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Last week, after doing one last proofread of yesterday’s interview with Brandon von Guenthner from Archr (formerly Prism), I was reminded of a concept he brought up when we first met: place branding.

The idea is simple. Companies all have a few elements that create the basic perimeter of what they might define as their brand. The standard answers are the stuff in your brand book: a logo, color palette, tagline, voice, typeface, design style, positioning, etc. What Brandon was arguing is that every resort should add one more item to this collection.

A view.

And just like the rest of that brand kit is used to consistently to build a perception of your experience, a meaningful view used with the same careful consistency, could become another key pillar for your mountain.

After all, skiing is a visual sport. Skiers are visual people. And while that classic logo of yours may imply a deep, meaningful story, it simply can’t compete with a glossy photo when it comes to carrying the visual weight that can stick in someone’s brain and influence them to act. Photos of a view that tells a story of your place, used consistently, can add a really powerful punch to your brand.

Here’s where I want to be sure I clarify something.

Yes, the easiest examples are often the ones I shared yesterday. When it comes to views, a few resorts are lucky enough to enough top-1% scenery for their area, if not the world. The jaw-dropping descent on the gondola into Telluride would be one of those…

Or looking up at iconic Mt Mansfield from the base of Stowe…

But I think what happens in these conversations is some resorts, especially smaller mountains, feel like these ideas don’t apply to them because the only examples we share are from 12,000′ peaks or slopes steeped in history.

So I want to tell you the story of one of the views that moves me the most.

Even though I’ve never lived closer to a ski area than I do right now, every time I decide to go skiing I still have to overcome some set of hurdles. Work is busy, kids are hungry, the roads are slick, the legs are sore, etc. There are always a long list of alternatives that I’m deferring or simply not doing because I want to experience the joy of sliding down snow. So I wrangle the kids and hustle through work and get our gear and load the car and brave the roads and boot up and head to the lift and strap in and…

…then I look up. And, while waiting for that first chair, I see this.

This is the moment when the hurdles required to go skiing are in the rearview and the anticipation truly starts to build. It’s not fancy – just a few hundred feet of vertical and an old double chair – but it represents the moment when the skiing experience begins for me.

It’s 85 degrees outside as I type this, but looking at that photo? Man, things happen in my brain.

Every ski area has a view like this – a moment like this – that they can build into their brand. The moments that are filled with meaning and emotion and stoke and the simply joy of another day on the hill. They’re views from the summit as you make your first runs, they’re views from the highway when the resort first comes into view, or they’re views of the lodge as you grab a drink at the end of your day. And it’s the kind of moment that Brandon is referring to when he boils down the purpose of all of this:

The only thing better than seeing that moment through one of our cameras is being there in person.

That’s the point.

Before the season starts, take some time to think about those views that mean the most to your skiers. The ones that inspire them to act and connect them to your mountain on some deeper level. And then look for ways to capture those views better than you ever have before and make them as much a part of your brand as your logo or voice.

It doesn’t have to tell a mind blowing story, it just has to tell your story…whatever that is.

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.