Overview
Sugar Bowl is a privately owned ski resort with deep roots and a loyal local base. But loyalty wasn't translating to growth. Marketing dollars were going into billboards and radio, ROAS sat at 2:1, and the brand was invisible outside Tahoe.
In April 2023, Sugar Bowl brought in Winston Francois to take over paid media, rebuild the funnel from the bottom up, and make the brand competitive with Vail and Ikon, on a fraction of the budget.
The challenge
- ROAS stuck at 2:1
- 60%+ of budget going to radio, billboards, and print with no attribution
- No performance visibility, no revenue tracking
- Creative was sporadic, untargeted
- Every off-season, awareness dropped and lift tickets went unsold
The strategy
We built efficiency first, then scaled awareness. Bottom of funnel before top.
1. Funnel rebuild + channel reallocation
Flipped the spend model. Traditional got cut to 20% (kept an I-80 billboard and Open Snow email as tests). The other 80% went to Meta and Google, structured as a waterfall:
2. Six new audience personas
We built campaigns for six distinct groups: Family Ski Enthusiasts, Budget Skiers, Weekend Getaway Travelers, and three more. Each got its own creative hooks:
"Your quick winter escape, just a drive away."
3. Year-round creative calendar
- 80 static assets and 36 video variants per season
- Upper- and lower-funnel refreshes every 4 to 6 weeks
4. Paid search reactivation
- Google Ads account had been dormant. We reactivated it.
- Split into brand, non-brand, and PMAX campaigns
- Adjusted bids to outcompete Vail and Ikon at peak-season auction
5. Awareness expansion (after ROAS stabilized)
- Streaming TV, YouTube, partnership placements
- Regional campaigns in the Bay Area, LA, and Sacramento
- Local influencer activations to build organic brand recognition and reduce dependence on paid brand search
The results
| Metric | Change | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| ROAS | 2:1 → 20:1 | +900% efficiency gain |
| Purchase Volume | ↑ 450% | More transactions YoY |
| Revenue Attribution | +$323K/mo | Incremental headroom identified — scaling with profit |
| Paid Search CTR | ↑ 41% | Brand reactivation + creative alignment |
| Meta ROAS | ↑ 199% YoY | Leveraged seasonal lookalikes and re-engagement |
| Traditional Spend Mix | 60% → 20% | Rebalanced to digital performance |
| Awareness Lift | +38% | Regional search volume — expanded reach beyond Tahoe locals |
The impact
Sugar Bowl's paid media went from a cost center to a profit center. The resort now competes directly with corporate ski brands, on performance, while keeping its independent identity intact.
It stopped being the local's secret. It became the brand skiers choose on purpose.
Next season focus
- Extend creative partnerships with influencers and regional travel brands
- Further develop Weekend Getaway persona through LA + Bay Area campaigns
- Reduce paid brand dependency via organic content alignment
- Maintain ROAS 10:1+ while growing overall reach 20–30%