This page contains some thoughts on marketing activities for a few initial mountain towns… specially Whistler in British Colombia.
Whistler Village has a permanent population of 16,000 and an estimated 3 million annual visitors. The permanent members of the community are hyper-connected relative to urban populations. Many already conduct peer to peer trade, and there are Farmers’ Markets from May to October (circa. 70 vendors).
Approximately 30% of seasonal workers live in staff accommodation. Most of the accommodations are a significant distance from shopping areas, and as a consequence, Uber Eats scoops up a significant proportion of their salary (CAD$18-20/hour gross). Seasonal workers often lack a ‘plug’ into the informal economy, which is almost entirely cash based.
Marketing opportunities for Whistler would include:
- Placing highly compelling value propositions within Club Shred; a discount club used by the majority of the 1,500 mountain staff.
- Exclusive paywithbitcoin events (i.e. the best EDM events on the mountain ever – which won’t be difficult since the bar is very low).
- Adverts within the most prominent local magazine Pique News – freely distributed throughout the municipality in hundreds of locations inc. hotels and grocery stores.
- Sponsorship of local sports teams (Hockey, Rugby etc.)
- Eye-catching stickers that can be freely added to popular sticker locations, which include chair lifts, gondolas, terrain parks etc.
- A higher budget item would be to sponsor a zone of the mountain; specifically terrain parks, which are heavily used by our target demographic throughout the winter season (there are similar zones for summer mountain bike season). Per the three pictures below, sponsorship opportunities include marker flags, inflatable gates, terrain park features such as rails and tables:
High profile local snowboarders such as Mark McMorris – aWhistler local – support their professional careers through sponsorship deals (inc. board, helmet, competition vest etc). Agreements can include ‘derivative advertising’ which propagates through national & global channels such as ESPN, X-Games, Sony Playstation… as well as social media posts (instagram, tiktok etc.):
Local marketing plans should be customised, based on the locality, and will be substantially different for towns and cities.
