It evokes several mental images, especially when used in the context of a ski sale. SNEE rhymes with Ski, and feels like an action verb. Of course, Grab evokes a kind of frenzied sale.

It surely wasn’t in their minds when they started, but I think that’s why it continues to work year after year.

You should interview Snowbird’s marketing people to see what they are actively doing to create community among skiers.

I’m pretty sure that Snowbird doesn’t have exclusive rights. Velocity sports offers deals and promotions on many things in the extreme sports world. Velocity doesn’t necessarily tie me only to other Snowbird fans, but they do tie me to other extreme sports fans. If the extreme skiing/boarding locals are heading over to The Canyons this year and calling that the best resort, guess where I’ll be going next year? Chances are that will be the next promotion Velocity will offer.

Snowbird hasn’t actively pursued my business so if I don’t have a relationship or special connection with Snowbird and they aren’t reminding me that they have the best terrain and powder and they aren’t offering me a local promotion, what would keep me loyal?

Snowbird could have been proactive about creating that relationship directly with me and the other locals. Instead, they are letting the community decide where the best powder sits. From the few conversations I’ve had with locals who have had Snowbird passes for the last several years, it seems that these ‘once loyal’ Snowbird fans are now testing out the different powder again to see for themselves if there is something else better out there. Perhaps Snowbird was a little too passive?

Sniagrab is ‘bargains’ backwards. I’m not that much of a newcomer!

Did you figure out how they came up with the name Sniagrab?

Thanks for your comment. You’re absolutely right that Snowbird is one of the most popular resorts in the area amongst ‘locals’ and advanced tourists who know where to find the powder and better terrain on the mountains. Snowbird offers a great product, therefore they’re receiving the highly valuable consumer reviews naturally. The problem is that Snowbird is losing the opportunity to create deeper connections with these locals who are the ones writing these reviews, and who are essentially their walking advertisements. Are they losing some of these locals to other resorts because these people are more loyal to the community then the resort?

I agree with you 100% that Snowbird should not actively advertise their SEASON PASS deals to the tourist/visitor market. These deals wouldn’t appeal to these folks due to the fact that a visitor wouldn’t get their money’s worth for a 7 – 10 day ski vacation.

I’m more concerned about Snowbird understanding who their different customers are and speaking directly to their needs. The locals who are looking to ski 25+ days per season should be treated differently then the tourist. Because there are strong relationships in this community between locals, it would make sense for Snowbird to find out who these people are, collect their information (email, address) and offer direct promotions/deals to these individuals.

Instead of creating a relationship with velocity sports, where I know that I can count on getting a great annual deal on a seasons pass, Snowbird could have created this relationship directly with me.

As a side note, two of my friends who were receiving these same deals through velocity sports previously, decided not to buy a season’s pass this year to Snowbird. They said that they’re going to keep their winter open this year to give the other resorts a shot again. They’ve seen some great deals to other resorts for locals, and have been collecting 2 for 1 passes to other resorts.

I wonder if these people would be going back to the drawing board and checking out the other resorts again if Snowbird had created the direct relationship with them that I’m talking about.

Perhaps, if they were not so popular in the first place, they would benefit more by marketing their advertised deals.

What do you think?