Every year for more than a half decade we’ve heard it at every conference, from every agency, from every thought leader.

Experiences. That’s what people want.

It’s why The Color Run has exploded…

The Color Run: Record-breaking 14,000 Dubai runners take part in ‘Happiest 5k’ https://t.co/tBQRrdGoHo pic.twitter.com/dy7GyGJ5wO

— Xplr Sofitel Dubai (@sofiteldubai) November 13, 2016

…while Marathon participation is down for the fourth straight year, a dip of over 2,000,000 runners since 2013 alone.

Marathon participation running downhill https://t.co/PskY6kqvGO pic.twitter.com/YAxsALaClF

— Pittsburgh PG (@PittsburghPG) May 7, 2017

And it’s why agencies with names like Moment Factory need very little introduction as to why they do, why they do it, and who they do it for.

In their words:

“At Moment Factory, we bring people together. Our shows and destinations pioneer forms of entertainment that offer the world new experiences.”

But what I love most about these agencies, and Moment Factory very much included, is that they aren’t just ripping off other events like the dozens of color runs and mud runs that exist and they aren’t settling for a narrow demographic, they’re taking the lessons and patterns behind the success of those events and using them to try innovative new things.

Like Tonga Lumina, a collaboration between Moment Factory and Tremblant.

Tremblant’s New Experience
Careful not to spoil the plot while keeping the focus on emotions rather than activities, Tonga Lumina’s website is thin on details and heavy on story.

The closest thing to a description is a paragraph from Tremblant’s COO:

“Drawing on the site’s uniqueness, the illuminated night walk plunges visitors into a remarkable audiovisual universe that showcases the mountain’s natural elements, inspired by its history and its legends.”

And a demo reel video from the agency’s previous efforts on this series.

Tonga Lumina is different.
It’s new.
It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen a resort create or promote.

And that’s why I like it.

Admirable Risk
This new experience experiment may fail. Or it may be the talk of the town the next time our industry holds a conference. Given Moment Factory’s level of work, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the latter.

But either way, I admire the combination of learning from other experiences instead of copying them and creating something that is both completely unique but also proprietary to their resort and location.

Then if it does succeed, as a speaker from Human Movement aptly pointed out at NSAA last week, it’s much harder for copycats to give them competition.

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.