Ski Sundown: Seeding a Blizzard of New Business

Submitted by ckwebacct on Tue, 2011-07-12 14:51
The Challenge: 

Ski Sundown (in New Hartford CT) was looking to expand its base of avid skiers and snowboarders. Despite world-class snowmaking, a veteran staff of instructors and 65 skiable acres, it couldn’t compete with the much larger, established resorts of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Cashman + Katz was tasked with stretching limited marketing dollars while raising awareness throughout Connecticut and beyond its borders.

The Approach: 

Instead of asking people to think of this Connecticut ski area as an alternative to northern
New England’s much larger ski resorts, C+K positioned Ski Sundown as an alternative to hanging out at home, going to the mall or taking the kids to Chuck E. Cheese’s. We wanted people to remember that plenty of great skiing and boarding was just a short drive away.

An integrated, six-month plan included strategic positioning; an ad campaign featuring posters, newspaper, magazine, radio and :05 second TV spots; press kit development; media planning (television, radio and print); and media relations. C+K’s media strength leveraged established relationships with media outlets around the state to add value with media buys, including weather sponsorships effectively saying that, “No matter what the weather forecast says, there’s always snow at Ski Sundown.”

Our public relations team generated a great number of story angles – from positioning Ski Sundown as the snowmaking capitol of Connecticut to showcasing veteran instructors. Furthermore, we conducted on-site “familiarization” media tours with lifestyle and sports reporters to tout Ski Sundown’s 15 trails and meet the management team. In addition, C+K and Ski Sundown management determined Fairfield County should be raised to a Priority One target and we concentrated more media and media relations efforts there.

The Results: 

Despite one of the most frigid winters on record, Ski Sundown reported a record-breaking year in both visitors and sales for the year. Additionally, in customer surveys performed by Ski Sundown staff, it was determined that over 40% of first-time visitors came from Fairfield County – where stepped-up advertising efforts had been concentrated.

Creative posters displayed in Connecticut ski shops helped position Ski Sundown as a legitimate ski destination, even after the ski season concluded. News stories and photos were generated throughout the Greater Hartford area as well as over the line in Pughkeepsie, a key market for Ski Sundown. And the print advertising was recognized by several regional and national award shows.