Not saying this could happen, but imagine if an understaffed dev team at a major social media site owned by a guy who loves rockets accidentally pushed an update that hid the names and avatars from all the posts in a user’s feed.

That user would pull up their phone and see photos, text updates, videos…but nothing more to tell them whose was whose.

Now, let’s say they followed a few ski resorts and the usual pow turns and smiling faces were all they saw. Could that user identify which ones came from Vailsnowemore vs Steamwintershoe? A few sleuths might be able to pick out some peak in the background that gives it away, but for 99% of skiers it all is going to look pretty much identical.

Adding a Vibe

That challenge is one that the Ikon team has worked really hard to overcame and set their brand apart as something different.

Something fresh, unique, and fun. A portfolio that builds on diversity.

But because so many of the traditional b-roll visuals would blend in with other brands, they’ve taken a new approach this year that I really, really like. It’s not the first time they’ve successfully done this, but this version is especially fun, effective, distinct, and very recognizable.

That 30-second spot has been shown 379,000 times.

And this 15-second variation is just about to hit 800,000.

Plus, you’ve gotta love that little Mikaela Shiffrin cameo.

Snowball

Branding requires a clear recognition that this message someone is seeing is from the same brand as that other message they saw and that other one. If there isn’t something to tie that all together, all those messages are loose ideas in that skier’s brain instead of a cohesive series of interactions that can snowball into brand awareness and affinity.

This pre-roll from Ikon magnifies that effect with a really unique, fun vibe, leaving no question that these ads come from Ikon and they’re all connected.

Good stuff.

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.