Diversity. Inclusion. Kindness.

These are all things right now. Good things. Things that I believe in 100%.

As a marketer, though, I occasionally read things from folks that go something like this:

“Is it possible to be inclusive and not alienate your audience? Or is there a risk to your message if you’re overly inclusive?”

I certainly get where these sentiments are coming from. After all, for decades resort marketers have been searching for photos that don’t contain a single off-core detail. So being, marketers have been called out for including photos of skiers that don’t look or dress or walk or carry their skis exactly like us.

So straying from that safe, comfortable voice is…well…a bit unnerving for some.

Ikon
But if you want to speak to a new audience, you’ve got to speak their language. This is certainly true of all never-evers, but it’s especially true of never-evers that don’t look like the vast majority of skiers on the slopes.

Yes, Ikon has a pre-roll ad that’s super heavy on the core (with 280k views). But they also have this one with 60k views and counting:

On two levels – race and ability level – this ad speaks in a voice that is very different from what we normally see in a pre-roll ad promoted to this level.

Why does it feel so different? Because it’s not talking to US.

Think on that one for a second.

Why
Is this ad effective? Absolutely.

But I would argue that it’s so effective not in spite of being so different than other ads but because it’s so different from other ads. Being inclusive, in my book, isn’t a challenge to pull off, it’s something that can make your messages better.

Nice work, Ikon.

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.