Whistler Blackcomb reckons there is a natural alignment between skiing and hockey. The B.C. ski resort is offering a $25,000 marketing package for free to a hockey sponsor that feels left out in the cold this season and is willing to write about it.
Potential sponsors can win a Whistler Village Gondola Wrap, an experiential sampling day plus 10 winter lift tickets. Interested parties have until 4:00 pm on Nov. 9 to submit up to 100 words on why they deserve to win to the TwentyTenGroup, the resort’s agency of record.
Stuart Rempel, the resort’s senior vice-president of marketing and sales, said the resort wants to get on the radar of businesses that traditionally wouldn’t see a ski resort as a marketing opportunity.
“We are always looking for good partners that are aligned with us in terms of their brand values and their brand character, and we know that there are a lot of people connected with hockey at the moment that are being challenged in delivering their marketing messages and we felt we would step up and offer to help,” Rempel said.
“Part of our brand character is that we are playfully irreverent, so we are always looking at different angles of how to appeal to different constituencies.”
The resort’s current sponsors include Telus, Kokanee, General Motors, American Express and Coke Cola, but Rempel said there is plenty of room for new partners, particularly those from the investment community, banking and consumer electronics.
(The offer, it should be noted, is only good for a hockey sponsor that doesn’t conflict with the mountain’s current sponsors.)
More than 2.6 million people visit Whistler annually. The resort said the average yearly household income of its guests is more than $117,000.
