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MARKETING Best NSAA Honors Seven Resorts for @E;LJKIPËJ 2013-14 Marketing Initiatives )'(*$)'(+ J<8JFE BY REBECCA W. AYERS, EDITOR AWARDS GO TO BEST OVERALL CAMPAIGN AND INDIVIDUAL PROGRAMS SAA has given top honors to seven ski areas for their 2013-14 marketing programs. The National Marketing Awards were announced May 2 during a special reception at NSAA’s National Conven- Ntion and Tradeshow in Savannah, Georgia. The awards program was sponsored by Ryan Solutions, a strategic marketing and database technology firm based in Ohio. NSAA presents the awards each year to member resorts with successful marketing programs that ulti- mately help grow the sports of skiing and snowboarding. Judges for the awards were Andy Hawks, director of industry partnerships for Active Interest Media Mountain Group and publisher of Snow Show Daily; Mike Bisner, vice president of business development for MWRC Internet Sales and VP of sales and marketing for Body Glove Winter Products; and Matt Skinner, chief operating officer for the Colorado Flights Alliance. Here is a closer look at the winning marketing programs. BEST OVERALL MARKETING CAMPAIGN the well-known characteristics of chilled-out Winter Park and Winter Park Resort, Colorado challenging Mary Jane, the campaign also celebrated other Winter Park tackled the formidable task of lesser-known features, revealing a “new” big-mountain experi- re-branding itself after research indicated ence that has been present all along and includes the Territories it wasn’t being given its full due. Despite of Parsenn Bowl, Vasquez Ridge, The Cirque, Eagle Wind, and ranking as the fourth largest ski area in the Terrain Park. Colorado and one of the top resorts in North America for yearly visitation, Winter Park discovered its target audience was mak- ing a troubling delineation: “The resort had WINTER PARK RESORT been reduced to two mountains—Winter Park and Mary Jane—and two types of ter- rain—easy and expert—with nothing in between,” said Jodi Silva, vice president of marketing and sales. To re-brand itself as a full-fledged resort offering something for everyone, Winter Park introduced “The Seven Territories,” seven distinct parts of the mountain from an experiential point of view. While recognizing The unique logos for Winter Park’s Seven Territories are designed to give visitors a sense of the different characteristics of each region, thereby reinforcing the “big-mountain” impression. 16 | NSAA Journal | SUMMER 2014 w w w.nsaa. org NSAA Summer 2014 prepressed v6a.indd 16 7/3/14 4:19 PM