I’ve mentioned before that while YouTube doesn’t explicitly state which videos in a resort’s channel were used as pre-roll ads on their platform, it’s easy enough to tell.

Because ads get virtually no ratings or comments. For example, take two of the top videos on this year’s list of most viewed resort uploads.

• One has 1,500,000 views and 18 ratings
• The has 1,000,000 views and 9,500 ratings

It’s the first of those two videos I want to talk about today. Because if the engagement didn’t tell you it’s an ad, the title – “Mammoth Mountain Commercial 18/19 Season” – will.

And rather than keep you waiting, here’s that 30 second spot.

These types of videos are becoming more and more common. And, honestly, I love them because it’s a simple, three-step process.

#1) Find Your Core Message
You’ve probably already done this, so not much to discuss here. All you need is your high-level branding message, nothing specific, to build on.

#2) Make a Short Video About It
In this case, it was a 30-second spot on the core message of “Let fun rule.” The spot was a combination of sun, smiles, terrain parks, apres, powder and all the other good times that make skiing so much fun.

#3) Target and Deploy
We don’t know the exact targeting they used, but it was likely some combination of a customer list and lookalike audience and perhaps some retargeting. Then they hit play and let ‘er rip.

Smart Use of Budget
I love this. For all the effort we go through to stay top of mind via other channels, I love this set it and forget it (well, mostly) approach to branding.

Find the one message you want to reinforce all season long, use a strong visual medium like video to get it across, and let the intrawebs do it’s thing to deliver that message over and over and over again.

Great stuff, Mammoth.

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.