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Branded Slopes?

by Darren Herman
Tuesday, April 5, 2005. 07:38PM
607 Views 9 Comments

So when was the last time you’ve been skiing? Ever notice the brand placement ALL around. It starts at the parking lot- moves to the shuttle, then to the lodge, to the lift tickets and then to the actual lift line…ooooh captive audience waiting in line for the next chair. Once on the lift…what about the lift-posts that have banners/billboards on them. Ultimately, it’s all around! There’s no escaping advertising on the slopes, especially the American Ski Company resorts.

The question is – does it actually work? How can we measure it? How can we put metrics behind this to see if brand awareness has changed? Lift? Is there such thing as negative branding on the slopes? To much advertising and you’ll start to upset the skiers who have paid $50+ for lift tickets…

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Comments

 8 shown
Wednesday, April 6, 2005. 10:14PM by EXIT3A .com
Good point, Shaun. The better the work, the better the reception. Sigh. Greed is not smart. Greed is an idiot. Greed is usually the marketing person in charge of the marketing budget. Or the agency president or is afraid of losing an account. America. The land of the free. The home of the moron.
Wednesday, April 6, 2005. 05:29PM by shaun arora
In ad-free cable in the 80s got sucked into the ad dollar biz by the 90s.
Wednesday, April 6, 2005. 05:28PM by shaun arora
If there are people and something to buy nearby, or an impression to make, there will be ads. A yard sale posted to a tree trunk, a party flyer on your car window, a lift ticket discount with purchase of a foot-long sub, a label on the back of a pair of jeans. It is ignorant to think you can run away from it on a vacation to a touristy place. But to build on Tom, could we see the emergence of ad-free zones? Not even a military sub is un-marketable. But fret not, because though they come up in rude places sometimes, we are tuning them out more and more. So go out and enjoy your time on the slopes. And if it bothers you that much, tell the manager you’ll take your business to another resort with fewer marketing messages per cubic foot. And a view from the inside, if we do work that we wouldn’t mind seeing, maybe others wouldn’t mind it either.
Wednesday, April 6, 2005. 09:18AM by EXIT3A .com
It’s capitalism. You cannot stop it. You cannot slow it down. You can, however, escape it. That is, if you have enough money to buy your way out of commercialism. You see America was not founded on the principles of Capitalism yet we’ve become a society dependent on both the positive and negative effects of the free market system. The Darwinian concept applies here. Play the system. Make your money. And leave. Go to a resort that is not subsidized by advertising dollars. Consider the airline industry for example. The public airlines are slashing services and safety to appeal to the masses. The wealthy, however, simply adapt by traveling via private jets. Money sets you free. Money is freedom. Unless, of course, you don’t give a shit about money, which means you’re already free.
Wednesday, April 6, 2005. 07:32AM by Kim S
I think it's not that ski resorts rely on the ad dollars, I think it's the way they do it. Mind you I haven't been boarding since the kiddies arrived, but littering the slopes as Darren has described doesn't sound so visually wonderful. I like the way they hold events sponsored by " "...
Wednesday, April 6, 2005. 07:26AM by chris young
As a former Ski Bum...I have an interesting take on this. Advertising is crucial to resort success...the season is short, costs are high. Resorts need to be affiliated with strong brands in order to offer special events and offers to differentiate themselves from the competition. Simple things like offering a race course for the general public create a great opportunity for sponsors to engage consumers in a positive and enthusiastic manner...any one want to race for beers? Sales go up in the bar at end of day I can assure you of that:)
Wednesday, April 6, 2005. 05:04AM by Darren Herman
Hey guys - great comments. I'm back - yes Kim ;) You can take the guy away from adholes but can't take the adholes out of a guy. Elise, you bring a good point about using advertising dollars to fund the mountain -
Tuesday, April 5, 2005. 09:15PM by Kim S
I TOTALLY agree, what a turn off. Billboards are for city streets and freeways not for where you pay big bucks to "get away from it all" - they should be shot... however... with the operating costs I'm sure the resorts are desperate... either that or they have lousy marketers and pr people who can't figure out clever ways to attract the "LOCALS" for their bread and butter... okay - I'm done ranting... Hi Darren!

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