I like creative partnerships. When two businesses join forces there are usually three winners: two bottom lines plus one “you”. Not only that but almost any size of resort can benefit. Small resorts may not be able to partner with a corporate giant, but the right mix of smaller, local brands can be just as effective on their scale. This post will be more of the “inspirational” type to hopefully spark a few ideas of your own so your partnership is the next one I get excited about.

1) Snowshoe Mountain, WV & Kroger / Coke
Here are the details as they posted them on their Facebook page (which, interestingly enough, is the only place I can find them).

“Kroger/Coke details: Available at participating stores 11.25-1.1.11 Buy four 12-packs of Coke and bring proof of purchase to Snowshoe to receive a FREE lift ticket of equal or lesser value when purchasing a regularly-priced adult full-day lift ticket (Mon thru Fri ONLY). Black out dates for redemption: 12.25-1.2.11, 1.14…-1.17, 2.18-2.21. Limit 1 per person/day. Not valid with any other discount or offer. Available in the following states: Kentucky, Ohio, VA, WV, TN, NC.”

I like this promotion because it’s not hard for the skier to take advantage of. It’s not like I’m buying a 12-pack of cat shampoo, most people like (or are willing) to drink Coke. When stocking up for a holiday party, skiers are now going to be a little bit more likely to overlook Pepsi or another drink. Mission accomplished.

Yet, despite the ease, it is still valuable to all the parties involved: Kroger sells a ton of products, Coke has hordes of people drinking their goods, and Snowshoe gets two skiers (one paying, one not) up onto their mountain.

2) Aspen/Snowmass & Tweety Got Back
Aspen/Snowmass needs no introduction, but TweetyGotBack might. A quickly growing (in both popularity and selection) Twitter background provider, TweetyGotBack has some great looking work.

Here’s the low-down on their partnership from the TGB blog:
“We’ve teamed up with Aspen Snowmass to bring you a collection of epic winter themes. They’ve provided us with a library of photographs that simply took our breath away. From full mountain views to capturing the shot of first tracks in the morning, these images have made amazing Twitter themes. “

And from Aspen/Snowmass:
“We (Aspen/Snowmass) teamed up with Tweety Got Back to create a set of twitter themes. The concept was simple – minimal branding and beautiful images.”

When I saw this partnership pop up on Twitter it was if a giant hand came out of my monitor and slapped me on the forehead with a resounding, “duh!”. The concept, execution, and actual branding are amazingly simple. The branding on the side of each image can be small because the image itself tells the story.

With a touch of viral-ness about it, this is one of the more clever partnerships I’ve seen in a while. Social media has so many facets, yet we keep getting stuck thinking “inside” the box. Maybe this will spark some daring ideas that will leave that pesky box in the dust.

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P.S. – I’ve put up a short survey about SlopeFillers and how i can make it a better, more useful tool for you who stop by. It would only take about a minute to complete but would help me immensely to know what kinds of content will help you the most. Here’s the link. A big thank you in advance for your help :)

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.