HomeMy WebLinkAbout01. Vail Resorts Marketing Update for VEAC_052021_vFINALVail Resorts Marketing Update
For Vail Economic Advisory Council
May 2021
Executive Summary
Vail Mountain is the world's premier mountain resort, Like Nothing on Earth
•#1 resort in unaided awareness in North America among all skiers
•Total awareness tied with Aspen, and growing each year
•2nd most visited resort in U.S.
Investing in Vail Mountain's brand is central to our strategy
•New Brand Strategy Team focused on building Vail's brand
•Dedicated in-resort marketing team focused on differentiated events & activations
•Dedicated in-resort PR team focused on driving destination awareness & affinity
Vail Resorts marketing is the strongest it’s ever been
•Technology -investments in marketing capability, content and digital
•Data -targeted approach helps us understand, predict and influence guest behavior
•Strategic Centralization -multi-year transformation to unlock full potential of resort brands and growth
Advanced Commitment is a core strategy; consistently achieving growth every year since 2008
•Loyalty -1.4 million pass holders in 20/21 willing to commit in advance of season
•Stability –for our business, community, employees
•Value for guests -can ski at Vail for $87 on Epic Day Pass
Vail is the world’s premier mountain resort,
Like Nothing on Earth
Vail Mountain remains the #1 resort brand in awareness in North
America and a top priority within the portfolio
Q: When you think of snow sports in North America, what one ski resort comes to mind?
Vail Mountain unaided and total awareness continues to grow, increasing vs prior year
Total Awareness Unaided Awareness
External awareness study by Burke Research in 2019 across all North American skiers and riders; National sample 2019; (n=1006), 2018 (1407)
Vail Mountain maintains very high popularity, as the #2 most visited
resort in the United States
1 –Source: NSAA 2018/19 United States skier visits versus all industry, including competitive resorts
US Skier Visits
#1
#2
#3
#5
#10
Continuing to drive strong visitation from new & returning guests remains a top priority
The Vail brand is uniquely positioned as the world's premier
mountain resort, Like Nothing On Earth
Brand Vision:
Like Nothing on Earth
Brand Position:
The world’s premier mountain resort
Brand Pillars:
•Legacy –Timeless pursuit of excellence
•Leader –Enduring spirit of innovation
•Limitless –Experiences that transcend possibility
Investing in Vail Mountain's Brand
is central to our strategy
Vail Mountain marketing and communications team focused and
committed to the growth and success of the resort
Resort Brand Strategy Team Resort Communications & Field Marketing
Vail Mountain Marketing & Communications
•Scott Baldwin, VP Brand Marketing
•Jeff Werkheiser,Sr. Director, Resort Brand Strategy
•Lauren Barotz, Director, Resort Brand Strategy
•Jon Hecht, Director, Resort Brand Strategy
•Sara Olson, VP Communications & Resort Marketing
•Lindsay Hogan,Director, Communications & Resort Marketing
•John Plack, Sr. Manager, Communications & Resort Marketing
•Open, Manager, Field Marketing
•Chloe Elliot, Sr. Specialist, Communications
•Open, Specialist, Content
New Brand Strategy team launched centrally to leverage data and
resources and optimize what makes Vail powerful and distinct
•Building the brand into the future to ensure
strongest possible positioning against
competition
•Partnering with best-in-class creative and
strategy agencies
•Leveraging unmatched data-driven approach
and technology to best unlock brand potential
•Vail is central to our strategy of a network of
highly unique, distinct resorts
Dedicated in-resort marketing team focused on delivering Vail brand
experience through differentiated events & activations
•In-resort field marketing & communications team
drives strategic event planning and execution,
partnering with community organizations as the
direct local connection
•All event budgets were cut in March 2020 through
current due to COVID-19 and safety protocols
•Anticipating return to signature events as well as more
consistent activation series to enhance guest
experience and drive visitation
Dedicated in-resort PR team focused on driving destination
awareness & affinity through earned & social media
•Vail Mountain Social Media Accounts -April 2020-21 snapshot
•310,000+ Instagram Followers, over 68M Impressions
•242,000+ Facebook Followers,over 81M Impression
•71,000+ Twitter Followers, over 3.3M Impression
•2020-21: Hosted 45 journalists & influencers
•Partnered with non-O&O lodging partners to fulfill media requests
•So far this year, direct PR efforts and Vail Mountain's COVID messaging contributed
to nearly 250 pieces of earned media coverage, estimated publicity value of
nearly $600,000
•This captures only where Vail Mountain is the focus, does not include roundups
•2019-20: Hosted over 75 journalists & influencers, and 5 FAM trips
•Visits highlighted the mountain & village experience
•Partnered with non-O&O lodging properties to facilitate non-VR media visits
•Direct PR efforts or Vail Mountain activities contributed to over 500 pieces of earned
media coverage, estimated publicity value of nearly $1M
•This captures only where Vail Mountain is the focus, does not include roundups
Vail Resorts marketing is the
strongest it’s ever been.
How we market to guests has evolved over the last several years
Marketing in the Past Marketing Today
Target skiers widely Personalized,one-to-one
Focus on geographies Customized based on predicted
behavior
Broad resort message Dynamic
Manual process Programmatic
The past was focused on lower-efficiency broad-reach tactics –today we are personalized and
tailored to maintain high-relevancy and effectiveness with the audience
Significant investments in technology have driven effectiveness
and efficiency of marketing and guest experience
Marketing
Automation
Content
Marketing
Digital
Experience
•Integrating touchpoints across Email, text message, Push, Web, Paid Media and Call Center
•Digital Asset Management platform to house, organize and deploy all advertising
•Responsive and consistent mobile presence across resorts and other sites
•EMMA –the first Digital Mountain Assistant via text message
•EpicMix refresh for 2020/21 winter season with increased and optimized functionality
•Web Chat for expanded real-time customer service online
Data Science •New Data Science capabilities and team, leveraging machine learning for predictive marketing
Database •We know almost half of all destination guests in the U.S. and Canada (3.5M in database) and
can market to them one-to-one
Our ability to understand, predict and influence guest behavior is a competitive advantage for Vail Mountain
We’ve been on a multi-year transformation to unlock the full potential
of resort brands and growth through strategic centralization
•Centralized brand strategy focus on brand distinctiveness and
unlocking future growth of resorts
•Resort-based teams focus on local execution that only they can do
•Streamline thought leadership on resort brands and invest in
resource expansion of content management capabilities
•Centralized expertise in brand strategy, insights, and go -to-market
–to best position our unique brands across portfolio
Enable efficiency and
impact for our resorts
Create scalability
as we grow
Best practice sharing
Core Strategy of driving
Advance Commitment
Vail Resorts has achieved consistently strong season pass growth
since 2008, which drives critical Advance Commitment
Why this is critical for Vail Mountain and the community:
•Reduces variability due to snow
•Large base of incredibly loyal and passionate skiers and riders
•Increases frequency of visitation
•Higher overall guest satisfaction as well as ancillary spend
The Epic Day Pass, launched in 2019, has provided an Advance
Commitment migration path for lower frequency lift ticket guests
•Value for guests: All resorts, Choose days 1-7,
Choose holidays / No holidays, up to 50% off window
lift ticket price, non-refundable
•Transition from Lift Ticket to Epic Day Pass
increases Guest Lifetime Value
•Frequency increases, ancillary spend grows, renewal
rate grows year over year
•This ultimately means more loyalty and increased
opportunity to drive new and return guests to Vail
Mountain
Vail Mountain is critical to our collective success into the future –
for our employees, guests,and community
•Vail Mountain is the #1 resort brand in unaided awareness in
North America and uniquely positioned as the world’s premier mountain
resort
•Investing in Vail Mountain's Brand is central to our strategy
•Vail Resorts marketing is the strongest it’s ever been
•Advanced Commitment is a core strategy; consistently achieving growth every
year since 2008 , driving loyal guests to Vail Mountain
We are committed to continuing to bring the power of the Vail brand to life
THANK YOU