This week my family gathered in the mountains of Idaho for a summer reunion of sorts. While I love Utah, the town of McCall and Payette Lake are quickly growing on me. If only the growing included Benjamins on trees I could afford to stay longer than a week. Vacationing in a town with a nearby resort (Brundage is less than 10 miles away) gave me an excuse to do an impromptu, extremely scientific WAT (Walk Around Town) analysis, to see what marketing materials I’d encounter as I poked my head in the shops and restaurants we passed. Here’s what I found.

Brochures, Flyers, Coupons
The only brochures I found whilst strolling were in front of the Chamber of Commerce. Not exactly on par with the famed Ice-Cream Alley as a tourist desitnation, but helpful nonetheless. Aside from a summer brochure (glad to see it wasn’t a winter version) was a stack of coupons valid for a 20% discount on scenic summer lift rides. Well played.

Additionally, when we checked into our lodging, the rental office handed us a packet that contained two of these coupons as well. Very well played.

Posters & Such
Posters are not a supremely effictive medium. However, I was surprised that, despite coming across nearly a dozen different posters (we saw each about 10 times in various windows), none of them featured a single reference to Brundage – not as a sponsor, not as an event location, not as a activity center. Aside from the brochures and coupons mentioned above, I only saw one Brundage logo in town: a sticker in the window of a coffee shop that looked a decade old…or more.

Where I Didn’t See Brundage
I didn’t see the resort’s name in three places that, while it didn’t surprise me, I did hope I’d catch a glimpse of a logo or ad.
The first was the local ice rink. Thirty or so local businesses had their brands prominantly displayed on the side boards of the arena. Brundage was not one of them. Not something you’d measure a huge ROI from, but a nice reminder to the locals (and visitors) that you are involved in the community.
Second, and very similar, were the local softball fields. Only 8-10 businesses had banners show up on the outfield fence, but again, Brundage was not among the few.
Third, bulletin boards. Around town were a handful of bulletin boards with posters, ads, etc. Free advertising for any interested parties. Not glamorous, but highly visible. I would have loved to see a stack of those bright orange lift ride coupons tacked up to each. These boards will not bring endless crowds of eager scenic lift riders, but it sure can’t hurt, especially when it takes a few minutes on your way to work once a week to keep them up, especially if someone is already keeping the supply in front of the Chamber of Commerce stocked.

Takeaways
My simple WAT (Walk Around Town) analysis doesn’t reveal the glamorous side of marketing, but I think it brings up a very valid point. On the web we think in terms of “where our potential customers will be” and then try to reach them at those points: social media, banner ads, search engines. Thousands of potential customers walk the city streets of local towns each day. With lots of ways to reach them, many of which are free, I hope that boat is not being missed.

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.