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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVLMD Creative Agency RFP Applicant - CactusHELLO SHARP IDEAS THAT HELP PEOPLE THRIVE WE ARE CACTUS + PUBLIC 2 Cactus and Vail Local Marketing District (VLMD) / Town of Vail (TOV) have a long history together. Since our relationship started back in 2016, we have partnered to achieve great things, and we’re not done yet. From the very beginning we have been committed to helping Vail grow in responsible and meaningful ways.  Back in 2016, things looked different than they do today. Much of the creative work was driven by a formulaic structure that promoted our points of parity instead of our differences. And our success was measured through media metrics instead of business impacts. By 2018, we recognized the need to step up and drive the seasonal vision across the partner group including taking ownership of our data so that we could make better business and marketing decisions. So in 2019, you made the bold and brave move to build your own website that would represent all aspects of Vail and allow for a more 1-to-1 connection between the town and its visitors. DEAR VAIL TEAM: We worked tirelessly as a collective group to vision, develop and launch DiscoverVail.com in March of 2020. Of course COVID-19 had other plans and site visitation, which was driven primarily by paid media, was delayed as we learned to navigate this “new reality in unprecedented times” and find ways to market the destination in responsible ways. By the end of 2020 we had introduced new data and lodging liaison partners to help round out the arsenal of talented marketing professionals. And with a robust partner team in place, we turned our 2021 attention to revisiting the brand and new ways to communicate our unique destination and complement Vail Resorts winter efforts. Using our Belief & Behavior Design® process and our newly acquired data, we set out with you to understand what makes Vail so special and what our best audience desires so that we could tailor our marketing to meet their unique needs in our own authentic way. After multiple collaborative work sessions with the board and partner groups we aligned on embracing our leadership position and unapologetically promoting our purpose-built village as a core attribute. All of this work culminated in a very different and ‘dreamy’ campaign that stands out against typical mountain destination marketing. 2022 has also seen the addition of new partners to help us refine our content and analyze our data. We continue to get better together and look forward to what’s next, including: •Extending our powerful Life is But a Dream platform, and operationalizing it across our all of our consumer touchpoints, across the partner ecosystem, and within our actual in-town experience. •Leveraging our treasure trove of first-party data to further improve our media effectiveness and efficiency, and focus on driving more vision from the right guest and the right times. •And fueling powerful, personalized storytelling across our digital properties to deepen our relationship with potential guests and our super fans. It’s this eye to the future, your vision, our strategic oversight, and collaboration across the partner group that has us set up to continue to make Vail a top destination for years to come. Gratefully Yours,  Ainslie Fortune WATCH THE CASE STUDY CLICK PLAY TO LAUNCH VIDEO 6 THE POWER OF INTEGRATION ABOUT CACTUS We are passionate about the Vail Local Marketing District, and are pursuing three of the four scopes as part of this RFP – the Full Creative Agency, the Media Agency and the Website Management Agency. Why that is good for you: -We are a full-service agency, and keeping this work all under one roof will maximize our partnership for us to focus on these specific pieces of your work. -With Cactus handling all of these components, VLMD will see dollar and time efficiency, and daily integration with our team. -By combining all this work into one agency, you will have less headache and coordination. We know that VLMD already handles multiple partnerships for everything you do – we would make it easier. -More creative-media thinking and media-creative thinking – we are all integrated and sit right next to each other. The synergies of our teams would come together to create stellar work for you. Getting the most out of your agency. Why that brings out the best in us: We would dutifully ensure any new partners are well integrated, but we know our real strength lies in executing them together. -Our teams and process are designed to create integration - starting with the singular Belief and Behavior® process, and the resulting briefs that are specifically designed to kick off media and creative simultaneously. Keeping those disciplines under one roof ENSURES this integration. -Media (responsible for driving traffic) and digital experience (responsible for engaging that traffic) living under one roof, sitting side by side on a daily basis, pouring over the same analytics and implementing synergistic optimizations will have an undeniable impact in the speed and effectiveness of our digital program. 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS AGENCY OVERVIEW CREATIVE & STRATEGY MEDIA PLANNING & BUYING WEBSITE MANAGEMENT PAGE 08-32 PAGE 33-65 PAGE 66-79 PAGE 80-99 1 4 3 2 Cactus is submitting a proposal for three of the four areas of expertise outlined in the Vail Local Marketing District (VLMD) RFP. We have structured this proposal to address the full team and agency facts upfront, followed by our approach to each individual scope of work. AGENCY OVERVIEW 32 years ago, in an office not so far away – our founder and CEO Joe Conrad started Cactus along with two partners. They loved what they were doing. They just didn’t love where they were doing it, or who they were doing it for. They wanted to change all that, and to be surrounded by people who believed in the power of small agency creativity and ingenuity to solve any problem. They also wanted to work exclusively with clients they truly believed in. Purposeful consumer brands and non-profit organizations dedicated to making the world a better place, and helping people thrive in their lives. You could say we were a purpose-driven ad agency about 25 years before it was actually a “thing” in our industry. The agency name came from a long drive through the high plains of Wyoming and seeing a lot of cacti, and not much else. It was there that inspiration struck – Cactus: Sharp Ideas That Hold Water. And with that, on June 1, 1990, a remarkable little agency as durable as our namesake plant was officially born. AGENCY HISTORY HOW IT ALL STARTED Case studies are included at the back of this proposal (pages 102-132) and represent work across areas of expertise including: -Jackson Hole -Greater Zion -Cochlear -North Carolina Education Lottery TO GR O W BRAND STHAT HELP P E O PLE HEY LOOK! I N -H O U S E P R O D U C T I O N SMALL AGENCY W E B E L IEVE WE’RE REALLY GOOD AT GAMING FINANCIAL SERVICES TRAVEL OUTDOOR REC& CACTUS FACTS WE’RE REALLY GOOD AT GAMING FINANCIAL SERVICES TRAVEL OUTDOOR REC& I N -H O U S E P R O D U C T I O N HEY LOOK! SMALL AGENCY W E B E L IEVE 69 32 Belief & Behavior Design Brand Positioning Brand Architecture Brand Persona, Tone & Voice Internal Brand Culture Mission, Vision, Values / EVP Custom Qual & Quant Research Integrated Marketing Planning Brand Health Tracking A Full-Service, Integrated Agency Partner CREATIVE & DESIGN Integrated Advertising Campaigns Digital & Social Content Logo & Brand Identity Systems Packaging Design & Systems Video / Motion Design Environmental Design Experiential / Brand Activations Print & Collateral Design Brand & Product Naming COMMS STRATEGY & MEDIA Multi-Touchpoint Auditing Consumer Journey Mapping Data & Trend Driven Insights Communications Planning Media Planning & Buying Social Media Management In-House Trading Desk DMP & Intelligence Dashboard CRM & Demand Generation DIGITAL EXPERIENCE Web Design & Development Digital Ecosystem Design User Experience Design (UX) App Design & Development Commerce Strategy & Solutions Experience Design UI & Interactive Design Full-Stack Development SEO & Content Strategy BRAND STRATEGY ABOUT CACTUS KEY STRENGTHS / AGENCY CAPABILITIES 12 CLIENT LIST: Here are the current clients Cactus works with: •Arapahoe Basin •CommunityAmerica Credit Union •Cochlear Americas •Commonwealth Care Alliance Health •Colorado Department of Human Services •Colorado Lottery •Christy Sports •Diversus Health •DetecTogether •Edward-Elmhurst Health •Force Management CURRENT CLIENTS •Hart House •Kroenke Sports & Entertainment •Loveland Products •Man Therapy •Movember •North Carolina Education Lottery •Parkview Health System •Pure Fishing •Umpqua Bank •Vail Local Marketing District •Westerra Credit Union 13 REFERENCES: ARAPAHOE BASIN Key Contact Name: Jesse True Marketing Director Company Name: Arapahoe Basin Phone Number: 970.513.5767 Email Address: jesset@a-basin.net Testimonial: "We work with Cactus because they just get us. Their team has a deep understanding of our business, our vibe and everything that makes A- Basin legendary. That came through loud and clear in their Belief & Behavior Design strategy work. Together we've charted an approach to creative and media activation that's elevated A- Basin marketing to a place it's never been before. We love our partnership with Cactus and look forward to a bright future together." CLIENT TESTIMONIALS + REFERENCES EDWARD-ELMHURST HEALTH Key Contact Name: Sheri Scott Vice President, Marketing and Communications Company Name: Edward-Elmhurst Health Phone Number: 331.221.6675 Email Address: Sheri.Scott@eehealth.org Testimonial: “Cactus is one of the best when it comes to truly listening. I’ve found that the Cactus team sees my team as an extension of what they do and vice versa. The work we do together is better because of that. It’s creative. It’s a strong reflection of our organization’s culture. And it breaks through in a crowded marketplace. Cactus takes it a step beyond the traditional agency/client relationship.” WESTERRA CREDIT UNION Key Contact Name: Wade Paschall Chief Marketing Officer Company Name: Westerra Credit Union Phone Number: 314.479.3200 Email Address: wpaschall@westerracu.com Testimonial: “Cactus came to our business in a tough spot because we had already established a campaign strategy and they were being asked to work within that. Their attitude could not have been better. They rolled up their sleeves and helped us hone that strategy even better before executing against it with full enthusiasm. Cactus is a true partner and showed us how they will always put what’s best for our brand first.” LEADERSHIP & CORE TEAM Heather is thrilled to be a senior account manager here at Cactus, working on accounts like Christy Sports, Plano Moulding, VLMD, and A-Basin. She started out at Grenadier and worked at other firms like CPB and Karsh Hagan. Some of the coolest clients she's worked on include Jose Cuervo, 1800 Tequila, Fruit of the Loom, and Infiniti. Her superpower? Communication. She loves meeting new people and is naturally curious, and she enjoys getting to learn about others and their POV. This has helped her both inside and outside of work – relationships are important to her and she makes a point to get close with everyone she work with. HEATHER VAZZA SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER 15 Main Point of Contact ACCOUNT LEADERSHIP & PROJECT MANAGEMENT TEAM Ainslie is a proud member of the Cactus boomerang club. This time around, she is a VP bringing her leadership skills to managing the account team. Her industry experience includes: The North Face, Sports Authority, Colorado Lottery, Globus Family of Brands, Steamboat Ski Resort, Vail Resorts, Vail Local Marketing District, Jackson Hole, Steamboat Sheraton, UCHealth, Lovelace Health System, Edward-Elmhurst Health and Colorado Crisis Services. Prior to advertising, Ainslie worked in retail, serving up popcorn at the mall. Her industry experience includes working with Mullen Lowe, Karsh Hagan, and Factory. Ainslie knows how to problem solve and get things done. She is adept at guiding her team to solutions and maintaining momentum from start to finish. She brings an idealistic realism to her work, which is a bit of an oxymoron, but we rely on her to bring a healthy dose of both to all she does at Cactus. AINSLIE FORTUNE VP, ACCOUNT LEADERSHIP TEAM MEMBER BIOS RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: •Vail Local Marketing District •Arapahoe Basin •Steamboat Ski Resort •Vail Resorts •Jackson Hole •Greater Zion ROLE: Owner of relationships with Vail Local Marketing District. RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: •Vail Local Marketing District •Arapahoe Basin •Christy Sports •Plano Moulding ROLE: Day-to-day account lead driving all workflow for Vail Local Marketing District. Helen works on the Cactus project management team, making sure projects are completed on-time and on-budget. She’s worked for many Cactus clients, including Vail, Greater Zion, iHeartMedia, CommunityAmerica Credit Union, University of Colorado Denver, Waterpik, Parc Mosaic, Colorado Lottery, Colorado Crisis Services and Man Therapy. Prior to her work at Cactus, she interned at Viacom for MTV. Helen brings an unwavering ability to remain composed under pressure. HELEN SHABINSKY PROJECT MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: •Vail Local Marketing District •Greater Zion •Arapahoe Basin •Parc Mosaic •Colorado Lottery •Christy Sports ROLE: Day-to-day project management including schedules, deadlines and budgets/billing. As associate strategy director at Cactus, Rob nerds out on uncovering what makes brands, and the consumers who engage with them, tick. Driven by innate curiosity, he specializes in leveraging research to go beyond statistics and uncover the “why” behind data that fuels innovative solutions. With past strategy roles at Human Design, Match Marketing Group, and Monigle, Rob has experience developing brand and creative strategies across touchpoints. In these roles, he's had the opportunity to partner with brands including Smartwool, Nike, Land O' Lakes, Woody Creek, Finance of America, Adidas, Pure Leaf, Progressive, Ford, Polaris, Epic Mountain Gear, Vitalent, and Canvas Credit Union.  ROB TROLLER ASSOCIATE STRATEGY DIRECTOR 16 STRATEGY TEAM Kelly leads brand strategy – activating our Belief & Behavior Design® process through the lens of deep curiosity and empathy for the humans and brands we are building bonds between. Kelly joins Cactus from Griffin Archer in Minneapolis, where she was co-CEO and head of strategy across the agency’s roster of clients, including Sleep Number, Factory Motor Parts, HyVee and CITGO. Kelly has held strategy leadership roles at best-in-class agencies like Crispin Porter Bogusky where she led strategy across Domino’s, VRBO, American Airlines, and Fruit of the Loom. At Carmichael Lynch, she was senior partner/head of strategy working on iconic brands like Subaru, Harley Davidson, Seventh Generation, Rubbermaid and Jack Link’s. And earlier in her career, she was a VP strategic planner at McCann’s Campbell Mithun working on iconic brands like Burger King, Popsicle, Xbox, St. Ives and General Mills. KELLY ROWNTREE VP, CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER TEAM MEMBER BIOS RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: •VRBO •American Airlines •Sleep Number •Harley Davidson ROLE: Oversight on all Cactus brand strategy. RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: •Vail Local Marketing District •Arapahoe Basin •Sturgis Motorcycle Rally •Epic Mountain Gear •Boatsetter ROLE: Day-to-day strategic leadership on VLMD. Jeff is the creative director for all our travel and tourism clients at Cactus. He came to us from us, taking a pause to write a book, and from other agencies, like Karsh Hagan, JWT, Barnhart/CMI. His portfolio is extensive, including Colorado Tourism Office, Jackson Hole, Vail Resorts, Town of Vail, Arapahoe Basin, Greater Zion, Winter Park Resort, WhiteWave Foods, Silk, Horizon Organic, SmartyPants Vitamins, Bhakti Chai, Gaia, Lyra Health, UCHealth, Denver Health, Edward-Elmhurst Health, LivingWorks, Mental Health Center of Denver, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and Colorado Lottery. Jeff has an unrivaled sense of passion, purpose and integrity that he brings to the Cactus team, challenging and encouraging everyone to do their best work. JEFF STRAHL SENIOR CREATIVE DIRECTOR Sarah’s title may be design director, but she considers herself an artist, illustrator, art director, communicator, puzzle solver and designer. She is versed at the conception, development and execution of visual solutions for print, television, online and mobile applications. As a senior creative, she has a particular passion for developing consistent design languages for all of the brands she works with. Sarah leads our designers into making great design. She has a knack for asking the right questions to produce work that balances pragmatism and inventiveness. Her work is rooted in a life-long passion for creating. She loves making, drawing, designing and doing. Prior to Cactus, Sarah worked with The Martin Agency and her portfolio includes some well-recognized brands: Oreo, Benjamin Moore, Geico, PING Golf, Sabra Hummus and TIAA. SARAH BERKHEIMER DESIGN DIRECTOR 17 TEAM MEMBER BIOS RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: •Vail Local Marketing District •Colorado Tourism Office •Vail Resorts •Jackson Hole •Arapahoe Basin •Winter Park Resort •Greater Zion ROLE: Accountable for creative excellence across every travel and tourism client campaign and tactic. Managing the creative team’s workloads and output. RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: •Vail Local Marketing District •Christy Sports •Diversus Health •Parkview Health System •Trimble ROLE: Leads the design discipline and is on-point for any work related to brand identity, brand standards, and how that is carried through all marketing materials. CREATIVE TEAM ADDITIONAL CREATIVE SUPPORT: Creative Director Jeff Strahl will provide oversight and support on all aspects of the VLMD creative contract to ensure the brand voice, look and feel, and a consistent creative vision are carried through any digital creative or design initiatives we develop. The rest of our creative team, including visual designers, copywriters, art directors, and production designers, will be leveraged for their diverse range of skills and expertise to support the creative and digital experience teams on a project-by-project basis. Chris leads the agency's communications strategy and media disciplines. With over a decade of experience as a media-misfit inside some of the world's most famous creative agencies, Chris has an insatiable appetite for decoding consumer behaviors, uncovering unconventional insights and finding creative magic where media and message overlap. He brings experience running comms and media planning across a range of iconic brands including Domino's, Oakley, Jose Cuervo, The North Face, 1800 Tequila, Aspen Ski Co, American Airlines, Hotels.com, VRBO and INFINITI. Before advertising, Chris was a professional cyclist – racing at the sport's highest level for Santa Cruz Bicycles. CHRIS SHEWMAKE VP, COMMS STRATEGY & MEDIA Matt is an associate media director here at Cactus. Originally from Illinois, Matt spent seven years in Chicago before making the move to Denver in 2016. In Chicago, Matt worked at Edelman Digital, leading media planning and SEO strategy for clients such as American Heart Association, Humana, GE, Cars.com, Bush’s Beans, and more. Prior to hopping over to Cactus in 2021, Matt was managing the paid media strategy for Epic Pass at Vail Resorts. Matt thrives by leaning into his entrepreneurial spirit, always jumping at the opportunity to work on a new project and expand his skillset. He also has a passion for education and finding ways to help his colleagues grow in whatever way he can. Outside of the office, Matt is a big baseball fan. You can catch him at Coors Field whenever the Cubs are in town. He also loves to travel, with Rome, Dublin, Barcelona and Aruba among his favorite destination spots.. MATT STONTZ ASSOCIATE MEDIA DIRECTOR 18 TEAM MEMBER BIOS RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: •Vail Local Marketing District •VRBO •The North Face •Aspen Ski Co ROLE: Accountable for comms planning and media oversight across every client campaign and tactic that comes out of the agency, including VLMD. RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: •Vail Resorts •Vail Local Marketing District •Arapahoe Basin ROLE: Media planning support and day-to-day execution of all VLMD campaign plans. COMMS STRATEGY AND MEDIA TEAM Brad is a native Coloradan who took a seven-year stint in Texas to start his career but couldn’t stay away from our beautiful state. He is a self-described “data geek” and media planning is in his blood as he loves analyzing what truly makes a consumer tick. With over fifteen years of experience working on and leading media for big brands such as Pepsi, hotels.com, Fruit of the Loom, Vail, DISH Network, and a banking start-up called Kasasa, he brings extensive experience driving success across multiple verticals. What he loves the most, however, is helping unlock the potential of those around him and leading high-functioning teams that get to do badass work together. BRAD FICEK MEDIA DIRECTOR RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: •Vail Resorts •Vail Local Marketing District •Arapahoe Basin ROLE: Media planning lead for all VLMD campaigns. Shun-Luoi leads our digital strategy and experience discipline, bringing a passion for guiding cross-disciplinary, collaborative work that transforms brands and culture. His thoughtful integration of design, technology, and shared human experiences work toward that end, all while being led by his empathetic and strategic mantra – listen, learn, love, create. Prior to joining Cactus, he had roles in account leadership and strategy at agencies in Colorado and Washington D.C., and has partnered with clients such as Movember, Colorado Lottery, North Carolina Education Lottery, VLMD, Finance of America, Perfect Day, Smartwool, Ladder Financial, and (ISC)². SHUN-LUOI FONG DIGITAL EXPERIENCE DIRECTOR 19 TEAM MEMBER BIOS RELEVANT EXPERIENCE •Vail Local Marketing District •Colorado Lottery •North Carolina Education Lottery •Smartwool •Perfect Day •Movember ROLE: Accountable for oversight on all digital experience projects at the agency, including VLMD. DIGITAL EXPERIENCE TEAM Kevin is a designer on the digital experience team who always has a vision for novel and creative solutions to interactive problems. He has an unwavering drive for delivering the best possible digital projects and experiences, which comes from his determination to produce work that rises above the requirements. Kevin has worked on projects for LivingWorks, Nod, Pinnacol Assurance, You at College, Transamerica, At Home, Ski Shops, and HighBridge Creative. KEVIN ROYSDEN SENIOR UX DESIGNER RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: •MetroDenver EDC •SkiShops •Discover Vail •Nod ROLE: Day-to-day digital design support for all VLMD web and campaign work. Austin worked as a freelancer prior to settling into Cactus. He's been with the team nearly a decade, which means he's worked on a lot of projects with a lot of Cacti for a lot of clients. He's brought his attention to detail and natural curiosity to work for Man Therapy, Nod, Colorado Lottery, UCHealth, LivingWorks, You at College, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Horizon, Vail, Winter Park Resort, Jackson Hole, Waterpik, Scott Credit Union, CommunityAmerica, Greater Zion, and Psyberguide. Austin also plays a mean game of pong, is happy to have a beer and if we had a trampoline, he'd show off some acrobatics, but probably not after or during the beer drinking. AUSTIN LLITERAS DIGITAL DEVELOPER & DESIGNER RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: •Discover Vail •Greater Zion •Jackson Hole •Colorado Lottery •University of Colorado Denver ROLE: On-point for all development and back-end website needs for VLMD. Norm leads the creative at Cactus, where he actively and enthusiastically reminds us that people hate ads, so we’re not going to make them. Instead, we’re going to befriend people, make their day a little easier and be useful to them. Prior to Cactus, Norm worked at Sukle, McClain Finlon and Rhino Records. He also freelanced a bit and once had his own agency, Twig. Not to mention, he helped found Grit Digital Health – a company that is dedicated to creating behavioral health and wellbeing solutions through design and technology. Norm’s portfolio includes: Smashburger, CommunityAmerica Credit Union, Colorado Lottery, Vail, Odell Brewing, Jackson Hole, Whole Foods and Man Therapy. Cactus wouldn’t be Cactus without his eternal optimism, encouragement and direction to play well with clients and produce the best creative solutions that blow through walls, knock down challenges and deliver exponentially on objectives. You cannot help but do your best work around Norm. EXECUTIVE TEAM Jeff guides account leadership, brand strategy, agency operations, and business development for Cactus, joining in March 2020 – just in time for a pandemic to break out! Prior to Cactus, he served as SVP/managing director of Barkley, and was co-founder of Boulder-based creative boutique Grenadier. He brings more than 25 years of guiding account leadership teams in some of the country’s most creatively driven agencies like CP+B, Arnold, CORE and TBWA\Chiat\Day. Jeff’s experience spans a broad range of QSR, fast casual and full-service restaurants including Panera Bread, Noodles & Company, Taco Johns, Cafe Rio Mexican, Naf Naf Grill, Einstein Bros Bagels, Miller’s Ale House, Rio Grande Mexican, Larkburger and Pizza Patron – as well as tech industry brands like Microsoft, SolidFire, Level3 Networking, and Groupon. He's been an adjunct professor of advertising at both the University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of Missouri Columbia, a frequent guest speaker for Ad Clubs nationwide, and a past-president of Ad Club CO (AAF). JEFF GRAHAM PRESIDENT, CMO NORM SHEARER PARTNER, CCO 20 ROLE FOR THIS PROJECT: Executive Sponsor ROLE FOR THIS PROJECT: Executive Sponsor TEAM MEMBER BIOS Joe guides the ship at Cactus. Sometimes it’s a sail boat and sometimes it’s a battleship. In 1990, Joe was inspired to put his time, talent and passion to work building brands and causes he believed in, so he founded Cactus. He’s worked on just about every brand in the agency over the years and his job is to make sure the agency is always pointed in the right direction and we have the right team in place. Joe brings an earnest desire to have real impact with our work, a respect for critical thought and the ability to always find the path forward. He sets high standards for the Cacti and has created a culture of autonomy, mastery and purpose. You want Joe on your team. JOE CONRAD FOUNDER & CEO ROLE FOR THIS PROJECT: Executive Sponsor OUR PROCESS BELIEF BEHAVIOR DESIGN® Growing brands that help people thrive has always been our “why” at Cactus. Belief & Behavior Design® is our “how.” It’s our process for getting to great work and creating consumer behavior change that really sticks. OUR PROCESS BELIEF & BEHAVIOR DESIGN® Belief & Behavior Design® harnesses our decades of experience blending behavior change science with consumer insight and Cactus creativity. Using it we elucidate the inhibiting beliefs and behaviors of both consumer and brand that are hampering organizations from achieving their business goals. The process culminates in The Sharp Idea, a galvanizing strategic platform that drives everything the brand does in the world – both inside and out. BRAND Beliefs & Behaviors CONSUMER Beliefs & Behaviors OUR PROCESS BELIEF & BEHAVIOR DESIGN® Behavioral psychology shows how our beliefs drive our behaviors, and our behaviors drive our beliefs. As humans, our beliefs are deeply rooted and because of that, they perpetuate existing habits and routines (behaviors). That’s important for marketers because attempting to motivate any sort of behavioral change through marketing, without first addressing underlying inhibiting beliefs, is going to be an exercise in futility. It won’t stick. Belief & Behavior Design is all about laying a foundation for long-term consumer behavior change. Identifying old inhibiting beliefs that hold consumers back, and replacing them with new beliefs designed to accelerate the desired behavior. BRAND Beliefs & Behaviors CONSUMER Beliefs & Behaviors OUR PROCESS We apply the same rigor to the brand. Understanding the inhibiting behaviors that create friction between your brand and consumers. Then developing a new set of accelerating brand behaviors, brand actions that allow you to show up in consumers’ lives in a way that’s consistent with your brand’s stated beliefs.  BELIEF & BEHAVIOR DESIGN® BRAND Beliefs & Behaviors CONSUMER Beliefs & Behaviors OUR PROCESS CONSUMER BELIEFS DESIRED CONSUMER BEHAVIOR BRAND BEHAVIORS INHIBITING BEHAVIOR(S) INHIBITING BELIEF(S) BRAND BELIEFS BRAND Beliefs & Behaviors CONSUMER Beliefs & Behaviors ACCELERATING BEHAVIOR(S) ACCELERATING BELIEF(S) Laying the foundation for long-term consumer behavior change What do we want them to think? What do consumers currently think that’s keeping them from exhibiting the desired behavior? What’s the end goal, stated in terms of a specific action we want/need consumers to take? What are the brand’s stated beliefs, who have we declared ourselves to be to the world? What are new ways the brand can show up in consumer’s lives, actions that bring it back into alignment with our stated brand beliefs? What are the ways the brand is showing up that create friction, are at odds with our brand beliefs or a current consumer belief? A galvanizing, strategic platform that inspires everything your brand does, inside your company and out in the world. BELIEF & BEHAVIOR DESIGN® OUR PROCESS 27 MASTER BRAND HIGH-LEVEL BLUEPRINT IDENTITY DESIGN BIG IDEA CONCEPTUAL INTEGRATED HIGH-LEVEL COMMS DETAILED COMMS DIGITAL EXPERIENCE MEDIA FUNCTIONAL ADD-ON TO EXISTING CAMPAIGN INSIGHT IMMERSION COMPANION TO BRIEF LONG-FORM INSIGHT STORY- TELLING ETHOS ELEMENTS EXPRESSION EXPERIENCE EXECUTION EXECUTION BRIEFTHE EXPERIENCE BRIEFTHE ELEMENTS BRIEFTHE THE BRIEF THE BRIEF expression BRIEFTHE THE BRIEF THE BRIEF A suite of structural tools that work together in synchronous and discreet ways to guide the holistic brand. BELIEF & BEHAVIOR DESIGN® TOOLSET OUR PROCESS 28 CACTUS COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING HOW WE BRING IDEAS TO LIFE: Insights from years of consumer, category, and creative research lay the groundwork for VLMD’s Brand Ethos and Expression. These artifacts from our Belief & Behavior Design® toolset guide our creative platform as it is activated across the ecosystem of paid, earned, and owned channels to communicate Vail’s story and galvanize our audience. Codifies the VLMD story Guides storytelling and communications OUR PROCESS BRAND ETHOS: EXPRESSION BRIEF: 29 Armed with a powerful creative platform like “Life is But a Dream,” our brand and comms strategy teams develop an integrated communications and content strategy, with the goal of defining the content and experiences that can maximize the impact of the creative platform across the consumer journey. At Cactus, this takes the form of an EXPERIENCE BRIEF, which serves to: •Identify key moments within the consumer journey in which belief and behavior is either most receptive to change or most imperative to change. •Designate key communications tasks for experiences to engage consumers with the creative expression along that journey. •Guide the tactical ideation process to ensure perfect alignment between message (creative expression), medium, and digital experience. •Serve as the foundation for an integrated content strategy, which can be utilized to ensure alignment between the overarching creative platform and content created across the VLMD partner group. Integrated Content Plan BELIEF & BEHAVIOR DESIGN COMMS PLANNING PROCESS Measures of Belief & Behavior Change Paid/Owned/Earned Channel + Messaging Approach Comms Tasks to Shift Belief & Behavior Across the Journey High-Level Journey Framework Creative Expression Development CACTUS COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING HOW WE BRING IDEAS TO MARKET: OUR PROCESS 30 TOGETHER, THESE TOOLS GUIDE OUR ACTIVATIONS ACROSS CREATIVE, MEDIA, AND WEBSITE. OUR PROCESS 31 CREATIVE ACTIVATING OUR VISION.Full Service Creative Agency: STRATEGIC CONSULTING, CAMPAIGN DEVELOPMENT, AND ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT 32 As your partner for the past six years we’ve come a long way, but there is still work to be done. We’ll continue to lead the overarching strategy to help unify the partner efforts, identify new opportunities, and weather future challenges. And it all starts with our consumer – understanding their needs and how we as a destination can fulfill their dreams in a responsible way. We’ve established a creative platform that is just beginning to take shape and is already resonating with our best guests. But we need to continue to articulate the “dream” expanding how this manifests itself within our creative, our marketing tactics, and the destination itself. We are incredibly excited to continue on this journey with you and we can’t wait to see what comes next. THE VISION Activating the Dream: 33 ACCOUNT 34 Account Leadership: The current account leadership team will continue to serve as the foundation for all scopes of work. Ainslie and Heather have an in-depth understanding of your business, brand, ways of working, and the travel and tourism industry. They go above and beyond in ways that other account leaders would not, providing overall orchestration, ensuring that our teams are communicating and sharing knowledge across all of our work for VLMD. Your account leadership team: •Champions the strategic vision and connects all of the efforts. •Distributes information to get the right people the information they need to take action. •Solves problems and eliminates barriers. 35 STRATEGY 36 LUXURY TRAVEL IS ON THE RISE. *Globaldata Travel and Tourism: Increase in high-net-worth individuals bodes well for luxury tourism. **Luxury Travel Advisor: STATS: 85% of luxury travelers believe in using travel advisors STRATEGY At a macro level,Over the course of 2021 LUXURY HOTEL REVENUE INCREASED BY 147% YOY compared to only 42% YoY increase in U.S. budget hotel revenue.* In a survey of luxury travelers 72% ARE SPENDING MORE ON THEIR VACATIONS than they did before the pandemic.** 37 *American Express Travel: 2022 Global Travel Trends Report TRAVELERS ARE NOT JUST LOOKING FOR ANOTHER VACATION THEY WANT TO GO ON THEIR DREAM TRIP. STRATEGY Moreover,In a survey of travelers 55% WANT TO BOOK A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME VACATION in 2022 65% WOULD RATHER TAKE THEIR DREAM VACATION than purchase a new car* 37 38 HNW Families HNW Empty Nesters Purpose of Leisure Travel? HAVING NEW EXPERIENCES 168 INDEX ACCOMPLISH BUCKET LIST GOAL 155 INDEX HIGH QUALITY 157 INDEX HIGH QUALITY 133 INDEX Top Travel Product Attribute? OUR HIGH-NET-WORTH AUDIENCE EXPECTS TRAVEL EXPERIENCES THAT TRANSCEND THE ORDINARY. STRATEGY Narrowing our target reveals that 39 Repetitive messaging around adventure and activities have made mountain destinations indistinguishable in consumers’ eyes. “Defy Ordinary”“Stay Wild”“Thrill Runs Deep” “The Brighter Side”“Gateway to Adventure”“The Most Colorado Place on Earth” “Go Breck” MOUNTAIN DESTINATIONS ARE COMMODITIZED BY PARITY. STRATEGY But within our category, 40 TRANSCEND THE SEA OF SAMENESS IN A COMMODITIZED CATEGORY BY STANDING FOR SOMETHING MORE… STRATEGY Vail’s opportunity is to Vail is magical. Vail is romantic. - Jim D. VAIL’S UNRIVALED BLEND OF WILDERNESS AND WORLDLINESS IS THE SECRET BEHIND OUR WONDER . 41 I’m most excited to spend time hiking Vail's beautiful trails! - Ellie E. I'm looking forward to a spa day at Sonnenalp and all of the restaurants. - Morgan R. STRATEGY 42 HOW DID WE BRING THIS WONDER TO THE WORLD? STRATEGY & CREATIVE Inspire a response and leave them wanting more. Create relevant connection and emotional investment. Earn their attention.Unexpected Insightful Compelling Through these creative filters. 43 CREATIVE & STRATEGY 44 FOUNDATIONALLY We have built a campaign that changes the narrative for mountain travel and tourism marketing, that breaks free of the sea-of-sameness and elevates Vail above all other mountain town destinations. We lean into our skiing heritage, the ethos that comes from that, and our strongest differentiator, our Bavarian-inspired village. No other destination in the U.S. can replicate this. This is our campaign on our terms. LIFE IS BUT A DREAM CREATIVE The power of 45 EMOTIONALLY Life is But a Dream positions Vail as a singular destination in the U.S. and as a brand that’s not afraid to push into the surreal, the fantastical, and a dream-like space of romantic escapism. You truly feel different when you’re here. Distractions and the burdens of life don’t feel so heavy in this mountain air. You feel lighter. It’s easier to relax, fall in love and get carried away. It’s difficult to put into words, but Life is But a Dream captures that feeling. The psychological impact of COVID-19 and being locked down is still unfolding. Life is But a Dream is also a reminder that life is short, and encourages you to take action. Don’t let excuses get in the way. Participate in life, book the trip, pack the bag, get on the plane, have the adventure and live your dream vacation in Vail. Enjoy life, and do it NOW. LIFE IS BUT A DREAM CREATIVE The power of 46 FUNCTIONALLY Efficient – Creating a multi-year campaign provides a singular focus to which content and assets can be built and added to with an expanding, consistent library. Versatile – The Dream can be expressed in many different ways through different tones… •Surreal •Ethereal •Playful •Serene •Blissful •Intimate •Contemplative •Fulfilled LIFE IS BUT A DREAM CREATIVE The power of 47 We’ve built this campaign together. This is our vision, and nobody knows how to execute it better than we do. But consider that what we’re doing here is more than a campaign. This is a big idea that, through careful curation and repetition, allows Vail to transcend from a mountain destination to the embodiment of The Dream. Long term: Vail = The Dream So where do we go from here? LIFE IS BUT A DREAM CREATIVE The power of 48 Armed with this powerful platform, our communications strategists develop an integrated comms framework to guide the deployment of the Life is But a Dream platform across key paid, owned, and earned media touchpoints. INSPIRATION DREAMING CONSIDERATION BOOKING ANTICIPATION EXPERIENCE REMINISCE/SHARE DISCOVER THE DREAM Drive Brand Distinction + Consideration Define the Vail experience as a magical, dream-like destination for high-net-worth travelers. EXPERIENCE THE DREAM Booking + Experience Enhancement Bring the feeling of The Dream to travelers both before they book/arrive and on-site during their actual visit. KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE Recall + Advocacy Reinforce and remind travelers of The Dream well before and well after their actual travel. CONSUMER JOURNEY CREATIVE EXPRESSION INTEGRATED COMMUNICATIONS TASKS PAID + EARNED: Advertising: Reach-Driving Paid Media Digital: Campaign Landing Page + Content PR: Dream Activations + PR PR + Activations: Dream Partnerships Social: Influencer Dream Experiences PAID + OWNED + EARNED: Advertising: Booking-Driving Paid Media (pros + retargeting) CRM: Pre-travel + Post-booking CRM + Data Capture Social + PR: Social + Owned Content Digital: On-Site Experience Enhancement Tools/Content Partner Engagement: On-Site Experience / Surprise + Delight EARNED + OWNED REENGAGEMENT: Social + Community: UGC + Visitor Social Social + PR: # Campaigns + Social Promotions CRM: Post-Travel CRM Engagement PRIORITY CHANNELS LIFE IS BUT A DREAM CREATIVE Extending the platform LIFE IS BUT A DREAM 49 •The integrated communications framework and creative platform then serve as the north star for creating cross- partner briefs, from which partner stakeholders can help bring the dream to reality. •In partnership with 20North and the broader partner group Cactus will leverage the framework, translate it to a more tactical channel plan, and use the channel plan to build both Cactus-internal and VLMD partner briefs. •This will help democratize content creation, while ensuring each piece of content created serves a specific role along the consumer journey, and a specific role in reinforcing the Life is But a Dream creative platform. ENSURING INTEGRATION + ALIGNMENT ACROSS THE PARTNER ECOSYSTEM CREATIVE Content & Channel Planning Channel Paid/Owned/ Earned Priority Comms Task Channel Strategy Content Pillars KPI Online Video Paid Discover the Dream Offer a broadly relevant glimpse into the Vail Dream Dream Campaign Assets AdRecall Consideration Reach Reach-Based Social Paid Discover the Dream Offer a tailored glimpse into the Vail Dream Dream + Persona- Based Assets Reach | Traffic | AdRecall Lift Rate Paid Search Paid Experience the Dream Convert interest into revenue Brand Conquesting Luxury Association Website Conversion, CPC | ROAS Influencer Paid Discover the Dream Create and share dream-like experiences Fashion | Family Culinary | Culture Engagement Mention Volume Sentiment Earned Experience The Dream Amplify content from actual Vail visitors Planned + Opportunistic Engagement Mention Volume Sentiment UGC Earned Experience the Dream+ Keep the Dream Alive Aggregate and amplify dream content from guests Campaign # Sweeps On-Site Moments Post Volume # Usage Campaign Landing Page Owned Discover the Dream Connect prospects to the story aligned with their Dream Personalization across location, season, segment, medium, asset, etc Engagement Data Capture Booking Homepage Owned Experience The Dream Drive data capture to power personalization Explore + Events Lodging Things to Do Tools Data Capture | Booking Email Owned Experience the Dream+ Keep the Dream Alive Offer continuous inspiration for past and future guests Inspiration | Events Things to Do | Tools Offers Open Rate Engagement Traffic Booking | ROAS Example Channel Plan - SAMPLE Only 50 As a continuation of channel and content planning, Cactus will provide a social audit and strategic playbook to guide how VLMD’s paid, earned, and owned social channels can solidify Vail as synonymous with dreaming. Social Strategy Process: •Channel audit and opportunity analysis •Social audience deep-dive •Social brand persona / voice / editorial authority •Social-specific channel plan Sample Social Strategy Artifacts SOCIAL STRATEGY AND CONTENT IMPLICATIONS CREATIVE Content & Channel Planning 51 CREATIVE ACTIVATING OUR VISION.Media Planning & Buying: MEDIA PLANNING, BUYING, OPTIMIZING, BILLING AND REPORTING 52 As we look back upon the history serving as your paid media partner, we have much to be proud of. We’ve consistently evolved, adapted and elevated our media approach year after year. We’ve become more addressable – emphasizing high-priority targets and re fining our targeting approach. We’ve become more accountable – evolving our media metrics from simple clicks and traffic to revenue-focused outcomes and brand-impact metrics. And we’ve become more agile – quickly adapting our media and geographic mixes to both react to and capitalize on changing and challenging dynamics like COVID-19 and shifting consumer behaviors. But we also know the best is yet to come. Looking forward to 2022-23 and beyond, we see continued opportunity for growth. Further improving our addressability in media by harnessing more of your first-party data. Further amplifying the story of The Dream that is Vail with high-impact media placements. And further evolving our measurement approach to truly quantify the impact of our efforts on minds and wallets of high-value travelers. We’re proud of what we’ve done. But we’re thrilled for a continued future together. In this proposal you’ll see a glimpse into that future and some of the key opportunities we’ll seek to make your media dollars work harder than ever. DRIVING THE DREAM FORWARD IN PAID MEDIA MEDIA SERVICES The Vision. At Cactus, our media team is deeply ingrained within the agency’s Belief & Behavior Design® process. To us, media is both a creative and scientific exercise. Rather than just focusing on ways to distribute content, we emphasize opportunities that enhance the power of creative ideas, and select the perfect media environments to drive measurable changes in the beliefs and behaviors that will move your business forward. Where you show up communicates about your brand. We think creatively about context so your media best supports your message. We plan and buy all media in-house. This removes the middleman in the supply chain, gets you better rates, and means we’re never incentivized to push you to specific tactics. The world of media has become frustratingly opaque. We believe in radical transparency. The cost we see is the cost you see. No hidden markups, no hidden fees. Just refreshing honesty. While we know the power of new innovation, we also know there’s typically even more value in making the media basics work harder. We identify and rectify inefficiencies to make every dollar you spend work harder. It’s virtually impossible to not get lost in the sea of media acronyms and frankly meaningless vanity metics. We cut through the clutter to define and impact the metrics that move the needle on your business. MEDIA SERVICES TO MEDIA Our approach CONTEXT COMMUNICATES. EVERYTHING IN-HOUSE. EVERYTHING ON THE TABLE. ERADICATE INEFFICIENCY. TRANSPARENCY IS POLICY. BEHAVIOR CHANGE IS THE ONLY METRIC THAT MATTERS. OUR BELIEFS ABOUT MEDIA 54 Overarching Media Approach: IN PAID MEDIA MEDIA SERVICES Activating Life is but a dream LEAD THE RIGHT AUDIENCE TO THE RIGHT STORY AT THE RIGHT TIME 55 With the current tailwinds of pent-up demand post-COVID, strong occupancy levels, and VLMD’s focus on environmental stewardship, our media objective is intentionally not focused on driving mass visitation. Instead, our goal is to drive the RIGHT visitation – motivating potential guests with high spending power and the flexibility to visit during non-peak windows. Based on the robust analysis performed in 2021, we’ve honed our media strategy in on high-net-worth guests: those with substantial liquid assets, that are apt to book longer-term and higher average nightly rate stays.2021 VLMD CRM DATABASE ANALYSIS determined our guests significantly over-index on a net worth of $5MM - $10MM. This insight has led to our emphasis on high- net-worth travelers, who book longer and higher-value stays. MEDIA SERVICES RIGHT AUDIENCE Connecting with the 56 Activate 1st-Party Data Expand 2nd-Party Data Re fine 3rd-Party Data As we embark upon the future, Cactus will continue to refine our mixture of first-, second-, and third-party data to resonate with and attract luxury travelers in search of their next unforgettable experience. MEDIA SERVICES RIGHT AUDIENCE Connecting with the •Use Wifi sign-up data to target past visitors with media. •Create look-a-like segments to aid prospecting efforts. •Test new travel data partnerships to best reach luxury travelers throughout their planning journey. •Use email append data from Epsilon partnership to define segmentation and drive personalization. •Prioritize premium contextual environments, because where our ads show up says a lot about the Vail brand. •Re fine HNW personas to allow for more specific targeting, nationally. 57 In a recent survey from American Express, 55% of travelers were looking to book their once-in-a-lifetime trip in 2022. Vail is a once-in-a-lifetime destination, and our media will tell that story. Cactus will continue to prioritize high-impact, visually engaging tactics that communicate the wonder of Vail and give prospective travelers a taste of what it’s like to experience the dream. Knowing that today’s audiences are also multi-faceted, we will utilize first- and second-party data to learn more about our audiences and their interests to inform creative that will drive better storytelling and improved personalization across the “Journey to the Dream.” MEDIA SERVICES RIGHT STORY Telling them the 58 Etc. Stories will balance the head with the heart, bringing the Vail experience to life in creative ways, while also highlighting the reasons to book now and stay longer. Amplify the Dream Influencer Content Elevate the Dream Experiential Showcase the Dream Social & Native Book the Dream Display & SEM 63% of people trust messages from influencers more than brands. We’ll work with Malen Yantis to promote influencer content and extend its reach across social media. While budget may be a limiting factor, we wish to explore an activation at a key airport that allows a highly relevant audience to get a taste of the Vail dream and consider a future trip. We’ll expand our efforts on social and native, as these channels allow for us to showcase the dream and create that moment of travel FOMO. Trusted channels like display and SEM still have an important place in our strategy and will further educate and inspire luxury travelers to book their dream. MEDIA SERVICES RIGHT STORY Telling them the 59 Over the years together, Cactus has led the continued refinement of our media mix, and has consistently driven improved efficiency and effectiveness. As you’ll see on the graphic on the right, we’ve optimized our mix over time to lean less on easily ignored formats like display, create more diversity in our channels, become more video-centric to drive brand differentiation, and become more high- impact to stand out among the “sea of tourism sameness.” While the world of media is continuously changing, having these historical learnings as the basis for optimization is crucial. Moving forward, Cactus will continue to optimize VLMD’s channel mix both annually, and in real-time based on results. We’ll work to maintain a strong set of “tried and true” tactics we know deliver business growth, while keeping a portion of funds specifically available for testing and learning. 20% 9% 16%15% 40% Display Radio Video Social Search 6% 17% 23%36% 18% Display Radio Video Social Search Digital OOH 2016 VLMD Summer Media Mix 2022 VLMD Summer Media Mix We’ve evolved from display-heavy And have evolved into more high-impact MEDIA SERVICES RIGHT TIME & PLACE Reaching them at the RIGHT TIME & PLACE Reaching them at the 60 MEDIA SERVICES HIGH-IMPACT MEDIA: This year we’ve expanded our media footprint into more high-impact channels like digital OOH in Denver International Airpot and Chicago O’Hare International Airport, and we’re even running our :90 Life is But a Dream spot in premium cinemas in Houston and Chicago. Through our deep partnership with The Trade Desk, Cactus is purchasing these units programmatically allowing Vail to efficiently appear in what have historically been high-impact but very high-cost media environments. 61 While tried and true tactics like CTV/OTT, social and search will continue to serve as the “base” of our media plans, we also know consumer media behaviors are shifting rapidly, and that’s especially true of our tech-forward and early-adopter high-net-worth target. Moving into 2023 and beyond, Cactus recommends implanting a specific test-and-learn budgeting approach to ensure we’re equipped to be consistently experimenting with new ways to reach our audience at the right place and time. We’d begin by using the 70 / 20 / 10 framework (see right). 70% of the budget is dedicated to “tried and true” tactics that have already been proven to drive success for VLMD. 20% of the budget is dedicated to testing a tactic emerging within our category or something we’ve seen a competitor successfully implant. 10% of the budget will be dedicated to something truly new and unproven, but with potential upside. When these go right, they create news and can lead to competitive advantage. 70 / 20 / 10 Budgeting Framework helps to inspire innovation and be regularly adapting to changing media habits. MEDIA SERVICES RIGHT TIME & PLACE Reaching them at the 62 While we have collectively made significant strides in our approach to measuring the impact of our campaigns, Cactus believes we can continue to re fine and improve. This year we’ve begun to implement more advanced campaign metrics to quantify the impact our top-of-funnel media (like CTV/ OTT, video and social) has on high-net-worth travelers. These include: •Adara CTV Analysis which will demonstrate the lift in hotel searches and booking after exposure to our ads – implemented this season. •Lucid Brand Lift Study which will demonstrate the lift in consideration and travel intent generated via exposure to our ads – recommended but not yet implemented. •Social Ad Recall Lift Rate analysis which will approximate the awareness and ad recall impact of each individual piece of social creative, allowing for improved optimization and better informed briefs for new partner content – currently live. MEDIA SERVICES MEASUREMENT APPROACH We’re already enhancing our Sample Adara CTV Booking Analysis Example Data from VLMD Adara Dashboard 63 New measurement methodologies introduced this year will help us better understand both the revenue impact and saliency impact of our media campaigns. But, as we look toward the future we also believe there is a robust opportunity to further integrate media measures with VLMD’s 1P data capture efforts and a future customer data platform. Cactus will continue to partner with Brown Analytics Advisory Group in further activating our CRM data to connect the dots between media exposure, website visits, customer data capture and actual town visitation to better understand customer value metrics. One step toward achieving this goal would be the integration of a customer data platform, to integrate with the current CRM system. Deeper integration with VLMD’s 1P data will allow for: -Better media targeting using 1P audiences. -Better personalization on the web and mobile web experience through a tool like a CDP. -Score users based on website visits, content interactions, email interactions, etc. to influence future messaging and media spend. -Calculate the “value” of these interactions along the path to purchase, and evaluate media performance based on its ability to drive these high-value interactions. MEDIA SERVICES MEASUREMENT IN THE FUTURE Continuing to evolve 64 Website Management: WEBSITE TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT, DEVELOPMENT, POPULATION 65 VLMD WEBSITE ENHANCING THE DREAM ON DISCOVERVAIL.COM As we continue to drive the RIGHT guests to engage with our digital and in-town experiences, we will evolve the VLMD website to create premium, personalized experiences that immerse those guests into the Vail Dream. We will continuously optimize and elevate the website so that, no matter the time of year or our guest’s location, we can drive value for our guests and contribute to responsible revenue and brand growth for VLMD. 66 BRAND + GUEST DIGITAL PRODUCT STRATEGY DATA D A T A DATA DATADATAAt Cactus, our digital approach is tightly integrated with the agency’s Belief & Behavior Design® process, in order to establish smart, actionable digital strategy at the business, product, and experiential levels. We incorporate this process into the digital space through a multidisciplinary approach that’s rooted in a holistic understanding of your brand and guests, and informed by data and technology. We work collaboratively with all stakeholders – the VLMD team, partners, and guests – to develop the strategic foundation for a robust ecosystem of digital products and experiences designed to drive value for our guests and move your brand forward. VLMD WEBSITE OUR APPROACHDigital Experience DIGITAL BUSINESS STRATEGY DIGITAL EXPERIENCE STRATEGY INNOVATION STRATEGY TECHNICAL STRATEGY Design Strategy UX DevCopy Product/Experience Foundation Immersion, Research, Workshops, Innovation Sprints, Product Vision & Roadmap As part of our multidisciplinary approach to digital, we embrace an agile flow that helps us elevate the human experience through transformative digital experience. This approach leverages an immersive, collaborative process, combined with an ever-growing understanding of your guests, to continuously iterate on solutions that differentiate your brand and delight your customers. 67 VLMD WEBSITE OUR AGILE FLOWDigital Experience MULTI-SPRINT “THEMES” SPRINTS RETRO What did we learn during this multi- sprint? LAUNCH Multi-sprint goes live to drive business PRE-LAUNCH Organize and prepare for multi- sprint to go liveRETROSPECTIVE 68 We focus on identifying and understanding the right problem(s) in order to discover and develop the right solution(s). LOVE THE PROBLEM 1 FOCUS ON OUTCOMES We believe that outcomes – benefits for the user and the brand – are more important than output or deliverables. 2 DIVERSE TEAM We integrate a diverse set of perspectives and competencies, including the client and users, into every aspect of our work. 3 TOWARD CERTAINTY We prioritize rapid iteration, testing, and learning to make better decisions for our products and users. 4 HUMAN-CENTERED We keep people at the center of our work, always engaging them, learning from them, and seeking to delight them. 5 BELIEF & BEHAVIOR We measure success by how well we've changed our user’s behaviors and beliefs for the better. 6 VLMD WEBSITE THE PILLARS OF OUR AGILE & COLLABORATIVE FLOW Digital Experience 69 Strategy Digital Transformation Digital Ecosystem Design & Roadmap Research, Insights & Trends Customer Experience Strategy SEO Strategy & Solutions Innovation Innovation Strategy & Culture Innovation Sprints Rapid Innovation Prototyping Emerging Technologies Liminal Space Strategy & Design Design Web + Mobile Strategy & Design Experience & UI Design UX Strategy & Design Commerce Strategy & Design Digital Design Systems Technology Technical Discovery & Strategy Technical Architecture Full-Stack Development CMS Development & Implementation Testing & QA Content Content Strategy Content & Copy Creation Multimedia Storytelling & Experiences Film & Photography Animations / Motion Graphics Data & Analytics Data Engineering Data Analysis Data Insights & Reporting Performance Optimization Testing Strategy & Implementation VLMD WEBSITE OUR DIGITAL CAPABILITIES Digital Experience 70 Living the Vail Dream is as magical online as it is in real life. Our #VailDream is to establish the VLMD website as the premier digital destination through which our guests – HNWIs and those aspiring to the HNWI’s lifestyle – immerse themselves in storytelling experiences that enhance the Vail Dream, and move them to: •Discover the Dream — anticipate their future Vail experience •Experience the Dream — live their present Vail experience •Keep the Dream Alive — relive their past Vail experience* *and start dreaming about their next Vail experience. VLMD WEBSITE DISCOVERVAIL.COM THE VISION Life is But a Dream 71 Immerse our guests at every touchpoint into the wonder of Vail’s unique story, blurring the line between their digital and physical experiences. IMMERSIVE INTEGRATED Maintain the website as a primary component of the VLMD ecosystem, ensuring its integration across all channels for a unified, holistic experience. OMNIPRESENT Grow the website as a year-round experience hub, always available and ready to immerse guests into the wonder of Vail’s unique story. STRUCTURED Create structured content that will be efficiently stored and delivered to guests in the right ways, at the right times, and in the right locations. PERSONALIZED Prioritize serving timely, personalized content to our guests to meet them in natural, intentional ways no matter where they are in their journey. EMPOWERING Add features and content to the website that galvanize and empower guests to extend their experience beyond digital and into the real world. As we continue evolving the VLMD website toward our vision, we will ensure our work maintains and builds on the following pillars that will serve as the foundation for the website. VLMD WEBSITE DISCOVERVAIL.COM THE FOUNDATION Life is But a Dream 72 In order to create the most immersive experiences on the VLMD website, we will focus on the following areas to evolve and optimize the website. USER EXPERIENCE Not only should the VLMD website help guests accomplish their tasks, but it also should immerse them in a delightful experience. At every moment on our guest’s journey on the site, we will continue to combine content, design, interactivity, and technology to drive value and enhance our guest’s experience. CONTENT Quality content is key for SEO to help our guests find their desired information, for helping them discover all that Vail has to offer, and for helping them plan their next vacation to Vail. We will continue to collaborate with 20North to design, create and implement the stories and information that will draw our guest’s deeper into Vail’s unique story. VLMD WEBSITE DISCOVERVAIL.COM THE FOCUS AREAS Life is But a Dream 73 VISUAL & INTERACTION DESIGN The visual aesthetic, layout, and interactive elements of the VLMD website play a vital role in establishing the site as a premier digital experience destination. We will continue to evolve the overall design of the site, as well as the design of specific content, to create the space and moments our guests will want to engage with over and over again. PERSONALIZATION Every one of our guests has specific aspirations and needs when they visit our site. We want to meet each one of them where they’re at, providing the content and resources to make their digital experience uniquely special. We will continuously explore ways to personalize each experience based on the guest’s location, affinities, and content engagement. VLMD WEBSITE In order to create the most immersive experiences on the VLMD website, we will focus on the following areas to evolve and optimize the website. Life is But a Dream DISCOVERVAIL.COM THE FOCUS AREAS 74 DATA INSIGHTS Data that shows how our initiatives are performing, and how our guests are behaving, is an important piece of the digital experience puzzle. We will continue to collaborate with Brown Analytics Advisory Group to understand the holistic data story, and to inform our work to continuously drive value to our guests and move our brand forward. TEST & OPTIMIZE Our content, design, and development initiatives are only as good as the tests we create to learn from to inform the work. We will continuously identify and define the right tests so we can capture actionable data, learn from that data, and make the best decisions for evolving and elevating the VLMD website. VLMD WEBSITE In order to create the most immersive experiences on the VLMD website, we will focus on the following areas to evolve and optimize the website. Life is But a Dream DISCOVERVAIL.COM THE FOCUS AREAS 75 We’re ready to keep going as well as take the next steps in elevating the VLMD website! Should we have the privilege of continuing our partnership, our plan for the coming three to six months is a mix of ongoing maintenance and optimizations, as well as new initiatives to push the website toward our proposed vision. VLMD WEBSITE DISCOVERVAIL.COM THE PLAN Life is But a Dream TIMELINE INITIATIVE Ongoing Test, Learn, Optimize Ongoing Digital Strategy + Creative Technology Ongoing Unified Data Reporting, Insights, and Recommendations Q4 2022 Transition to GA4 Q4 2022 Foundation: Vision Alignment & Innovation Workshops Q4 2022 Foundation: Updated Product Vision & Roadmap Q1 2023 Design & Development Sprints 76 To continue tightening our relationship between our data and website initiatives, and in collaboration with Brown Analytics Advisory Group, we will further develop a cadence of implementing features, content, and website optimizations. Where applicable, we will develop tests, including A/B tests and agile user tests, to ensure we are continuously learning and making the best optimizations to the website. We will also identify opportunities to explore and implement personalization features on the site, using existing data and CDP data (if implemented) to guide the process. VLMD WEBSITE DISCOVERVAIL.COM THE PLAN TEST, LEARN, OPTIMIZE (ONGOING) Life is But a Dream 77 To further grow a culture and process of innovation, we will establish a cadence of providing strategic thinking around the VLMD website specifically, and the digital realm in general. We will also provide ongoing thought leadership around creative technology and ways to implement it into the website, helping us move toward our proposed vision. VLMD WEBSITE DISCOVERVAIL.COM THE PLAN DIGITAL STRATEGY & CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY (ONGOING) Life is But a Dream 78 In order to best leverage data in our digital initiatives, we will continue collaborating across disciplines, including data analysis and content creation, to report out on data performance. We will also discover the actionable insights and recommendations to inform our ongoing work across digital. VLMD WEBSITE DISCOVERVAIL.COM THE PLAN UNIFIED DATA REPORTING, INSIGHTS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS (ONGOING) Life is But a Dream 79 With Google transitioning from Universal Analytics to GA4 in July 2023, we will help assess VLMD’s current analytics configuration, and establish and execute a plan for transitioning to GA4. We will transition as quickly as possible in order to start capturing data in GA4, as well as transform that data into meaningful actions for enhancing the VLMD website. VLMD WEBSITE DISCOVERVAIL.COM THE PLAN TRANSITION TO GA4 (Q4 2022) Life is But a Dream 80 In order to collectively move toward our proposed vision for the VLMD website, we will revisit and refresh our website product vision and roadmap to ensure we are properly defining and prioritizing the work. This process will start with a series of immersive and collaborative Innovation Workshops in which we will lead a cross-disciplinary team, including members of the VLMD team and partners, to explore and align around our goals, challenges, audience, and prioritized features/solutions. VLMD WEBSITE DISCOVERVAIL.COM THE PLAN FOUNDATION: VISION ALIGNMENT & INNOVATION WORKSHOPS (Q4 2022) Life is But a Dream 81 The outcomes of our Innovation Workshops will guide the creation of our refreshed Foundation: updated product vision, product roadmap and themes, feature/solution hypotheses, user stories and product backlog, user journey mapping and jobs-to-be-done, and sprint planning. VLMD WEBSITE DISCOVERVAIL.COM THE PLAN FOUNDATION: UPDATED PRODUCT VISION & ROADMAP (Q4 2022) Life is But a Dream 2 1 3 82 As part of our agile flow, and building on our refreshed product vision and roadmap, we will establish an iterative cadence of work – called sprints – to implement and test new features and content. Sprints will include: •Sprint planning and prioritization •Design, prototyping, and testing •Development and deployment •A/B testing where applicable •Sprint retrospective – learnings to optimize next sprints VLMD WEBSITE DISCOVERVAIL.COM THE PLAN DESIGN & DEV SPRINTS (Q1 2023) Life is But a Dream Design Strategy UX DevCopy Product/Experience Foundation Immersion, Research, Workshops, Innovation Sprints, Product Vision & Roadmap MULTI-SPRINT “THEMES” SPRINTS RETRO What did we learn during this multi- sprint? LAUNCH Multi-sprint goes live to drive business PRE-LAUNCH Organize and prepare for multi- sprint to go liveRETROSPECTIVE WHY CACTUS? DEEP EXPERTISE: Deep understanding of destination and of working relationship with board and partners BETTER INTEGRATION: Ability to seamlessly integrate all of these communication points with top-notch staff, making it easier for VLMD/TOV to manage SCALABILITY: Ability to flex to utilize additional Cactus resources if necessary COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP: Collaborative with the ability to bring together the full team to drive what’s most important to the destination INSPIRATIONAL AND EFFECTIVE CREATIVE: Creative product that stands out from the competition and connects emotionally with the audience to drive affinity and visitation PASSION: We love Vail and we love working on your business. It’s an honor to partner with you to build the brand and share the wonder that is Vail with the world 01 02 03 04 05 06 CACTUS INC. 2128 15th Street Denver, CO 80202 303 . 455 . 7545 | cactusinc.com Email: jg@cactusinc.com THANK YOU CASE STUDIES 86 JACKSON HOLE: USING UGC TO EXPAND CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS CASE STUDIES - TRAVEL & TOURISM 87 Most people know Jackson Hole as one of the gnarliest ski resorts in North America, but Jackson Hole is also a thriving community of 870 businesses nestled near two iconic national parks. While Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks drive hordes of tourists through Teton County every summer, most folks didn’t know much about the wide array of winter destinations and activities beyond the ski resort. Our job was to change that belief and increase tourism revenue during the slower seasons without taking away from the mystique of the mountain. THE SITUATION CHALLENGE JACKSON HOLE 88 WATCH THE CASE STUDY CLICK PLAY TO LAUNCH VIDEO 89 Bring to life all that Jackson Hole offers in winter, and do it in real-time. Our ‘There’s More To Winter’ campaign chipped away at the consumer belief that there’s nothing more to Jackson Hole in winter than the mountain. On Instagram, we used the hashtag #JacksonHole to collect user-generated content of people enjoying a wide range of winter activities, giving viewers a near-real-time look at all that was happening in Teton County. Paired with additional tactics such as dynamic digital creative that changed to mirror Jackson Hole’s current weather, mobile billboards strategically placed on I-70, and a surprise Tram takeover concert, we fueled interest and conversation. THE SHARP IDEA JACKSON HOLE 90 91 WATCH TRAM BANDS CLICK PLAY TO LAUNCH VIDEO 93 94 95 96 Over a four-year period, we saw a 38% increase in occupancy, a 16% increase in sales tax revenue, and a 9% increase in enplanements. More specifically, we saw a whopping 1181% increase in #jacksonhole tagged photos, proving that our strategy of leveraging UG content had a direct impact on consumer perceptions and visits. Collectively our efforts helped Jackson Hole become America’s overall #1 ski resort in 2014. THE RESULTS JACKSON HOLE 97 CASE STUDIES - DESIGN GREATER ZION: BUILDING SOMETHING NEW FROM THE GROUND UP 98 Travelers to Zion National Park didn’t believe there was much else to see or do in southwestern Utah, so they were hitting Zion and moving on, leaving the surrounding communities of Washington County searching for a way to leverage the park’s massive draw without getting lost in its immense shadow. We needed to galvanize the nearby communities and their many disparate brands into a unified brand that had the strength to stand shoulder to shoulder with a national park. We also needed to educate travelers in the vacation planning process to get them to extend their stay, and their play, throughout all of Washington County. THE SITUATION CHALLENGE GREATER ZION WATCH GREATER THAN CLICK PLAY TO LAUNCH VIDEO 100 GREATER ZION CACTUS INC. :: SECTION NAMEBEFORE AFTER 101 GREATER ZION CACTUS INC. :: SECTION NAME 102 Create an entirely new destination. Instead of pushing against the park, we gave it a big ol’ bear hug, using the weight of its name and reputation to expand travelers’ beliefs about all that Washington County had to offer. Our brand audits and research revealed that the region needed to adopt a unified brand that capitalized on the nearby Zion National Park brand equity while retaining their individual destination identities. We rebranded the entire county as Greater Zion, giving every trail, restaurant, canyon, hotel, and local outfitter a voice that echoes Zion’s appeal while offering a complement to the park rather than competition. THE SHARP IDEA GREATER ZION 106 We created a tourism brand and campaign that literally put our client on the map, generating a 149% increase in monthly visitors to Greater Zion. THE RESULTS GREATER ZION 107 COCHLEAR AMERICAS: LEVERAGING AGILE MEDIA AND BREAKTHROUGH CREATIVE TO RISE ABOVE THE COMPETITION & CATEGORY CASE STUDIES - MEDIA 108 Cochlear is the global leader in implantable hearing solutions. They have provided more than 600,000 implantable devices – more than any other company – helping people of all ages to hear and connect with life’s opportunities. Surprisingly less than 10% of individuals who could benefit from a Cochlear Implant actually have one, and less than 15% even consider the category. With such limited category consideration, and increased competitive pressure, Cochlear’s customer acquisition costs were increasingly difficult to manage. Cochlear needed to reach more potential candidates that hadn’t yet discovered the benefits of an implant, while also maintaining a strong cost-per-lead to ensure they met their sales funnel goals. THE SITUATION CHALLENGE COCHLEAR 109 COUPLE AGILE EXPERIMENTS AND HIGH-IMPACT BETS TO GROW THE CATEGORY AND GROW CONSUMER CONNECTION Cactus began our assignment as Cochlear’s media agency of record by quickly optimizing and consolidating media activity to improve lead-gen performance. We then shifted to a “test-and-learn” approach to our paid digital efforts – hypothesizing ways to reach potential candidates further up the funnel to overcome the lack of consideration, implementing in short sprint cycles, and adapting activity based on top-, mid- and bottom-funnel impact. Additionally, Cactus introduced a new layer to the Cochlear channel strategy with the addition of television - a broader bet than they’d placed before. A Cactus-created TV spot aimed at increasing both category and brand awareness and understanding by visually communicating the importance of sound, and building emotional connection with a broader audience of potential candidates and their loved ones. THE SHARP IDEA COCHLEAR 110 Within the first six months of taking over the Cochlear Americas paid media program, Cactus generated: THE RESULTS COCHLEAR 111 WATCH THE SPOT CLICK PLAY TO LAUNCH VIDEO 112 NORTH CAROLINA EDUCATION LOTTERY: LEVERAGING DATA TO DRIVE INSIGHTS AND USER EXPERIENCE CASE STUDIES - DIGITAL 113 The North Carolina Education Lottery (NCEL) invited us to analyze their current website, mobile app, and Google Analytics data, and integrate that with our deep understanding of their target audience segments, to create a recommended user journey map across their digital properties. We started by focusing on Dave, one of their “Busy Fun Finders” to understand the ways he engaged the NCEL as a player, as well as how he was using the website and mobile app across his entire journey in the marketing funnel: through Awareness, Consideration, Purchase, and Loyalty. We then conducted a deep analysis of the NCEL’s analytics to map Dave’s journey to the data, and we conducted a UX analysis of the NCEL’s website and mobile app. This work provided the insights needed to create a proposed user journey map, which included recommendations for new features, content, and data tracking, to elevate the experience the NCEL was providing Dave. NORTH CAROLINA EDUCATION LOTTERY (NCEL) NCEL: USER JOURNEY MAP 114 NORTH CAROLINA EDUCATION LOTTERY (NCEL) OUR APPROACH. We used the following approach to immerse ourselves into the NCEL’s audience segment persona and Google Analytics data, resulting in a deeper knowledge of the NCEL business and digital ecosystem, and the insights needed to discover and provide recommended solutions. 1 Persona Deep Dive + Belief & Behavior Analysis Historical Knowledge | Audience Modeling | Primary Qualitative 2 The NCEL Analytics Assessment Persona Matching | Account Structure | Goals + Events Structure 3 Macro-Consumer Journey Mapping Persona Media Behaviors | Campaign Go-To-Market Review | Macro-Funnel Development 4 Digital Journey Mapping + Usability Digital Touchpoints Audit | Design & Content Assessment | UX Immersion | GA Data Mapping | Journey Distillation 5 Solution Ideation Belief & Behavior Briefing | Multi-Disciplinary Team Ideation THE DATA. We conducted a deep analysis of the NCEL’s existing Google Analytics (GA) account, and combined that with additional data from sources such as Resonate and Simmons, to better understand the ways their audience was using their website and mobile app, as well as assess performance toward their business and digital goals. As part of our analysis, we also identified and provided recommendations for ways the NCEL could optimize their GA setup and configuration to better capture valuable data, and ensure an accurate understanding of their performance on digital. 115 We took Dave, the Busy Fun Finder, on a fun and rewarding journey through the NCEL website and mobile application. In the process we provided a number of recommendations to the North Carolina Education Lottery: •New website and mobile app features and content to better engage their audience and provide them reasons to return to the site on a regular basis •Design and UX optimizations to further elevate their users’ experiences on the website and mobile app •Optimizing their Google Analytics configuration, transition to GA4, and capturing of data •New ways to track data to better inform their digital initiatives •New ways to cross-promote their games and website/app features NORTH CAROLINA EDUCATION LOTTERY (NCEL) THE RESULTS