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Hmmm, Obama & Romney Agreeing on Skiing? Liberty Mountain Thinks So

October 19th, 2012By: Gregg Blanchard

The legality of this video can certainly be questioned. But trying to argue it’s not unique and clever is a debate you’ll likely lose. I have no idea how long it took them to make this video, but hats off to whoever had the patience to put it together (unless I am unaware of a new app that does it for you).

Either way, it’s pretty dang clever.

There are all sorts of current trends that marketers can piggyback on to get their message out. Meme’s, by definition, are perfect delivery mechanisms to add your unique message to a wave of interest. Political topics always come with the risk that people will totally miss the point and start debating abortion, so proceed at your own risk.

Cautions?
But don’t jump the gun when jumping on bandwagons. Make sure you understand why they work and how they work.

For example, I’ll pick on my home state of Utah, Ski Utah shared this photo using the “Philosoraptor” meme:

The problem was, in the creator’s eagerness to create their own version, they missed how this meme actually works, a fact that someone called out in the comments. The meme is more about riddles/unanswerable questions like these:


So maybe it’s not so much a caution as just a reminder that if you’re going to jump on a bandwagon, make sure you know the rules of the game. It’s not a huge deal, but it’s always embarrassing to be the only one clapping.


  • http://www.wackytourist.com Shawn_Alain

    I've been doing a number of Keep Calm memes https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=442828239… , kinda made it our own really. Most people are loving it but I get the odd comment like the one in the link above "please cut it out, sunshine, you're over doing it with the keep calms. we get it…the chive is popular." But this was probably the third Keep Calm within a matter of days.
    But the simple truth is that example shown above has 109 shares, much much more than the best epic ski or boarding picture I've ever posted. So my response is "we'll stop posting 'em when people stop sharing 'em lol grin"

    • http://www.slopefillers.com GreggBlanchard

      Yeah, I've seen a handful of those you've shared. I think the natural question many will have in reply then is this: is little engagement on an image that is closely related to your brand better than lots of engagement on a meme-based, but less relevant piece of content? Or is engagement engagement? Any data or thoughts?

      • http://www.mediawithak.com/about Alex Kaufman

        Do both. That way when you have key brand content (of less public interest) that you want folks to see, you're more likely to penetrate their feeds due to past recent engagement. Just ask my cat. Higher "people saw this" than anything in the last year.
        http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1015116284…

        • http://www.wackytourist.com Shawn_Alain

          Yep, totally agree with you Alex. When it comes to Facebook your talking about is so important as it is directly related to your Edgerank. As you all know already, a higher Edgerank tells Facebook that your posts are stuff people wanna see so Facebook will leave your post at the top of the newsfeed longer. These 'stuipid memes' as I like to refer to them, really spike my talking about so that way when I do post of that epic ski photo, or even one of those (gasp) low engagement sales posts, those also reap the rewards of a higher Edgerank and more people see them.

          • http://www.slopefillers.com GreggBlanchard

            Great points, guys. Probably the very tip of the iceberg on this discussion, but good points.

          • http://www.mediawithak.com Alex Kaufman

            Yeah. Huge iceberg. It is a sad state of affairs globally that we spend brain power on this. Humanity…

  • Pat Morgan

    clever video, but painful to get through (no disrespect- it's just choppy to listen to) definitely took some time, props on the effort if nothing else

    • http://www.slopefillers.com GreggBlanchard

      I try to forgive imperfections when someone is the first to try something new, but yeah, you had to listen close to get the full message.

Industry Social Snapshot

Totals and averages from all North American ski resorts' social media activity.
total views new yest mo grwth
39,477,480 13,075 1.26%
total fols/+1 new yest mo grwth
36,400 40 4.83%
avg score was yest 7-day
45.60 45.73 -0.80
total fols new yest mo grwth
331,911 270 2.68%
total page likes new yest mo grwth
256,339 48 0.73%
total fols new yest mo grwth
9,287 -3,876 -26.28%

Resort Social Dashboard

View any North American resort's social media performance & compare them to other mountain resorts.

About: Gregg Blanchard

SlopeFillers is run by marketer and skier / snowboarder, Gregg Blanchard. He loves writing in 3rd person, meeting the talented people who read this blog, pretending to be a web developer, and eating reuben sandwiches. Need more dirt on Southern Edwards, Colorado's most famous ski marketing blogger taller than 6'?
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