Display ads don’t get a lot of love.

Of course, I am one of the people who should be giving them some love so I’m partly to blame, but even in the grand scheme of things they sometimes get overlooked despite the occasionally large budget that drives their visibility.

But I’ve seen an ad show up in my internet journey that I really, really like. Here it is:

Now keep in mind this is my screenshot-turned-into-a-gif version, so the image quality is lacking and transitions aren’t there, but that’s not the part I like anyway.

What I like is that it does three, simple things in a tidy package.

1) Plant Seeds
I’ve used this term a lot lately and for good reason, more and more I find myself seeing the value of marketing that does nothing more than plan small ideas or possibilities in people’s heads. Ideas of things to do, places to go, people to go with, and combinations of all three.

Only a small percentage of these will grow, but good branding and other marketing distribution can act as a virtual watering can to ensure that as many as possible actually do.

2) Gives a Purpose to Each Day
So often we toss out offers like “stay 4 days get 1 free” without every considering that some people for whatever reason – distance, budget, or otherwise – don’t see a need to stay 5 days. They can do everything they need in 4 or 2 or 3.

What I love about this message is it gives each day of a vacation a purpose and it gives those purposes and scope of 4 days. Granted, each in this example may not be enough to fill a full 16+ waking hours, but it creates a formula around the combination of days, activities, and purpose which I think is really smart.

3) Guest-Focused CTA
Calls-to-action are fun things to test, and one of the most interesting aspects is testing what you’re doing (e.g., “submit”) to what you’re getting after you do it (e.g., “deals and discounts”).

In my experience, the latter almost always wins and that’s why I love this CTA. It’s not saying what you’re doing such as “click here” or “details”, it’s illustrating what you’d be getting if you did, “Family time.” A small difference, but one I like.

Simple, Smart
It’s a simple, smart message in clean package.

The visual is strong and nuanced (this is taken from the northern most ridge of the resort with the southern most ridge in the distance, a small nod to how big the resort really is) and caught my eye.

The numbers will tell the final story, of course, but the ideas and concept behind the scene are noteworthy.

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.