The Problem
The Toronto Ski Club is one of the oldest ski clubs in Ontario and, along with the Collingwood Ski Club, owns about half of the ski hill at the popular Blue Mountain Resort in Collingwood, Ontario. It’s private clubhouse sits at the base of Blue and was built in the 50’s after the founding members had strapped on their skis and discovered the superior skiing north of Toronto.
However the clubhouse needed a little work. About $3 million worth and in order to fill that the club needed to put a push for new members.
The Fix
Contrary to what the Logo Chief piece says we brought in a top design firm, Amoeba Corp. part of the John St. agency. They not only did work for Hudson’s Bay but they also had done the logo for the extremely popular Toronto FC major league soccer team. Following the strategy the team poured through the history books to develop a logo that provided a modern take on the original design from 1924.
Along with the logo we crafted a bit of digital storytelling that went like this:
It started in 1924 with a trailblazing membership that made it their mission to explore and ski as much downhill terrain as they could find, and who ultimately played a pivotal role in the establishment of skiing on the Niagara Escarpment. It has continually strengthened over the years, with a family of member that actively embrace and enjoy the winter months with boundless enthusiasm and a pioneering spirit.
The website was rebuilt around this story, taken out of the Flash format and augmented with top keywords to get it ranking and quotes from existing members to boost conversion. The Facebook page was also optimized and reinvigorated.
New Logo Design
A modern logo that kept within the history of the club allowed better acceptance to wearing the emblem.
Fly the Flag
More fashionable clothing encouraged members to proudly wear the brand and create awareness.
Search Engine Optimization
Better on page optimization allowed the website to get found better by improving position on Google from 3rd page to the 1st.
The Results
Changing the branding of a well-established organization is never easy. With Toronto Ski Club we managed to reinvigorate a time-honored brand with the right combination of history and youth. Clothing sales hit an all-time high and club membership exceeded its membership goals for this past winter almost tripling the number of test-drive members. Membership goals have almost been reached for the next winter and there’s not a snowflake in site.
101
Website traffic increase
7
Average Pageviews increase
