Posts tagged snowboarding

Red Bull and the Art of Flight (Promotion)

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4 months ago
by Eric Hoffman in

The energy drink company Red Bull is an impressive marketing and promotion machine and their latest winter sports effort, “Art of Flight” is another example of how well they bring a media product to market, in fact, I’d say it might better bet titled “Art of Promotion”.

The movie officially launches today, September 8, available via download on Apple iTunes or ordering a DVD or Blu-ray disc version, but Red Bull has been running TV ads for at least the past week teasing the movie and they’ve certainly got some good PR efforts going as well as I noticed this article in the local Salt Lake paper this morning promoting the movie as well. And they’ve also kicked it into gear via social channels, even going as far to use Klout Perks as a way to get more exposure for the movie.

Is Red Bull’s strategy working? Well, it got me to write this post and peep their teaser – in fact, check it out for yourself:

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Blissful Dog in Snow

Skiing (or snowboarding) = Happiness

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1 year ago
by Eric Hoffman in

Blissful Dog in Snow

There’s a recent article in the NY Times called, “But Will it Make you Happy?” which describes people who’ve cut way back on their consumption and focused on paying down their debt and living for experiences and not for material possessions. In buying a possession we get only a momentary “buzz” when we first use the item, but then over time we become acclimated to it and need to buy something else to get our fix. For this reason, the article postulates that experiences provide us more happiness in that they,

provide a bigger pop than things is that they can’t be absorbed in one gulp — it takes more time to adapt to them and engage with them than it does to put on a new leather jacket or turn on that shiny flat-screen TV.

A few year ago I read a lovely book called, “The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World” (disclaimer – this is an Amazon Affiliate link) in which Eric Weiner travels around the world in search of the happiest place as well as looking into the growing field of the study of happiness itself. Probably one of the best insight’s provided is that one of the secrets of happiness is not thinking about it. Which in a lot of ways is exactly what the NY Times article is referring to – stop thinking about what might make you happy and get off the couch and go do it. Personally, I love to ski, preferably in several feet of fresh Utah powder, but in any case that is certainly a time and place where I most certainly am very happy.  I could worry about getting a new set of skis each year, or new boots or a new helmet but those are only tools to help me find the joy I have when I’m sliding down the slopes.

I wonder if ski resorts could do a better job of appealing to this side of our visitors in our marketing efforts? After all, a ski trip is definitely an experience that people will remember and yearn for well after they return home. There are many tools available to do such a thing ranging from social networks to more traditional CRM techniques. In the meantime, ask yourself this, what = happiness for you?

Photo credit: Flickr user Martina Rathgens

Work is fun and fun is working

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2 years ago
by Eric Hoffman in

I attended the opening day of Media Post’s Email Insider Summit this past Monday and while I wish I had the time to attend the next two days, just getting to one day of this event made for a fantastic experience. The presentations ranged from actionable and insightful data to visions of where email marketing is heading to discussions of how the post-college generation uses media. But, part of the MPEIS is not just the information coming from the front of the room it is also connecting with other attendees and learning from those interactions – in addition to making great new connections. I managed to do some really good networking (in my preferred manner) and I’d like to share the video I made while doing it:

After getting home from this busy day and crashing onto our couch, I found myself asking, “is what you do fun and do you still have fun doing it?” Guess how I replied?  I said, “YES!” What about you?

By the way, for a much better summary of what went on at the Email Insider Summit, with much more detail and insights, be sure to visit the Media Post Raw Blog.

Cat Skiing with Park City Powder Cats

6
2 years ago
by Eric Hoffman in

I skied with Park City Powder Cats about four or five years ago. I’ve been meaning to get back out again for some time now and today was finally the day! I was a bit leary as we drove out this morning, partly because it hadn’t snowed much for the past week and also because the day was starting out cloudy without any blue sky poking out anywhere.  However, once we pulled into the cabin in the beautiful Thousand Peaks Ranch, that serves as the base camp for the Park City Powder Cats, I started to get a good vibe – helped along no doubt, by the views of the magnificent bowls that we’d soon be riding!

After a quick safety briefing from lead guide Johnny, some tasty muffins and a last minute shot of coffee, we clambered into our chariot for the day, ably driven by Jacon, along with our two guides Megan and Jason. Dropping into Giant Steps for our ‘warm up’ run, we all could sense that this would turn out to be a great day. The wind had been whipping along the ridge before we dropped in, but once we started making turns we enjoyed a healthy serving of a few inches of fresh Utah powder piled upon a nice and supportable base.

After this first run, our guides seemed to be happy with our riding abilities and we quickly moved into territory that was steeper and deeper. That along with a clearing sky made the day zoom past. By the time we were snacking on a few delicious cookies for desert and heading out to No Name Bowl for our last run, the clouds were again closing in, but with all the blue sky, powder – and some corn that we got to play in all day, it almost seemed a fitting close to have the skies darkening again.

As I sit on my couch relishing the great day, I wanted to jot down a couple of quick tips for anyone thinking of booking a cat skiing trip:

  • If it hasn’t snowed for a few days prior to your trip, don’t worry. There is lots of terrain at snowcat operations. For instance, Park City Powder Cats has over 40,000 acres of terrain in the private ranch that they operate on. Since they only run a maximum of two cats per day with each cat making from 8-12 runs per day, their terrain can offer virgin powder runs for days and sometimes even weeks after a storm!
  • Try to book with a group of friends if you can, because cat skiing is an experience that is best when shared.
  • A day in a snowcat can usually beat a heli day (for a fraction of the cost). You can’t ground a snowcat due to weather – you realize that it’s cloudy when it snows?! The snowcat will often beat you down to the bottom of the run and since it’s only for your group, you can leave packs and other items in the cat for the ride back up. Plus, you can get about as much skiing and riding in with a snowcat as you can with a helicopter because your day usually lasts longer and is more uninterrupted.
  • Snowcat trips are also not just for hardcore skier and riders, if you feel comfortable riding advanced terrain in a variety of conditions, you’ll have an absolutely fantastic time. Remember, there are no crowds on the slopes and no lift lines!

Finally, for some ‘eye candy’, I’ve embedded a slideshow with pix of our trip below:

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