Steamboat, Vail and Beaver Creek may have found a new way to get their resort logos and trail maps onto coffee tables across the country.
The three Colorado ski areas recently partnered with SharedBook Inc., a custom publishing company. They will offer guests “memory books” featuring hand-picked trail maps, resort facts and promotional photos. Personal photos and stories can be added.
Steamboat will be the first to launch the service, beginning just before Christmas. For $75, guests will be able to create a 46-page hardcover book, roughly 27 pages of which can be personalized with digital photos and stories.
“We see this as a long-term brand development and enhancement story,” said Andy Wirth, vice president of marketing at Steamboat.
Vail and Beaver Creek plan to offer the books early next year on a trial basis.
“We are interested. We just want to make sure it was something our guests really want to purchase,” said spokeswoman Kelly Ladyga. “From our perspective, it would enable us to put out a high-quality, branded piece for Vail and Beaver Creek, and it almost in a sense creates a viral marketing campaign. As we have found, the strongest marketing tool is word of mouth from past guests.”
Founded in 2003, New York-based SharedBook began producing the customized product in May. Other affiliates include the CruiseWest cruise line, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and four youth-sports organizations.
“Destinations like ski resorts have always been of great appeal to us,” said SharedBook chief executive Caroline Vanderlip. “We give vacationers an opportunity to combine their private memories of the trip with the branded resort content.”
Wirth said he expects SharedBook will sell at least 5,000 copies in Steamboat this winter. The resort will get a percentage of the profits.
“I really see this being a wildly popular product,” Wirth said.
Steamboat plans to promote the books both online and through its Steamboat Grand Resort & Conference Center, where it will place a completed book in each guest room.
SharedBook said it also plans to offer a second version for the resort’s summer guests, with pictures and facts about activities such as hiking and mountain biking.
Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-820-1592 or jdunn@denverpost.com.
