One of the more interesting aspects of online media is how vastly the content shared there can differ from similar media of yesteryear. Television is perfect example of this.

Instead of an unlimited audience, you have a fixed audience. Instead of content as entertainment, you have content that’s expected to advertise. Instead of flexible duration, it must fit into a 15 or 30 seconds or other some other predetermined length.

And it’s the combination of those three things that make the messages shared by resorts on TV so interesting to watch. Follow along as I highlight ten of these from the 2015/16 season.

Vail
Vail went pure branding and inspiration with this spot. Expansive views, highlights of events, smiling faces, deep-voiced narration, it’s a great piece that fits ties a solid message wrapped up with their tagline.

Mammoth
Mammoth took a very similar approach minus the narration. Lots of unique shots, fast-paced music, and a similar closing tied to their #MammothStories brand from the last few years.

Calabogie Peaks
In this 15 second spot, Calabogie focused on a broad, “something for everyone” message opening with a personality and closing with her signature on a postcard and a nice variety of B-roll between. Simple, clean, not too bad.

Shawnee
Shawnee spoke to the younger, non-skier generation by using one of their own to narrate. Directly addressing video games and couch potatoes, it speaks to skiers and non-skiers in the same breath. I have to say, though, it was kinda hard to follow the narration and the overlaid text and the imagery.

Mountain Creek
Rough year to lead with a “guaranteed snow” message, but I like the way the message leads to a call to action (book online) and manages to sneak in mentions of everything a family may want to include in a trip. A pretty typical spot, but well made with good imagery and voice over.

Cannon
These definitely stood out from the pack and took the “send a message through humor angle”, but the message seemed stuck between families and extreme skier rather than speaking to one or the other. Sort of like, “yeah, we’re still big and steep…except no, we’re not. Yeah families are coming and we don’t want them to come but…yeah, we do.”

Either way, I like the creativity and the production quality is really sharp.

Loon
Love the idea, but the small words at the opening (that I missed the first couple times I watched it) and the semi-scripted sounded voice over (especially the last voice) made it feel a bit forced. What they said, however, is great and the call-to-action at the end was solid.

Whistler Blackcomb
I really like how Whistler led with a call to action – “Join Us” – and focused on a single way to do so throughout. Yes, the typical b-roll was behind the scenes, but it was one of the few ads where I knew exactly what it said and what I could do about it once the spot was over.

Christmas Mountain Village
This spot surprised me by how much I liked it. Instead of leading with narration from the first second, it let the images tell the story and then closed with a single line that focused on a single key selling point. I think this spot did really well for a 15 second slot.

Lutsen
While not Lutsen-specific, this spot took the non-narration approach and combined really sharp b-roll with a catchy, upbeat (albeit repetitive) tune. I really like this one, actually. It just showed me something cool, didn’t shove anything in my face, and gave each shot a chance to be consumed before cutting to the next.

These ads are super hard to track down. If I missed one, don’t hesitate to send it along.

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.