SNOWING vs. DUMPING
Ski Resorts and Exaggerated Marketing Terms
This is my first blogpost on Medium. As an Internet Marketer, I’ve been trying to figure out how I would use this blog platform and I’ve decided to to use it as a personal rant on my favorite topics. For my first tirade, I’ve decided to go after Ski Resorts and their marketing verbiage.
I am a weekend snowboarder.
Growing up at a resort town in the Pacific Northwest, I was fortunate enough to start riding at a very young age. A couple years ago, I moved to Denver, Colorado so I can be closer to multiple world-class resorts in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Moving to Colorado is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life. With affordable ski passes that cover multiple resorts, every weekend I feel like I’m on vacation.
Marketers Ruin Everything
This is a statement from one of my favorite social media marketers: Gary Vaynerchuck. When it comes to the ski resort’s social media marketers, Gary’s statement comes true. Specifically when a Ski Resort chooses to say: “It’s Dumping!” over a more accurate statement: “It’s Snowing!” Being a internet marketer myself, I’m use to seeing exaggerated text phrases to increase click-through-rates and conversions. A lot of times, this misleading content tricks the consumer. As a veteran snowboarder, I am in constant pursuit for the best snow. In this case, I was more motivated to visit a specific Ski Resort over others because I trusted a Tweet from the resort’s true Twitter account. When I got to the resort I noticed a complete lack of snow and my initial response: “Those Fucking Marketers!” OK, this isn’t exactly false advertising as the word “dumping” is just a metaphor. However, there is some common sense or expectations rather, that “dumping” should be a little more similar to defining a blizzard. The Urban Dictionary (though not a credible site but seems fit for this term) has a few definitions related to “dumping and snowing”:
1) Large accumulations or amounts of something (especially rain or snow)
2) Skier/Snowboarder slang for snowing conditions such that the accumulation rate is in excess of 4"/hour or the visibility is reduced to less than 100'. (My personal favorite.)
This is my third season in Colorado and I have noticed that this is a very common occurrence. Not to mention the exaggeration of snow reports (this is an entirely different subject, but one that needs to be addressed). It just would be nice to have some sort of honesty especially since most of us commute for hours to these resorts.
Again, no rule or law was broken here. I just value some sort of marketing ethics and unfortunately, more and more marketers are proving that they do not.
Jesse McFarland is personal trainer, marketing specialist, and the owner of My Trainer Says.
