Confession time. My wife and I don’t have TV. I mean, we have a clunky old set, but no channels. When people talk about popular shows of the day, I’m clueless. Sports I catch on ESPN3, but I haven’t watched a news broadcast for years. When I think about marketing, I often think about it in terms of things that reach me. No TV means, thus far, it’s been a pretty neglected topic on SlopeFillers. That’s gonna change (at least for today).

Waterville’s Weekly TV Spots
TV is still a huge medium and I am in a massive minority with my lack-of-channels. I know people (my parents-in-law) that watch the evening news each night without fail. Huge advertising dollars were dropped during the Super Bowl to promote a handful of new shows. TV was once the secret sauce for launching a product and, while it may not be as effective as it used to be, is still a powerful tool.

Which is why I love that Waterville is combining current, up-to-date content with TV advertising. Social media is awesome for showing current conditions and thanks to Waterville’s in house studio, now TV can do the same. Here are a few of their recent ads:

An Inside Take
Bobby Foster from Waterville had this to say about when and where the ads are shown:

“Commercials air on network CBS, ABC, NBC TV stations in Boston Mass and Manchester NH (ABC). Comcast cable networks in selected target areas in eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. We are usually on the morning shows, evening news and some additional spot buys. Commercials are filmed on Tuesday, produced here at our production studio at the resort and then transmitted to the stations Tuesday afternoon to air on Wed thru Sat each week.”

And what has the response been?

“Response in the earlier days and now has been positive. We have created a campaign that people look for to get a real fresh up date on the snow in Waterville Valley. Most of the spots will have a graphic date stating when the skiing/snowboarding film was taken. Because the 30 second spots are filmed each week we are able to tell the real story about mountain conditions, lifts, trails, snowmaking, cross country and other resort vacation activities. Our skiers and snowboarders tell us they look forward to the reports each week and also enjoy the little entertainment flavor we add .This year with really no snow in our major market areas the TV campaign has had even more impact.”

The Key
Bobby said that the key to these ads was, “The key really is to produce a new spot on the mountain each week. Like the digital bill board in Boston, which 14 feet high and 48 feet wide, where we can change the message and graphics almost immediately right from the mountain.”

Consistent Voice and Faces
One thing I love about these videos is the consistency. There aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel with each video by coming up with a whole new storyline, they simply show how the conditions are now, talk about offers and upcoming events, and use the same two hosts, giving the brand a name and a face that people can start to recognize.

When it comes to overcoming the “snow on the slopes but not in the backyards” conundrum, TV seems like a solid choice. Simple commercials, consistent messaging, and a repetitive reminder that there is snow on the hills. Lookin’ good, Waterville.

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.