About two months ago I posted an interview with Eric Wagnon entitled, “Baby Boomers & the Death of Print.” I wasn’t suggesting that print was dead (it was one of the interview topics), but either way, it got the attention of Greg Wright, a publisher for both the Freeskier and Snowboard Magazines. Wanting to get his perspective on things, I asked him the simple question, “Is print dead?” Here’s his response:
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Greg Wright: I am a magazine publisher, so it’s no shock to hear me say “print is not dead!” But I also “publish” two websites, video podcasts, email newsletters and one of the largest social media streams in the ski industry. Am I talking out of both sides of my mouth? You bet. That’s because our online properties serve a very specific purpose, audience engagement.

I will admit that print is dead the day a PR person tells me they’d rather see editorial on their company run online versus in print. Our print properties are the premium products with the premium content, so that is where everyone wants to be. Anybody can create and post content online, but only a few can successfully publish in print. As a direct result there’s finite space for content in the print world, so only the best content gets the nod. And that is the foundation for our brand. Premium content served up in a printed piece.

If we build our brands with our print products, and most everyone would rather see editorial on their company appear in print, then why wouldn’t everyone advertise in print? I can answer my own question. Before my publishing career I was a ski resort marketeer responsible for (among many things) media buying. And my success was based on measurable results. And well it’s no secret that brand advertising (via print or otherwise) rarely produces measureable results. But that is changing, quickly, thank you to the internet.

As I stated earlier, our print product drives our brand which inturn drives traffic to our online properties. Our websites receive over 300K unique visitors in the peak months, our podcast sees over 100K downloads on top episodes, our social media audience (facebook + twitter) is well over the 100K mark. These are measurable results for us, and for a lot of resort marketeers nowadays. Print builds the brand, online is where you engage the audience to produce the traditional measurable results (roooms booked, passes sold, etc). But in order to engage the audience online, you need a brand that’s relevant to that audience. While it’s completely possible to build a brand online (or via events, radio, TV, etc) print is the path of least resisitance. And I dare say the most fun a ski resort marketeer has. Print brand campaigns are the first thing you show off right?

So build your brands with print ads. Have fun making them. Then engage the various media outlets’ online aduiences. Advertise retail messages and drive revenue there. It’s an effective 1-2 punch that works for us.

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.