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Home My WebLink About06.Vail Resorts Marketing Update for VLMDAC_051921_vFINALVail Resorts Marketing Update For Vail Local Marketing District 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 automation, content, data -driven media, responsive digital platform •Data -guest-centric, 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? External awareness study by Burke Research in 2019 across all North American skiers and riders; National sample 2019; (n=1006), 2018 (1407) Vail Mountain unaided and total awareness continues to grow, increasing vs prior year Total Awareness Unaided Awareness 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, SMS, Push, Web, Paid Media and Call Center •Digital Asset Management platform and Media Asset Manager to house, organize all creative and advertising assets and deploy to marketing execution tools •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 •Built new Data Science capabilities and team, leveraging machine learning for marketing Database •We know almost half of all destination guests in the U.S. and Canada (3.5M in database) Our ability to understand, predict and influence guest behavior is a competitive advantage for Vail Mountain •We know almost half of all destination guests in the U.S. and Canada •We can market to them one-to-one with high efficiency and relevancy, to drive return and new guests to Vail Mountain •We have continued to expand our data- driven capabilities —Predict guest preference and behavior to best-align marketing —Guest Lifetime Value modeling •10+ year data-driven marketing journey We’ve been on a multi-year transformation to unlock the full potential of resort brands and growth through strategic centralization •Bring brand strategy closer to enterprise,business strategy, and guest insights to unlock future growth •Focus resort-based teams on local execution that only they can do •Strengthened focus on each resort brand's distinctiveness •Streamline thought leadership on resort brands and partners/agencies we work with •Invest in resource expansion of our Content Management Team to support brand go-to-market •Creation of Broomfield -based expertise in brand strategy and go - to-market –to best position our unique brands across portfolio •Flow of information so material insights influence resort strategy and partnership across teams 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