Interesting question and some good answers too. I am going with Jay Peak. Not necessarily the last few years, but for a long time they have been hammering home the "Jay Cloud" thing and I have seen the place steadily gain more skiers year after year. They picked one natural attribute that meant a lot to skiers and stuck with it.
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What Mountain/Resort Markets Themselves the Best?
- Thread starter MadMadWorld
- Start date
SIKSKIER
New member
I know the one marketing jingle I can't stand.Find your happy place.My happy place is not for the publics eyes!
Puck it
Well-known member
from_the_NEK
Active member
The "Jay Cloud" was just the beginning of their current marketing success. Now they have the Waterpark which is marketed as heavily (or maybe even more-so) than the skiing experience. The waterpark is what you do when the Jay Cloud isn't performing or for non-skiing family members. That appeals to a much larger market than simply skiing and this is why you are seeing a larger marketing push into the cities. Add to the fact they now also have beds to put all of these people in.
skisheep
Member
Atleast in Stamford, Killington, Okemo, and Stratton is where everyone goes and what people talk about when planning ski trips. When I mention Whiteface to people 80% of them have never heard of it and the rest see it as so far away they would never go. (230 miles to killington vs 270 to whiteface and whiteface is all highway.) NYC is lots of Hunter(but thats because of the busses), and Killington.
-skisheep
-skisheep
MadMadWorld
Active member
MadMadWorld
Active member
9 out of 10 people have no idea that most of the skiing events were held at Whiteface at the 1980 games.
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skisheep
Member
Agreed that is the only commercial which will cause me to switch the station, it's just that bad...
-skisheep
kickstand
Member
I see ads for Attitash/Wildcat all the time these days. They have commercials on NECN. I've heard them on the radio. Don't think they have the most widespread campaign going, but it's a step up from a year or so ago. Now that I'm forced to think about it, I think Sunday River has been doing the most. No numbers/figures/info to back it up, just a gut feeling.
And I don't consider bumper stickers (MRG, SL) to be advertising. Those stickers are retail items (although some are from the ski show), but the mountains don't have any control over what happens with them once they leave their hands. The mountains have control over where their advertising goes. Not saying the stickers aren't a great way of getting the word out. It's just not something a resort would put into their marketing budget.
And I don't consider bumper stickers (MRG, SL) to be advertising. Those stickers are retail items (although some are from the ski show), but the mountains don't have any control over what happens with them once they leave their hands. The mountains have control over where their advertising goes. Not saying the stickers aren't a great way of getting the word out. It's just not something a resort would put into their marketing budget.
steamboat1
New member
Killington Marketing (comments from Rob Megnin)
I have been reading the “Killington Marketing” thread with great interest over the last few days. As Jeff Temple and Mike Solimano have done in the recent past, I will attempt to address some of the discussion points brought up in the threads I’m seeing. Most of the discussion has focused on advertising and some sales tactics. Marketing is so much more than advertising, as all realize, thus for now I will address advertising and a few sales programs…
We have many channels to communicate in, as such, anything we do we must develop a mix of activity to reach as many eyes and ears as we can with the resources we have. Also, as the thread astutely points out digital channels offer the greatest audience with the least amount or resources spent, and allows for geo-targeted messaging and psychographic profiling. Social, search, and e-mail are also on our mix list. We can track and measure from click-through to sale close, and watch click paths to see what is the most effective way to advertise. No other media can offer us this precision.
In the interest of catching as many fish in our nets as we can, we use an ad mix of print (generally endemic: Ski, Snow East, Transworld among others depending on who we’re talking to), radio, digital, out of home (Holland Tunnel e-board at entrance to Manhattan), and TV (stations in NYC, Boston and CT).
Just because you have not seen an ad does not mean we’re not advertising! Our radio buy scales to each holiday period, runs for two weeks prior then resets against the next holiday period. This ensures the greatest return for dollars invested. To have a contiguous buy run all season is wasteful and too expensive. TV is similar, and frankly even more expensive. And both are still a mass media approach; and do not offer the targeting capabilities that digital does. However, both are a great value as we can trade tix for retail inventory stretching our budget. Because broadcast channel/s are seeing significant atrophy and fragmentation, and as the internet is shifting media expenditures away, both are willing to horse trade to greater degrees than ever before. However, you should note, our markets are so vast that to cover all markets is nearly impossible even with any combination of these channels.
More than 60% of our media buy skews to in NYC and Boston, and generally tied to “Play and Stay” messaging. And as many of you are aware, is where the lion’s share of our market resides. Overnight guests spend more per visit than any other guest, again maximizing media spend.
We also have aggressive sales efforts at work through Ski Councils, Tour Operators, Bus Line Runs, Corporate partners, Ski shops, Costco, etc., all driving business from our major and secondary markets. These generally are based on relationships established over time that drive significant bus, group, individual, and tour operator business. These third parties market to many and work on our behalf to drive biz for us. Through discounting to these entities we pass through marketing costs that again stretch our dollars and allow us to be in as many places as possible. For example, I saw a specific question as to: “Why we don’t market Costco?” We offer k58’s to our existing customers and offered a similar product (slightly more expensive) in the Costco channel. The goal was to use the broad audience that Costco offers to reach new customers without having to spend marketing dollars to promote the offer. It is intended as more of an “impulse” buy versus us sending customers to Costco to find it. Based on our analysis of last year’s sales and customers, the majority of the purchasers are new or lapsed Killington skiers. You should also know in this context; analytic review is constant and offers us checks and balances to ensure where using our resources as efficiently as possible.
Many other discussions sprung from the original post but in the interest of brevity for now I will just address the original theme set forth in this thread.
This was posted on K-Zone a few weeks ago.
I have been reading the “Killington Marketing” thread with great interest over the last few days. As Jeff Temple and Mike Solimano have done in the recent past, I will attempt to address some of the discussion points brought up in the threads I’m seeing. Most of the discussion has focused on advertising and some sales tactics. Marketing is so much more than advertising, as all realize, thus for now I will address advertising and a few sales programs…
We have many channels to communicate in, as such, anything we do we must develop a mix of activity to reach as many eyes and ears as we can with the resources we have. Also, as the thread astutely points out digital channels offer the greatest audience with the least amount or resources spent, and allows for geo-targeted messaging and psychographic profiling. Social, search, and e-mail are also on our mix list. We can track and measure from click-through to sale close, and watch click paths to see what is the most effective way to advertise. No other media can offer us this precision.
In the interest of catching as many fish in our nets as we can, we use an ad mix of print (generally endemic: Ski, Snow East, Transworld among others depending on who we’re talking to), radio, digital, out of home (Holland Tunnel e-board at entrance to Manhattan), and TV (stations in NYC, Boston and CT).
Just because you have not seen an ad does not mean we’re not advertising! Our radio buy scales to each holiday period, runs for two weeks prior then resets against the next holiday period. This ensures the greatest return for dollars invested. To have a contiguous buy run all season is wasteful and too expensive. TV is similar, and frankly even more expensive. And both are still a mass media approach; and do not offer the targeting capabilities that digital does. However, both are a great value as we can trade tix for retail inventory stretching our budget. Because broadcast channel/s are seeing significant atrophy and fragmentation, and as the internet is shifting media expenditures away, both are willing to horse trade to greater degrees than ever before. However, you should note, our markets are so vast that to cover all markets is nearly impossible even with any combination of these channels.
More than 60% of our media buy skews to in NYC and Boston, and generally tied to “Play and Stay” messaging. And as many of you are aware, is where the lion’s share of our market resides. Overnight guests spend more per visit than any other guest, again maximizing media spend.
We also have aggressive sales efforts at work through Ski Councils, Tour Operators, Bus Line Runs, Corporate partners, Ski shops, Costco, etc., all driving business from our major and secondary markets. These generally are based on relationships established over time that drive significant bus, group, individual, and tour operator business. These third parties market to many and work on our behalf to drive biz for us. Through discounting to these entities we pass through marketing costs that again stretch our dollars and allow us to be in as many places as possible. For example, I saw a specific question as to: “Why we don’t market Costco?” We offer k58’s to our existing customers and offered a similar product (slightly more expensive) in the Costco channel. The goal was to use the broad audience that Costco offers to reach new customers without having to spend marketing dollars to promote the offer. It is intended as more of an “impulse” buy versus us sending customers to Costco to find it. Based on our analysis of last year’s sales and customers, the majority of the purchasers are new or lapsed Killington skiers. You should also know in this context; analytic review is constant and offers us checks and balances to ensure where using our resources as efficiently as possible.
Many other discussions sprung from the original post but in the interest of brevity for now I will just address the original theme set forth in this thread.
This was posted on K-Zone a few weeks ago.
witch hobble
Member
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Why you always frontin'?
Cannonball
New member
Awww snap! I get it. I thought he meant Stowe!
Personally, in New England I'd probably give the nods to Killington and Wachusett. K because it is the most recognizable mountain in the east. And W because they really have made the most of their location and drawing the Boston crowd at all hours.
Puck it
Well-known member
Bene288
New member
I see Alta stickers all over the place. Pretty recognizable logo with the snowflake containing "ALTA" in red on the blue backround. Conversing on a chairlift with a wide range of skiers/boarders, I'll always say "I'm planning on going to Alta this season". Their response is usually something like; "Utah is great" or "I've heard it's a great place" or "It's bullshit they don't allow snowboarders". But I also see the Sugarloaf stickers all over the place. MRG stickers I see, but it's usually on a snowboard or boarder's helmet.
ScottySkis
Well-known member
bdfreetuna
New member
Jiminy Peak is winning... for a mountain of their size and location they destroy the competition in terms of marketing and revenue.
emmaurice2
Member
I didn't click the link, I knew I'd regret it.
Sugarloaf is the absolute Winnter and absolute loser in my book.
Winner because "Sugarloaf/USA" is the most iconic ski area logo ever created. If I'm not mistaken, that sticker has been affixed somewhere on all 7 continents. Some of this can be attributed to Loafers though and not necessarily marketing. They're as passionate about their mountain as any home mountain crowd I've ever seen, so they spread the Loaf like no other.
However, I also view Sugarloaf as the biggest Loser because they scrapped "Sugarloaf/USA"
I liken that to if the Yankees removed the pinstripes from their uniform. Total Blasphemy
MadMadWorld
Active member
The MRG sticker has been in outer space! (one of the shareholders was an astronaut)
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