Experience, Narrative, and Knowing Your Audience

Experience, Narrative, and Knowing Your Audience with Steve Hemphill from Sierra at Tahoe

A couple of weeks ago we had Steve Hemphill on our podcast, The Active Lifestyle Marketer. If you haven’t listened to the episode, we would highly recommend checking out what Steve had to say. He shared so much value in the episode and we wanted to follow up the show with a follow-up post of some of the topics we discussed.

Sierra at Tahoe is a ski and snowboard resort based 12 miles south of beautiful Lake Tahoe, CA. It’s the first resort you’ll pass on your way “up the hill” from Sacramento and San Francisco. Sierra has been around for decades and has been successful competing with some of the biggest names in the ski and snowboard resort industry. Sierra successfully competes with resorts like Northstar, Squaw Valley, Kirkwood, and Heavenly, which are all owned by some of the largest resort names in the industry (KSL, and Vail Resorts). So how does a small resort like Sierra at Tahoe compete with some of the most recognized names in the industry, and what can we glean from their success? In our episode with Steve we touch on their approach, and I’d like to share our thoughts on the episode and dive into greater detail on how every active lifestyle brand can use these principles to achieve great success. I think there were three big takeaways from my conversation with Steve.

1. Sierra at Tahoe knows their AUDIENCE and understands their place in the market.
2. Sierra at Tahoe targets a NARRATIVE to their audience.
3. Sierra at Tahoe works hard to create a great EXPERIENCE that for that audience based around that narrative.

Active Lifestyle Brands Must Know Their Audience.

Let me preface this by saying that a deep understanding of our target audience is not important so that we can manipulate, but rather so that we can better communicate. The motivation to manipulate your audience into a sale will never end well for your company. Brands that manipulate will always be found out. Successful active lifestyle brands are companies that legitimately care about their customer. They truly believe that their product or service can provide more health, joy, happiness, and value to their audience. With that in mind, let’s begin. I want to start where all businesses must start. Understanding your audience is crucial to the success of any active lifestyle brand.

Sierra at Tahoe understands their audience. They are the first resort you will pass on your way to Lake Tahoe. That means that they are a closer drive for locals than any other resort in Tahoe. That puts them in a unique place to position themselves as the “day destination” resort. They also understand what they are not. Sierra at Tahoe is not the destination vacation resort. They don’t try to compete for the same market as the larger resorts are targeting. Understanding this allows Sierra at Tahoe to zero in on the market that they are trying to reach and communicate to that audience with a clear message. Now, you might be saying, “that all sounds great, but how do we build such a deep understanding of our audience?” To that question, I will keep my answers short. I’ll address in greater depth in future posts. The answer starts with an honest concern for your customer’s experience, and we learn more through research and communication with that customer. Business is all about relationships. Talk to your customer!

“If we have a deep understanding of our audience we can communicate more directly and clearly to that audience.”

Great Narrative Is Successful When It Is Targeted

There are numerous ways to define narrative. At Tiger Creative we feel that messaging, voicing, and storytelling all fall under the “narrative” umbrella. We will discuss how we define each one of those pieces and how they are defined differently within our own agency in future posts, but for now when we’re referring to the narrative just assume those three elements fall under the “narrative” umbrella. A great narrative is incredibly important because this is how we communicate with our audience. We’ve already established the importance of knowing our audience. Now that we know them, we want to communicate with them properly. Sierra at Tahoe’s narrative can be boiled down to a couple of elements or statements, but they definitely have a driving narrative that is primary. “We are the locals resort (Side note, the simpler the narrative the better).” Sierra at Tahoe has this established narrative, “we are the locals resort,” and now they can begin building campaigns and voicing around this narrative. All of their communication to their audience is driven by a consistent direction.

Here’s the genius behind Sierra at Tahoe’s narrative as “the locals resort,” it pulls from other successful trends in the industry. I would place Sierra at Tahoe, and any ski resort for that matter, in the travel and leisure industry. If you know anything about serious traveler’s, you know that they are always looking for “what the locals would do,” or, “where the locals would eat.” This narrative positions Sierra at Tahoe well when destinations skiers and their families visit the Tahoe basin. They may come to ski the bigger resorts in the area, but the narrative that Sierra at Tahoe is the place the locals ski will attract those destination skiers for a day or two out of a week-long visit to the basin. This narrative allows Sierra at Tahoe to capitalize on the success and market draw of the bigger resorts.

I also mentioned that this narrative allows Sierra at Tahoe to pull from some of the other successful trends in the industry. Sacramento, the closest major city to Sierra at Tahoe, and capital of California, is the “farm to fork” capital of the world at the time of this writing. There is a huge movement in the food industry towards Organic, GMO-Free, and Gluten-Free foods lead by California. Sierra at Tahoe has taken this marketing trend and capitalized on its popularity. Their use of messaging that speaks to “GMO-Free Snow” and “Organic Tahoe Air” is a fun play on a serious topic and allows Sierra at Tahoe to establish themselves as a place that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Steve even speaks to an FDA type stamp that “certifies” Sierra at Tahoe as “unserious.” This is an example of incredibly creative messaging that causes an audience to take a second look. None of this matters though if Sierra at Tahoe doesn’t provide a great experience for their customer in the end.

A Great Experience Is Essential

Everything in business, especially in the active lifestyle space, rides on a great customer experience. Messaging, voicing, market research, narrative… none of these things matter if the customer experience sucks. The most successful brands in the world are not successful because they have beautiful brand identities, or because their websites are perfectly functional and visually stunning, or because their messaging speaks exactly to their researched audience. These things are incredibly important, but they are supporting characters. Your brand experience must be the driver. Ahnu is my favorite brand for hiking boots. I love their products. They look great, they are incredibly comfortable, and they keep my feet dry in the field every. single. time. I advocate for Ahnu, without being asked or paid, because I love the experience I have with their shoes and the customer support I get from their company. Another example is Hoka One One. In my opinion, Hoka makes the most comfortable running shoe in the industry, without comparison, and I tell everyone who will listen. When I buy a Hoka running shoe, I’m not just buying a running shoe, I’m purchasing a pain-free running experience. Hoka’s are expensive, usually in the $160+ range depending on the product. I would happily spend $300-$400 for a pair of Hoka’s because I know that my joints won’t hurt when I use their products. My experience with Hoka is so great, that I advocate on behalf of their products. I have turned multiple people into Hoka customers because I speak so highly of Hoka and my running experience with their product. I’m not paid by Hoka, but I love their products so I share them with my friends and family. This is brand advocacy, and when we create an experience for our customer that is that great, they will advertise our offerings for us. Sierra at Tahoe is successful in a sea of big fish because they have a great customer experience. The value they provide is well worth the cost. Sierra at Tahoe starts with a great customer experience and then they support that experience with creative messaging. A great customer experience must be the cornerstone of any successful brand, especially active lifestyle brands.

Ahnu is my favorite brand for hiking boots. I love their products. They look great, they are incredibly comfortable, and they keep my feet dry in the field every. single. time. I advocate for Ahnu, without being asked or paid, because I love the experience I have with their shoes and the customer support I get from their company. Another example is Hoka One One. In my opinion, Hoka makes the most comfortable running shoe in the industry, without comparison, and I tell everyone who will listen. When I buy a Hoka running shoe, I’m not just buying a running shoe, I’m purchasing a pain-free running experience. Hoka’s are expensive, usually in the $160+ range depending on the product. I would happily spend $300-$400 for a pair of Hoka’s because I know that my joints won’t hurt when I use their products. My experience with Hoka is so great, that I advocate on behalf of their products. I have turned multiple people into Hoka customers because I speak so highly of Hoka and my running experience with their product. I’m not paid by Hoka, but I love their products so I share them with my friends and family. This is brand advocacy, and when we create an experience for our customer that is that great, they will advertise our offerings for us. Sierra at Tahoe is successful in a sea of big fish because they have a great customer experience. The value they provide is well worth the cost. Sierra at Tahoe starts with a great customer experience and then they support that experience with creative messaging. A great customer experience must be the cornerstone of any successful brand, especially active lifestyle brands.

Sierra at Tahoe is successful in a sea of big fish because they have a great customer experience. The value they provide is well worth the cost. Sierra at Tahoe starts with a great customer experience and then they support that experience with creative messaging. A great experience must be the cornerstone of any successful brand, especially active lifestyle brands.

“Our GM still reads every single customer care card. That goes a long way in listening to what your audience says. We answer every single question on social media. We want to come across as genuine and honest in all of our messaging.”

At the beginning of this article I said that manipulating an audience will never end well for any brand. If you honestly care about your customer this won’t be an issue. Listen to your audience, create value and a great experience for that audience, listen and communicate well with them, and they will ultimately advocate for you.