Traditional? Print? Aren’t those the dirtiest words an agency can speak right now? They may be, but it doesn’t mean they’re irrelevant. The world of snowsports has always supported print and while the number of titles in snowboarding and skiing is bound to drop (as is happening right now), the quality of the remaining publications is guaranteed to improve. We’ve seen it in the growing number of boutique publications like Frequency and The Skier’s Journal. If titles like these can survive the economic downturn, they could be first in line to take the lead with a new snowsports publishing business model through well-crafted stories, superior printing quality and writing that doesn’t sound like it was scribbled with crayon by a six-year-old. So, what does this mean for resorts? It means print advertising will become a smaller segment of your marketing plan but will have to measure up in quality—a challenge for a good portion of ski resorts now. Both the content (images/copy) and the strategy of resort ads has to improve, not only to piggyback on the inevitable cachet that the world of print is about to stumble into, but also to save a generation of readers from complete boredom. Let’s be honest—in large part, resort advertising is bland and uninspired. So here’s some advice—if you’re going to continue running print ads, do it right. If not, make like a Catholic and pull out completely. The mess you’ll make running bad ads is far worse than if you hadn’t tried at all. In this brave new world of print, where most double-page spreads even fail to register with eyeballs, what is a resort to do to ensure their ad dollars are worth more than the green-washed paper they’re printed on?
1. Pay for professionals – So, the guy in your marketing department is the staff photographer. Coincidentally, he’s a liftie too. Can you see the gap in logic here? Being a small resort doesn’t justify cutting corners in marketing. You hire Doppelmayer or Leitner engineers to build your lifts and Bombardier mechanics to repair your groomers, don’t think building and maintaining a brand is any different. Hiring an ad agency or creative agency to develop and oversee your marketing is the first step to putting your resort in the spotlight.
2. Be honest with your highlights – What’s unique about your resort? Be honest. For the past 15 years, resorts have been selling the company line to readers who now have a strong distrust. From mom-and-pop operations claiming Whistler-like diversity to icy, Eastern resorts claiming generous snowfall, there is no shortage of lies being told, and consumers are sick of it. Every resort has a unique quality worth playing up—stick to it and quit trying to convince us of your Utopian ski hill. You know, the one with snow every night, blue skies everyday and a daylodge where the toilets actually work. It stinks.
3. Figure out your key message…not your key messages – The very definition of “key” focuses on the crucial nature of a singular element. The more messages you try to convey in an advertisement only dilutes each message. As the old saying goes, “If you try to please everyone, you risk pleasing no one”. So, with the help of your new professional friends, figure out what you are trying to say and focus on it. Quit watering down the mix. We like snow better.
4. Pay for professionals. Part 2 – So you got your agency to come up with some targeted, strategic approaches to pumping up your brand. Now all you need is some impactful imagery and some remarkable copy to build it with. Where do you go? If your agency doesn’t offer full service, it’s up to you to seek out the proper tools to communicate your message. Don’t be mistaken, this is an important step so find the right content—contact photo editors at reputable magazines or ask local pro athletes to find the most respected and talented ski and snowboard photographers around. Hire an experienced copywriter with a history in snowsports. If you want authenticity (and you do) then hire a professional with a demonstrated expertise in your field. It’ll cost more but the pay back is creative with impact.
5. Choose your target – Print is hurting…bad. But it will not die. Use your advertising budget to keep the good ones alive and let the bad ones die. In addition to exploring their circulation, distribution and CPM, we suggest actually reading their pages. If their stories are meaningful to you as a skier or snowboarder, chances are they will be meaningful to your customers. The future of ski and snowboard magazines is quality above quantity and your brand should be attached to that quality.
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As a photogrpaher who has contributed more than his fair share of predictable Resorts shots for advertising: – Find me a client with the guts to do something different, to let me tell a narrative in the shot instead of being static and above all, to give me enough rope to hang myself (creatively, of course) and I’ll do it for half price. I’m serious.
Bet there are no takers.