who they were targeting. The campaign featured people doing things like base jumping with copy that read: “Yeah, that might be fun. But it’s no Vail.” As one panelist put it, “Vail’s approach was tacky and beneath what the No. 1 resort in the country should be communicating.” Personally, I give them points for daring to be different.

Lake Tahoe: Tahoe areas did not fare well with my analysts, perhaps displaying some West Coast bias (but remember, they liked Whistler). Allowing that Heavenly’s “Epic” campaign was OK, a few of my guest critics then went on to savage the continuation of the Ski Lake Tahoe “Blue World” ads. Case in point: the imagery of a snowboarder soaring over the lake in the “Some ski it. Others orbit” ad, while dramatic, was too dark and shockingly shot on a cloudy day. “Good concept, lame execution,” someone said. Then there was the Reno-Tahoe ad that committed the unpardonable sin of downplaying sin: “Skiing, dog sledding, scenery?” one wag asked. “Where’s the gambling?”

Stowe: The area drew the ire of my “experts” for talking a big game with copy that alluded to the mountain’s history, size and stature in the industry, but then badly missed the mark with an uninspiring shot of the mountain that failed to match the words. The tagline “It’s a new day at Stowe” also fell flat, several said, because there was nothing particularly new and exciting about the ad, which merely alluded in type to new runs, lifts and snowmaking. “Show us the goods” seemed to be the consensus.

Chile: Finally, and just to show we left no region—or hemisphere—un-skewered, ads in the late-season mags for the Chilean resorts of (separately) Portillo and then the combo of Valle Nevado and Termas Chillan left my globe-hopping group wondering why they would bother. The overly busy collection of imagery did little to convey a sense of exotic wonder and could have been shilling resorts in the Poconos instead of the Andes. Portillo at least tried to be edgy with its checklist concept, but Valle Nevado stooped to a 10-percent discount offer, as if that would be the deciding factor in spending part of a summer skiing in South America.

David O. Williams is a freelance writer based in the Vail Valley of Colorado. He writes about skiing and the ski industry for a variety of publications.



Part II: Best & Worst Snowboarding Ads
And the snowboarding medals go to …
by Katie Bailey

As a writer, I respect the challenge of coming up with compelling, clever, of-the-moment ad copy. Snowboarders are a finicky, trendy bunch, and appealing to their oft-changing sensibilities must be trying—especially since resorts change only incrementally in most cases. But every year, some resorts rise to the occasion and throw down some truly memorable ads. This year, an overall lack of truly inspirational creative was matched by a corresponding lack of truly awful stuff. There wasn’t a porn allusion, embarrassing bro lingo or geeky spokesperson in sight. Most resorts grasp that snowboarders like things to be cool in an understated kind of way. They really don’t like being told what’s cool because of course they already know.

In response to this growing sophistication, and in the spirit of this Olympic year, the following ads have been awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze, with a few also-rans cited as a caution for next year.


Gold Medals

Bear Mountain: Bear, not surprisingly, knows how to appeal to its core snowboarder. The area’s pro team is one of the best, and in 2006 they chose to show it off in a trendy, well-photographed, two-page package. The ads, which pictured a back-room game of poker featuring various combinations of high-profile pros Seth Hout, J.P. Walker, Lauri Heiskari and Simon Chamberlain, caught my eye in every snowboarding mag I picked up. No, poker has nothing to do with snowboarding, and the wads of money on the table make me think this might not be a state-sanctioned game. But poker is hot, hot, hot, and Bear cashed in its chips. Thumbs up for making a disinterested gambler (me) want to join their game. (One point deduction, though, for lack of instant brand recognition—I didn’t realize it was an ad for Bear the first time around.)

Vail: The cult-like environment of Frosh Week ingrains a deep appreciation for free stuff in young North American minds (“free sh*t is good sh*t!”). I’m sure I’m not the only penny-pinching rider whose page-flipping hand was stayed by Vail’s “Nothing Beats Vail. Except Maybe Free Vail” ad campaign—which included a free lift ticket insert! My pulse jumped: A free lift ticket in a magazine!! Did I just win the lottery?! I’m buying 50 copies of this magazine and flying to Vail tomorrow! Oh wait, it’s a fake. Oh boo—but I’m going to keep reading and see what’s free anyway.

Park City: Calls to action are not a fixture in the snowboard magazine advertising scene. Coolness and credibility often rate higher. But Park City does a good job calling their shredding readers to action with clever campaigns and good use of their top-notch pro rider team. The “Read all about it” campaign featured Olympic champ Shaun White, Erin Comstock and Jeremy Jones in their summer civvies, telling readers to head to their computers and check out Park City. The ads gave the website—where the real info is located—good play without being pushy. And with the popularity of Mr. White after the Olympics, the resort could probably run his ads in Cosmopolitan with rousing success.


Silver Medals

These areas, like Lindsey Jacobellis, were daring and went for greatness, but came up just a bit short.

Whistler/Blackcomb: The 2005-06 “Victoria Jealouse vs. Posing Pretty” or “J.F. Pelchat vs. Sitting Around” campaign just—just—missed the mark. It was a good idea; wouldn’t you rather be ripping around on a sled with Pelchat than sitting at home? Of course you would. But the creative wasn’t great—it was almost too simple—and for some reason, the idea didn’t translate fully onto paper. Thumbs up, though, for featuring their backcountry pro riders in the ad. It’s that vast expanse of powdery heaven that makes Whistler number one in the hearts and minds of so many.

Stowe: This ad relies on the star power of highly regarded Burton product testing director John “JG” Gerndt. It features a large shot of JG and an accompanying quote from him boosting the variety of Stowe terrain and its snowfall. This is a good idea; JG certainly knows what he’s talking about, and it reinforces the snowboard credibility built by Burton’s relationship with the mountain. But this ad has two significant problems. While JG might be a legend in the industry, he’s not well known to the average consumer, and thus his endorsement lacks impact. More noticeable is that the 1/2-page riding photo is sub-par quality compared to the other photography in the magazine, making it stand out in the wrong way.


Bronze Medals

For the most part, the following areas went with tried-and-true moves, and executed them extremely well—saving themselves from mediocrity, but ruling out any chance of gold.

Mt. Baker: Strategically placed in Frequency, the thinking riders’ magazine, Mt. Baker placed a two-page ad consisting of a giant pow shot, simple bold black border and one quote: “Happiness is gratitude doubled by wonder.” Now, quotes can be cheesy, and basic pow-turn photos don’t usually cut it, but this ad reinforces my impression of Mt. Baker: gobs of snow, awesome terrain, and the promise of powder-induced euphoria. I haven’t been there yet, but this ad strengthens my desire to see it for myself.

Mountain High: The area made the not-so-good end of my list last year, but made up for it this year. Mountain High featured a few different versions of creative, each wonderfully free of suggestive content. The alien-themed ad is different from other resort ads and made me read the rest of the content to see what “We got a new one” meant. Cheers to a much better campaign.


The Also-Rans

BO-RING. Simply putting a resort’s name, some info, and a shot of a rider in an ad doesn’t add up to much. It certainly doesn’t make a resort stand out in a crowded marketplace. There’s a reason many resorts have moved to lifestyle shots instead of the same-old, same-old. Offenders in the boring category include:

Northstar-at-Tahoe: The illustration of a blank ski run does little justice to this area’s terrain park. The tiny shots of snowboard greats such as DCP and Freddie Kalbermatten are good, but too small and of little contribution to the ad. A sketch of the park with features would have been neat, but without any detail, this ad doesn’t do much to captivate readers. The slogan claims Northstar is “changing the way you look at parks,” but it doesn’t show or tell readers how.

Vail: This resort somehow ends up with two medals. The “But it’s no Vail” campaign falls victim to the above-mentioned failing: dullness. Riding shots, party shots, inches-of-powder claims: goodness knows we’ve seen it all before. This resort has proven its mettle in the creative department before; why this ad falls back on tired claims to glory is a bit of a mystery.

Kirkwood: Featuring far too much text and a boxy layout, this ad overwhelms in all the wrong ways. It screams “This one’s for you, mom and dad!” The ad has all the ingredients, but far too much information for one spot. What it really lacks is a theme to sell the resort in a simple, cool way. Less is often more.



Katie Bailey is a freelance writer based in Toronto. She writes for SAM as well as Snowboard Canada, SG, Future Snowboarding and Snowboard Trade News.