Snowboarding in a New Media System

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From the Sierra Nevada College Eagle’s Eye:

Nick Visconti reminisces about his first two-page spread in Transworld Snowboarding. Months after the trick was shot, he held a physical copy of his scrapes, bruises, and triumph. The photo of him, upside down, one hand holding him against the wall and the other grabbing his board, 20 feet above the ground lives in print. Now, Visconti, a former pro, X Games medalist and social media influencer, navigates an industry where progression and style is measured through the immediacy of likes and followers.

“In one viral video or photo, anyone or any brand can far surpass traditional publications’ ability to connect to active buyers, potential customers or interested audiences,” Visconti said.

The media system and the way we gather information is in a drastic state of change, and in snowboarding the culture has moved from the pages of print magazines to the less tangible virtual world of digital media. The evolution of trends, tricks, and brand marketing strategies that were once tracked in the pages of Transworld, SNOW BOARDER, and Snowboard are a relic of snowboarding’s nascent past. Now, Snowboard Magazine exists only digitally, and other mainstream publications have slashed their print runs to as infrequently as once a year.

. . . .

“The majority of content consumed is in a digital platform, be it on a computer or a phone,” Tom Monterosso, senior editor and photographer at SNOWBOARDER Magazine, said. “Fewer kids are buying magazines and more kids have access to a phone or a computer than ever, so the content that comes out is consumed, digested and passed through much more quickly.”

Content is also conforming to readers’ dwindling attention. Marketing specialists for Boreal mountain resort and Woodward Tahoe who track analytics have discovered the average watch time for any video or photo across all social networks is 22-23 seconds.

“For web, it’s short, sweet and digestible,” Monterosso said. “Read it and keep browsing. For social, it’s ‘viral,’ which I personally believe is a terrible term.”

. . . .

As a brand that deals with marketing in this new world, Boreal has pulled out of most billboards, newspapers, and magazines and shifted its advertising to social media.

“I see much more value in getting 10 Instagram posts on SNOWBOARDER Magazine’s Instagram, than running a full-page ad,” Tucker Norred, Boreal marketing and communications manager, said. SNOWBOARDER Magazine has a following of more than 1 million on Instagram. Brands want access to that far-reaching platform.

Link to the rest at Eagle’s Eye

1 thought on “Snowboarding in a New Media System”

  1. “For social, it’s ‘viral,’ which I personally believe is a terrible term.”

    It’s a great term, like the last cold or 24 hour bug you had – unless it was really bad you don’t even remember it a week later.

    He’s into momentary attention to sell an ad, most of us would rather hold their attention a bit longer, like that great story you’re still telling friends about a month later (and are wishing the writer of it would finish the next one already! 😉 )

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