Northstar California™ Resort Initiates New Focus, Drives Social Media Growth with New Branding Campaign
North Lake Tahoe Resort Launches New Website to Support Branding, Improve Site Navigation and Become a Trip Planning Resource
TRUCKEE, Calif. – Oct. 1, 2012 – After the acquisition of Northstar in late 2010 by Vail Resorts, a rebranding effort was started in order to position the ski area as the preeminent California resort. Departing from the previous “Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort” name, the resort has for the past year been known as “Northstar California.”
Since its inception 40 years ago, Northstar’s destiny was to be the world-class destination resort that it is now. The resort not only continues to attract local guests and those from Reno, NV, Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, but is attracting visitors from Texas, Florida, New York, Australia, Mexico and Brazil.
“Northstar offers a signature ‘California’ experience, and in casting a wider net for those we want to introduce to the resort, both domestically and internationally, it made sense to update the name of the resort to help identify where it is, the vibe it embodies and the California experience it offers,” said Davy Ratchford, marketing brand director at Northstar. “California is already recognized internationally as an aspirational brand, so it was a natural connection to marry it with the signature experience guests can expect at Northstar.”
Along with the name update to Northstar California, the resort also introduced a new tagline – a service mantra that was generated internally and now serves as a way not only to define the resort offering, but as a reminder of the promises to be delivered to the guest. “The Way It Should Be” has become a rallying call around the guest experience, and a commitment to deliver a high level of service both internally and externally.
Through Northstar’s rebranding effort, the results have been tangible; including an increase in impressions through the sharing of videos pertaining to the experience offered at Northstar, tripling of the resort’s social media presence on Facebook and Twitter, and a significant increase in the resort’s guest service scores – taking them to the highest levels they’ve ever been.
During the 2011-2012 winter season, for four consecutive weeks over the holidays, Northstar experienced the highest social media engagement of any resort in the country, with fans continually engaging with the content posted and the brand itself. In addition, it has maintained one of the highest engagement scores socially of any resort in the world since the campaign began. One of the biggest successes has been a 600 percent year-over-year increase in views of Northstar generated video content.
Taking the rebranding effort to the next level, the resort’s website was recently re-launched in order to improve site navigation and become a complete trip planning resource for resort guests. The site features an entirely redesigned look and feel that now reflects the Northstar California brand and incorporates resort generated video and photo content throughout.
“The Northstar website now offers a clean, easy way to find the information you’re looking for. It also successfully showcases powerful brand imagery and is much easier to navigate than our previous site. We also identified the most viewed information – snowfall totals, current weather, lift and trail status and more – and consolidated it along the top of the page, making it easier than ever for skiers and riders to quickly find the information they care most about,” said Ratchford.
For more information about Northstar, visit www.NorthstarCalifornia.com, or find the resort on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Northstar.
About Northstar California Resort
One of the finest year-round mountain resorts in North America, Northstar is host to a base area village featuring unique shops and restaurants, a conference center, 9,000 square foot outdoor skating rink, movie theaters, on-site lodging, special events and more. A winter sport enthusiast’s paradise, Northstar offers 97 ski trails spread across 3,170 acres, award-winning terrain parks and snow sports including alpine and Telemark skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and tubing. Summer activities include mountain biking, golfing, scenic lift rides for sightseeing and hiking, fly-fishing and more.
Northstar is located on Highway 267, just six miles north of Lake Tahoe and six miles south of downtown Truckee. For more information, call 1.800.GO.NORTH (1.800.466.6784) or visit www.NorthstarCalifornia.com.
Since its inception 40 years ago, Northstar’s destiny was to be the world-class destination resort that it is now. The resort not only continues to attract local guests and those from Reno, NV, Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, but is attracting visitors from Texas, Florida, New York, Australia, Mexico and Brazil.
“Northstar offers a signature ‘California’ experience, and in casting a wider net for those we want to introduce to the resort, both domestically and internationally, it made sense to update the name of the resort to help identify where it is, the vibe it embodies and the California experience it offers,” said Davy Ratchford, marketing brand director at Northstar. “California is already recognized internationally as an aspirational brand, so it was a natural connection to marry it with the signature experience guests can expect at Northstar.”
Along with the name update to Northstar California, the resort also introduced a new tagline – a service mantra that was generated internally and now serves as a way not only to define the resort offering, but as a reminder of the promises to be delivered to the guest. “The Way It Should Be” has become a rallying call around the guest experience, and a commitment to deliver a high level of service both internally and externally.
Through Northstar’s rebranding effort, the results have been tangible; including an increase in impressions through the sharing of videos pertaining to the experience offered at Northstar, tripling of the resort’s social media presence on Facebook and Twitter, and a significant increase in the resort’s guest service scores – taking them to the highest levels they’ve ever been.
During the 2011-2012 winter season, for four consecutive weeks over the holidays, Northstar experienced the highest social media engagement of any resort in the country, with fans continually engaging with the content posted and the brand itself. In addition, it has maintained one of the highest engagement scores socially of any resort in the world since the campaign began. One of the biggest successes has been a 600 percent year-over-year increase in views of Northstar generated video content.
Taking the rebranding effort to the next level, the resort’s website was recently re-launched in order to improve site navigation and become a complete trip planning resource for resort guests. The site features an entirely redesigned look and feel that now reflects the Northstar California brand and incorporates resort generated video and photo content throughout.
“The Northstar website now offers a clean, easy way to find the information you’re looking for. It also successfully showcases powerful brand imagery and is much easier to navigate than our previous site. We also identified the most viewed information – snowfall totals, current weather, lift and trail status and more – and consolidated it along the top of the page, making it easier than ever for skiers and riders to quickly find the information they care most about,” said Ratchford.
For more information about Northstar, visit www.NorthstarCalifornia.com, or find the resort on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Northstar.
About Northstar California Resort
One of the finest year-round mountain resorts in North America, Northstar is host to a base area village featuring unique shops and restaurants, a conference center, 9,000 square foot outdoor skating rink, movie theaters, on-site lodging, special events and more. A winter sport enthusiast’s paradise, Northstar offers 97 ski trails spread across 3,170 acres, award-winning terrain parks and snow sports including alpine and Telemark skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and tubing. Summer activities include mountain biking, golfing, scenic lift rides for sightseeing and hiking, fly-fishing and more.
Northstar is located on Highway 267, just six miles north of Lake Tahoe and six miles south of downtown Truckee. For more information, call 1.800.GO.NORTH (1.800.466.6784) or visit www.NorthstarCalifornia.com.
About Vail Resorts
Vail Resorts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. The Company's subsidiaries operate the mountain resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado, and Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada, and the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Company's subsidiary, RockResorts, a luxury resort hotel company, manages casually elegant properties. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estate planning, development and construction subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. Vail Resorts is a publicly held company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MTN). The Vail Resorts company website is www.vailresorts.com and consumer website is www.snow.com