I’m not a branding guy. I know that, I’m pretty sure you know that.

But on a small scale, I can wrap my head around it enough to get by. This is one of many reasons why I’ve been drawn to smaller brands for most of my career.

It’s also why I absolutely love a Twitter bio that, chances are, you’ve never seen.

Try Harder
In their book “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing,” marketing masterminds Jack Trout and Al Reis described “The Law of the Ladder” that goes something like this:

“All products are not created equal. There’s a hierarchy in the mind that prospects use in making decisions. For each category there is a product latter in the mind…Your marketing strategy should depend on how soon you got into the mind and consequently which rung of the ladder you occupy.

Take Avis, for example. For years the company (#2 on the ladder behind Hertz) advertised the high quality of its rent-a-car service. Then Avis did one thing you have to do to make progress inside the mind of a prospect. They acknowledged their position on the ladder. ‘Avis is only No. 2 in rent-a-cars. So why go with us? Why try harder.’

For 13 years in a row, Avis had lost money. Then, when it admitted to being No. 2, it started to make money, lots of money.”

The bottom line being when you aren’t #1 and you admit those shortcomings, you can turn them into a strength.

Back to Twitter
So, when I saw this bio on Twitter, it both resonated with me as a skier but also as a marketer.

They could pretend to be competing with the bigger resorts, they could pretend they only seem small, they could twist the script to they are the “biggest resort east of Highway 12 with fewer than 3 lifts.”

But they know they are small and, more importantly, skiers know they’re small, and it’s publicly conceding that point that wins points with prospective skiers.

My Fav
It’s all of the above and more that make this my favorite resort Twitter profile.

They recognize that natural tiers exist within ski areas. They’ve recognized we aren’t all selling the same product of skiing. They’ve recognized that no matter how they position themselves, nothing will change that.

So, unlike other areas, they’ve embraced it (instead of ignored it) and turned it into a positive.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.