DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW AND DOWNHILL ON A MARKETING SCHUSSBOOM
There's a good chance you don't ski.
Despite that, you've probably heard of Vail.
It's one of the most famous ski areas in the world, and the single largest ski area in the United States.
And you are about to learn something crucial from what they've done with their advertising.
Here now: an actual paradigm shift. (Not a gratuitous use of an often meaningless phrase. This is a true paradigm shift.)
VAIL HAS YANKED ALL THEIR ADVERTISING DOLLARS
Not forever and not completely.
But they've no doubt sent the skiing press into a tizzy.
They used to be one of the biggest advertisers in ski magazines, and they've canceled all but 20% of their usual print ad budget. They've tossed the other 80% into a reserve fund.
Why?
Because things have changed.
Like any other business working in a traditional media environment, they would come up with a marketing direction, they would create ads and they would buy space in the magazines--all well before the season started.
The problem with that approach?
THE BEHAVIOR OF THEIR CUSTOMER CHANGED
They'd be locked into a marketing direction, and they couldn't do anything about it if the people to whom they were advertising happened to not be responding.
And responding they weren't.
Apparently, last winter, they found that their customers were doing things like not deciding on Christmas skiing vacations until the week before Christmas--which is unheard of in the ski industry.
But that's what happened.
And when things like that happened, the marketing department was unable to react if 80% of the ad budget was already spent.
WELCOME, SOCIAL MEDIA
Much of this change in behavior has been influenced by sites like Twitter and Facebook.
So, Vail has done the smart thing: they've gone where their customer is.
They're using social media platforms to keep the message out there with the people who care.
Then, when they see an opportunity to advertise, they can act via media with much shorter lead times--like newspaper and banner ads.
To borrow from the words of Vail Resort CEO Rob Katz, the traditional advertising group, the PR group and the social media group all work together on a week-by-week calendar..
They're working their marketing almost like a political campaign, thinking on their feet and adapting strategy on the fly as necessary.
SO WHAT?
I'll tell you so what.
This is the new reality in advertising & marketing.
And, especially if you happen to be in radio, this is an astonishing lesson in how to adapt and survive.
One of the clichés radio people love to throw around is about radio's "immediacy." Radio is great because it has such immediacy.
What a lot of radio salespeople like to think that means is that if you sign a contract today, you can be on the air tomorrow.
That's not immediacy.
When something happens, radio can cover it immediately, unlike newspaper or TV.
And, like with Vail's marketing department, radio advertising can adapt to the immediately changing requirements of a marketing program in a constant state of flux.
Just like newspaper and just like banner ads.
ADAPT AND SURVIVE STRATEGIES WILL BY NECESSITY INCLUDE SOCIAL MEDIA
If you're not on Twitter and Facebook, it's a good idea to be there.
You need to be there because you need to know how it works.
And you need to know how it can affect an advertiser's business.
Because the media salespeople who understand the tectonic shift that social media is causing in marketing, and know how to implement social media on behalf of their clients, are the ones who will thrive.
If you'd like to see a 9-minute video of Vail CEO Rob Katz explaining how this all happened, visit http://adage.com/brightcove/lineup.php?lineup=18982295001&title=52412902001
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