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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSnowdaze 2009 Recap 2009 Event Recap Report Prepared by February 1, 2010 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Vail’s Snow Daze is the largest early-season mountain bash in the U.S. Now in its fourth year, the weeklong festival returned Dec. 7-13, 2009 and celebrated the start of the snowriding season in Vail with a schedule of contests, parties, giveaways, on-mountain events and four headliner concerts. Performing artists for Snow Daze 2009 included: Barenaked Ladies, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, The Pete Kilpatrick Band, Yukon Kornelius and Eve 6. New for the 2009 Vail Snow Daze was free concerts. It followed on the heals of a changing event philosophy for Vail Mountain as part of the resort’s efforts to provide free, first-rate entertainment for all guests. EVENT SNAPSHOT • Total Attendance: Estimated to be more than 75,000-90,000 • Dates: December 7 -December 14, 2009 • Location: • Vail Mountain • Lionshead Ski Yard • Eagle’s Nest • Gold Peak • Dobson Arena • Ford Park • Checkpoint Charlie, Vail Village • Vail Village Accounts • The weather: Located in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Vail experienced a mix of weather throughout the week and a highlight with a snow-storm the night of the Barenaked Ladies concert at Ford park. Said by some to be a tradition, “Vail Snow Daze always brings the much needed snow.” • Estimated Total Media Impressions: 23,000,000 EVENT SCHEDULE EVENT COMPONENTS Daily après and after-dark parties • Bar parties throughout Vail Village presented by Bud Light • Tons of free Vail Snow Daze giveaways, drink specials and chances to win tickets to the Yukon Kornelius concert • Vail Snow Daze Street Team led the organization of giveaway distribution at the nightly bar parties Weeklong Highlight: Camera Phone Contest • Competitors uploaded their favorite Vail Snow Daze photos to the Flickr website within the group Vail Snow Daze and sent via email • Contest winner was awarded a trip back to Vail for Spring Back to Vail in April, 2010 EVENT COMPONENTS CONTINUED Wednesday Night Highlight: Bud Light Snuggie Pub Crawl • 1,000+ in attendance • 350 Vail-Bud Light branded Snuggies were distributed • Seven participating bars including: Samana, Whiskey Jack’s, The Tap Room, The George, The Red Lion, Vendetta’s and The Club • Pub-crawlers headed to Vail Village for Vail Snow Daze’s first-ever Snuggie pub-crawl presented by Bud Light and Vail Mountain • Chances to win concert tickets, a Rossignol pro model snowboard and numerous Vail Snow Daze branded giveaways • Additionally, AB provide a variety of Bud Light gifts and winners were notified via phone and text • Vail Mountain Marketing led the charge with securing bars, distributing giveaway items to the bars prior to the pub crawl, raffle card pick-up and drawings for the prize winners. EVENT COMPONENTS CONTINUED Thursday Night Highlight: Dummy Demolition Derby “under the lights” • 1,500+ in attendance • 20 dummies entered • $5,000 awarded to 1st place; $1,500 awarded to 2nd place; $750 awarded to 3rd place • Full sensory experience with fireworks, a massive flamethrower, free chili for all spectators, live DJs and thousands of giveaways EVENT COMPONENTS CONTINUED Thursday Night Highlight: Eve 6 Presented by Bud Light • 1,500+ fans in attendance • Multi-platinum rock band Eve 6 performed a free in-town concert and kicked off the four night Bud Light Concert Series. Friday Night Highlight: Yukon Kornelius Presented by Bud Light with opening act Pete Kilpatrick Band • 2,200+ in attendance • Anchored by Stefan Lessard, bass guitarist from Dave Matthews Band, and joined by Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies, Adam Gardner of Guster and Eric Fawcett from N*E*R*D, the Yukon Kornelius show was a sold-out success. • Surprise guest Dee Snider from Twisted Sister took the stage and led the arena in a rousing rendition of the hit “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” Jason Biggs from American Pie banging it out on the Cow Bell! EVENT COMPONENTS CONTINUED Friday through Sunday Highlight: EPIC Lounge/Vail Snow Daze Hospitality Tent and Sponsor Activation • Vail Snow Daze’s first-ever EPIC Lounge • Sponsors activated inside the large Epic Lounge tent at the base of the Gondola for the duration that the lifts were open for busy skier days on Friday, Saturday and Sunday • Sponsors sampled within and alongside the Epic Lounge. Action included the annual Snowball-eating contest, Nintendo Wii, sponsor giveaways and the opportunity to take a photo with the Barenaked Ladies and Lindsey Vonn. • The Epic Vail Snow Daze hospitality tent served as an a gathering area and information center for Vail Snow Daze including constant sponsor announcements, event updates, giveaways, complimentary hot cocoa in the afternoon, heavy traffic for sampling and sponsor promotions. EVENT COMPONENTS CONTINUED Spin-to-Win Prize Wheel: • Driven by morning sponsor announcements and a heavy traffic period starting at NOON on Saturday and Sunday • Grand Prizes included a VIP Vail Snow Daze package from Skiing Magazine, a Dakine Messenger Bag from Skiing Magazine, four pairs of Smith Optics and four pairs of Redfeather Snowshoes • Hundreds of people tested their luck at the above prizes but didn’t walk away empty-handed. Other prizes included: • Stickers from Snow Daze, Smith and Rockstar • Prizes from Skiing Magazine including t-shirts, stickers, pint glasses, koozies, lip balm • Vail Resorts notebooks, stickers and lanyards • Necklaces and trinkets from Roxy Sponsor Sampling: When sponsor sampling was a goal, this was the hot spot. Among the brands that sampled were Muscle Milk, Jack Link’s Beef Jerky and Nature Valley Granola Bars. EVENT COMPONENTS CONTINUED Saturday & Sunday Highlight: Demo Daze and Reverb Expo Village • 7,500+ in attendance • Demo Daze offered free samples and demos from event sponsors including: Smith Optics, Reverb, Rockstar, Muscle Milk, Nature Valley Granola and more • Reverb Expo Village featured expo tents, including a variety of free samples and demos. Brands and organizational presence included: IZSTYLE, Reverb, Stoneyfield Farms, Bear Naked, Clif Bar, Honest Tea, Nordica and Burton throughout each expo day. EVENT COMPONENTS CONTINUED Saturday Highlight: Roxy’s 2nd Annual “Gifts That Give Back” Holiday Event • Doubled the attendance and sales from the 2008 event • The event highlighted vendors that give a portion of their proceeds to various charities and featured Toms Shoes, Zulugrass bracelets, Annie O. belts, Be Good to People apparel and gifts, Michael Stars Breast Cancer tees and Blabla knit doll • Additionally, this event was promoted within the EPIC Lounge with giveaways from Roxy and promotional information was distributed • In conjunction with the Gifts that Give Back, The Vail Breast Cancer Awareness Group received a portion of the donations from the Barenaked Ladies concert EVENT COMPONENTS CONTINUED Saturday Night Highlight: Barenaked Ladies Presented by Bud Light with opening act Pete Kilpatrick Band • 8,000+ in attendance • Keeping true to Vail Snow Daze history, Grammy-nominated Barenaked Ladies performed on a snowy night and had concert-goers singing along to favorites like “If I Had a Million Dollars” and “Feliz Navidad” EVENT COMPONENTS CONTINUED Sunday Night Highlight: Robert Randolph & The Family Band Presented by Bud Light with opening act Bonfire Dub and special guest DJ Logic • 3,000+ in attendance • Robert Randolph & The Family Band, multicultural American funk and soul band known for their lively stage performances closed out Vail Snow Daze’s free Bud Light concert line-up EVENT COMPONENTS CONTINUED ENVIRONMENTAL & COMMUNITY GIVING Barenaked Ladies Concert Benefit The Barenaked Ladies concert at Ford Park served as a benefit for environmental non-profit Reverb and the Vail Breast Cancer Awareness Group. A $10 donation was encouraged upon entry. Over the course of the evening, over $4,000 was raised. Reverb & IZSTYLE Winter Tour Reverb, an environmental non-profit founded by Adam Gardner of Guster and his wife, environmentalist Lauren Sullivan, acted as a 2009 event sponsor. The non-profit showcased their IZSTYLE Winter Tour at Vail Snow Daze and worked to educate on-mountain skiers and riders on sustainability through the activation of the Reverb Eco Village. Located at the Eagles Nest, the Reverb Eco Village featured all natural and organic food sampling including Stonyfield Farms, Bear Naked, Clif Bar and Honest Tea products as well as free ski and snowboard demos from Nordica and Burton. MARKETING Digital Online Static Ads: • Vail Snow Daze website • Denver Post • Comcast.net • RealVail • Robert Randolph & The Family Band website • Vail PM • Facebook MARKETING Social Networking Networking Websites: Facebook, MySpace, You Tube, SkiNet, Freeskier, Snowboarder, Snowboarder Magazine, Blogger.com, Twitter, Bands’ Websites Promotional Email Blasts and Newsletters: Vail Resorts, Highline Sports & Entertainment, Steep Savers, Denver Magazine, IEG Off the Wire, Yukon Kornelius ENewsletter, Barenaked Ladies E-Newsletter, Dave Matthews Band E-Newsletter, Guster E-Newsletter, Vail PM Reach: 5,844,246 MARKETING: National, Front Range & Local Print National: • Skiing Magazine (Circulation: 309,102) o Two Full-color, Full Page Ads • Mountain Sports Living Magazine (Circulation: 550,000) o One Full-color, Full Page Ad Regional: • Denver Post (Circulation: 340,949) o Five Full-Color, ! Page Ads • Colorado Daily (Circulation: 15,329) o One Full-Color, ! Page Ad Local/Mountain Regions: multiple full-color full page, half page and quarter page ads in each town. • Vail Daily (Circulation: 15,500) • Summit Daily (Circulation: 12,000) • Glenwood Post (Circulation: 13,000) MARKETING: National, Front Range & Local Print Full page, 4-color Skiing Magazine Ads Denver Post Full Color Front Range Newspaper Ads MARKETING: National, Front Range & Local Print Vail Daily Full Page Ads, Daily Schedule Ads and Filler Ads MARKETING: RADIO Regional Radio Ad Placements: • KBCO-FM Denver Hot AC Spins o :30 second spot o :60 second spot o :10 second promo spot Radio Copy: KBCO :30 Radio promotion [“If I had a million dollars” song by Barenaked Ladies plays beginning with first vocal] Announcer v/o: Colorado skiers and riders – you don’t need a million dollars to come to this season’s best early season party – Vail Snow Daze, December 7 -13. Vail Mountain is throwing you a party. And this year it’s all free! 4 incredible live shows presented by Bud Light, with headliner Barenaked Ladies live on Saturday December 12th. The big surprise? Legendary rockers Yukon Kornelius take the stage Friday December 11th, featuring Stefan Lassard of Dave Matthews Band, Adam Gardner of Guster, Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies, and Eric Fawcett of N.E.R.D (spelled out, not pronounced nerd). And you can count on big name special guest stars to show up as well. Vail Snow Daze is presented by Vail Mountain, Bud Light, Sobe Lifewater, the Town of Vail, Vail, Zacapa Rum, Skiing Magazine, and produced by Highline Sports & Entertainment. For more information go to VailSnowDaze.com. See you on the slopes! MARKETING: RADIO CONTINUED CAN YOU FIND YUKON CORNELIUS? KZYR and The Valley 104.7 in Partnership with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and crew. • KZYR, 97.7 and The Valley, 104.7 will create several different “Yukon drops”… These will run something along the lines of “He’s coming….with a quote from Yukon”. The drops will begin on Friday 11/27 and will run through 12/11. A minimum of 8 drops will run on each station each day. • 40 (:30) second promos to run on each station from 12/2-12/6 to “Find Yukon Cornelius”. (8 spots per day) • 50 (:30) second promos to text YUKON to 75309 on each station. These promos will run from 12/7-12/11. (10 spots per day) • A bank of 40 (:30) second spots will be provided on each station to promote the Snow Daze event in general. Each daily winner will be provided with 2 tickets to the Yukon Kornelius show, a $20 GC from Pazzo’s Pizza (donated by KZYR) and will be entered into a drawing for 2 VIP Private Reserve passes to Barenaked Ladies. During the morning show from 12/7-12/11 on KZYR, Steve will talk about how there were several Yukon sightings, and will talk it up each day. KZYR/The Valley 104.7 will be responsible for creating the clues. MARKETING: RADIO CONTINUED CAN YOU FIND YUKON CORNELIUS? KZYR, 97.7 and The Valley 104.7 in Partnership with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and crew. Here’s Yukon around town: MARKETING Billboards Front Range Placements: • Daily Effective Circulation: 50,000 • Total Campaign Impressions: 700,000 • Front Range Locations: • Hwy 40, just east of Empire E/F • 4500 W Colfax W/F • 7825 E Colfax W/F COLLATERAL Vail Snow Daze Posters with Logos 600 Snow Daze Snuggie Pub Crawl Cards with Logos 5,000 Rack Cards with Logos 700 Credentials with Sponsor Logos 4,000 Snow Daze Stickers ON DISPLAY Town of Vail Banner Round-About Signage: eight signs throughout two round-abouts General Event Signage with Logo Placement ON DISPLAY Base Area Signage with Logo Placement Sponsor Banners, Inflatables and Vehicle Placement Posters Pouring Stations & Signage EVENT MERCHANDISE Can Koozies at Bar Parties and Concerts 1,300 Vail Snow Daze TShirts VIP Bags, Stage Tosses & Bar Parties. Even Jason Biggs helped to distribute them at the Yukon Show Coffee Mugs in the EPIC Lounge PROMOTIONAL Bar Parties and Giveaway Items The Vail Snow Daze Party Patrol was on-board all week long at après and after-dark parties creating a buzz surrounding the event schedule. Thousands of logo’d rack cards along with thousands of surprising event giveaways. Swag from Liberty Skis, Smith Optics, Budweiser, Neve Designs, Rockstar, Skiing Magazine and Vail Snow Daze were distributed throughout daily bar parties to Vail visitors and locals alike. Word-ofmouth at its best. PUBLIC RELATIONS SNAPSHOT Highline Sports & Entertainment conducted a comprehensive local, regional and national public relations campaign. A central aspect of the PR campaign was the utilization of online and social media tactics including online news resources and social utility programs. In our fast-paced Internet world, we found it effective to pitch national online journalists for longer-lead stories and send event updates using email blasts for short-lead and week-of stories. New for the 2009 festival Twitter was integrated in the PR campaign. We updated followers with festival updates, including schedule changes due to weather, free giveaway opportunities, concerts and recap photos, etc. Other notable organizations including Vail Resorts and the Vail Daily followed our Tweets and Tweeted along with us, giving their followers the same Vail Snow Daze updates we were providing ours. In addition to online communication tactics, Highline also used traditional print, television and radio media. As an annual Vail festival, we found it effective to communicate with our target audience in Colorado and across the country pitching long lead magazine calendar sections as well as shorter lead newspapers and radio stations. PUBLIC RELATIONS Press Releases A total of 9 releases hit locally, regionally, nationally and internationally; See attachment for the Snow Daze press hit list to date. • Barenaked Ladies Announced as Headline Act for Vail Snow Daze – 9/29 • Barenaked Ladies and Robert Randolph & The Family Band, members of Environmental Non-Profit Reverb, Will Headline Vail Snow Daze 2009 – 10/19 • Yukon Kornelius, Members of Dave Matthews Band, Barenaked Ladies, Guster and N*E*R*D to Perform in Vail, Colo. as Part of Vail Snow Daze and IZSTYLE Winter Tour – 11/2 • Annual Dummy Demolition Derby To Be Held Under the Lights at Vail Snow Daze – 11/5 • Gifts That Give Back Holiday Event To Be Held at Roxy as a Part of Vail Snow Daze – 11/23 • Vail Snow Daze 2009 is Here Dec. 7-13, 2009 – 12/5 • Bud Light Presents Vail Snow Daze’s First-Ever Snuggie Pub Crawl as a Part of Vail Mountain’s Winter Kick-off Event – 12/8 • Dummy Demolition Derby Day-of – 12/9 • Robert Randolph & The Family Band Close Out Vail Snow Daze 2009 – 12/12 ADDITIONAL EVENT PHOTOS Thank you for making Vail Snow Daze the enormous success that it was. We look forward to next year!