Ski Resort Marketers: Are You Selling Milk or Macs?

The bandwagon pulled up and I jumped on: this is my Steve Jobs tribute post. I think we all, in one way or another, admired Steve, which is why these posts are popping up all across the web this week. My reasons lie in the way he used his intelligence. Without a doubt, Steve was smart, crazy smart. Some people are quick enough to be able to talk fast yet coherently, somehow selecting the right words on the fly. I admired Steve because he was so smart, he knew that by talking slower, carefully selecting his words, he could tell a 100 word story in 10. An example of this is what I’d like to quickly share.

The Pinnacle: Milk vs. Macs
Since it was given 6 years ago, I’ve watched his Stanford Commencement Address at least three dozen times, maybe more. I loved catching his keynotes when time allowed to see his carefully rehearsed, yet completely casual pitches. But my favorite marketing lesson comes from a scratchy video recorded in 1997. He delivers some points about how certain products are marketed that make you scratch your head and say, “Yeah, they do. Wow, why did I realize that?” One of them is that to build a brand you don’t do that (to put it in a skiing light) by talking about why you are better than Resort X or how many lifts you have or how many acres you cover. You do it by sharing who you are and what you are about.

Rather than ramble, I’ll let Steve himself give you the goods. Take it away my good man.

Rest in peace, Steve. You’ll be missed.