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« Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » It's A New 'Webisode' In Resort, Travel, Product Marketing; Stay TunedBy Jill Adler 
It's everywhere. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, Ride.TV, MySpace. A new "social networking" site pops up virtually every day to harness yet another online community of people with similar backgrounds and interests looking to network. A resort or travel marketing director's task is daunting these days. Not only do they have to create print, radio, and television campaigns, they now must address a whole other monster- the Web - to market effectively in the 21st century. It's no longer enough to have your own Web site. Homepages that were once a luxury for creative, wealthy manufacturers or college kids with time on their hands, are now industry standards. Don't have one? You basically don't exist. "I don't know anyone not trying to promote themselves on the Net," Dave Williams, deputy director of marketing and research for the Utah Office of Tourism (UOT), told The Industry Report. "You're crazy not to." The UOT announced Thursday it had partnered with Ski Utah and Ski Salt Lake for an edgy media campaign featuring falling snowflakes ala the Fruit of the Loom guys. (http://www.utah.travel/snowflake/). Utah-based Struck Creative produced the Webisodes and commercials to cultivate a talked-about campaign "with legs to get some word-of-mouth buzz," said Williams. In other words, the goal is to make these projects "viral" (i.e., rapid spread of information). "It's not enough to put your stuff on the Web and see how people respond," he explained. "You've got to do more." The three Utah organizations blog, post on YouTube, maintain Facebook and MySpace pages, and constantly hunt for new mediums. "It's about being part of the conversation," said Ski Salt Lake's Shawn Stinson. "A lot of people are saying it's too late, they don't know how to join in. Just do it. Get into it. Start blogging, sign up on YouTube. The train hasn't left the station...yet." Several players emerged last season to lead the rest of the pack into the online marketing future. Equipment manufacturer Salomon rocked the Web with their high-quality FreeSki TV Webisodes (http://salomonfreeskitv.blip.tv/) as did Armada and The North Face. Several other companies have stepped up this season with new viral campaigns that show it's not too late. DC shoes hired TV infomercial legend Billy Mays to host a series of hilarious snowboard ads that will air on Fuel TV, YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/DCshoesFILM), MySpace and, of course, DC's own site (www.DCShoes.com). "Enjoy The Ride More" encompasses four, 60-second commercials for FuelTV, but the online Webisodes come with extended cuts and behind-the-scenes segments. "You get to see team pros being themselves," said DC Global Creative Director Nate Morely. "We have a strong product brand message. We want to get it out and make use of every channel available." They also make good use of their athletes. They are sponsoring these athletes, so why not put them to work directly connecting with peers? Sponsors couldn't be happier with the exposure athletes Pep Fujas, Chris Benchetler, Andy Mahre, Ike Smith, Justin Wiegand, Eric Pollard, Christian Sirianni, and Shin Campos have bought to their brand. Just Google "Webisode and ski" and Hunting Yeti is everywhere. "We could have stuck with the film model and sold 5,000 DVDs of a feature length film or we could reach as many as possible without the physical limitation of a DVD," said Gary Winberg about Nimbus Productions and their decision to produce Hunting Yeti first as a five-part Webisode series and, later, as a DVD with a completely different edit. "Basically, the return is 10 times the normal sponsorship," said Winberg. "We had 500,000 views of streams versus selling 5,000 DVDs." The five Webisodes debuted from February to October 2008, and share the viewpoint of four pros skiing for free around the world. They're not living like the "skilebs" in Warren Miller films, but road tripping with friends and crashing on couches. The theme directly connected with their online audience. "Different people consume media in different ways," said Winberg. "Webisodes reach a younger demo and we wanted to reach that broader audience." Yeti also appeared on supporting partner Web sites like K2 Skis, Evogear, Helly Hansen, Oakley, Tecnica, Marker, Dragon, Dakine, Atomic, Line, Bern, VAS Entertainment, Freeskier, Fall Line Skiing, Poor Boyz Productions, and many, many more. Nimbus made Yeti as interactive as possible, driving traffic to sponsors for more information about the product and places utilized in the Webisodes. This serves everyone involved in the project. Plus, media partners always are looking for fresh content. Morely cautions marketers to beware of relying solely on the Internet for the message. "You don't just put things out there [on the Web] and hope they turn viral," he told us. "Online plus more traditional media will hopefully drive traffic and jump-start the viral. If you have amazing content and multiple ways to expose it to people, that's the way to go." Ski Utah's Nathan Rafferty told the IR, "The Internet is so powerful, but you have to do it right or it's a waste of money." Ski Utah leaves Web placement to the pros, hiring online distributors to make the calls for them. Some content, however, isn't exactly amazing or marketed, but it's weird enough to get passed around the Web and generate buzz. For example, Copper Mountain's, Freeze Company Webisodes (http://www.youtube.com/user/CopperMountainResort) are hard to find - they're not even posted on Copper's own Web site - yet most Coloradans have seen at least one of the skits involving Mr. V (Vail Resorts), Steamboat, Copper, and Winter (Park). Rossignol's Rooster Tales on "Rooster TV" (http://www.rossignol.com/FR/rooster-tv.html) takes a more traditional approach with clips of sponsored athletes the way you would expect in a traditional ski film but they're highly profiled on Rossignol's own site in addition to YouTube, Vimeo and video.aol.com. What may keep audiences clambering for the next Webisode (new ones air every two weeks) and the fun, are informational commercial breaks where they interview an old-school skateboarder turned graphic designer or show how the new harness pant was developed. Whether it's edgy, bizarre, slick, or educational, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize the power of alternative marketing. Though the Web's acceptance took time, it's off and running. You either can try to fight it, by placing all of your dollars in traditional avenues like print ads and television spots, or you can get on the bus and brand, baby, brand. The Web is grassroots, the effectiveness is instantly measureable, and it's honest; something audiences can and do appreciate. "It's amazing how fast word travels [online]," said Rafferty, giving a nod to the online community that follows and comments on everything ski-related. "You can't lie. You are what you are," he says. What It Means: The ever-changing world of social marketing via the Web doesn't constrict any organization's ability to send a message to its market. It's part of an overall level platform where every single service, product, manufacturer, resort, and consumer can co-exist and flourish in a brave new world. But, it is a world that forces all of us to be the best we can be and, hopefully, generate some revenues while we're at it. « Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » |
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