The annual Snow Polo World Championship in Aspen, CO is a unique and iconic event. Given St. Regis' long history with the sport of polo and our partnership with Nacho Figueras, this event has been a yearly tentpole.
There is, of course, nothing quite like being in Aspen for a weekend of ski, style, and sport, but each year we have strived to share the glamour of this exclusive event with our followers around the world.
Our objective in 2017 was to share all aspects of this amazing weekend using a variety of social media platforms. More specifically, we wanted to allow people around the world to follow along in real time and get a glimpse into the various aspects of the weekend. To accomplish this, we turned to Instagram and Instagram Stories in order to provide our fans and followers with an unprecedented view into the skiing, ceremonies, meals, shopping, and sport that create such a magical weekend in Aspen.
In order to share all aspects of this event with the world, we knew that content was critical. Events that are incredible in person can often fall flat with a digital audience if the content is not exciting, engaging, and impactful.
As such, we sent a three-person dedicated social media team to Aspen. This team had access to all elements and events throughout the weekend and captured photo, video, and drone content across a five day period for both live coverage as well as post-event content. We also brought Instagram influencers (@BagSnob & @PeaceLoveShea) to the event. Our team worked closely with St. Regis Connoisseur, Nacho Figueras, and the influencers to ensure that our Instagram posts integrated with theirs.
Our strategy used Instagram as a focal point, though we shared content leading up to, during, and after the event across all of our social platforms. We knew that Instagram Stories would provide the best possible platform for bringing this weekend to life for our followers. Instagram also provided an ideal platform to connect with our influencers and we were able to use both @BagSnob and @PeaceLoveShea as models to create more engaging content.
We structured our Instagram strategy in two parts. Firstly, we used 2-3 regular Instagram posts each day to share "hero" content that highlighted key moments throughout the weekend. These were both posted organically and promoted with a robust paid budget targeting key consumers around the world. Secondly, we used Instagram Stories to mirror a guest's experience during the weekend. We started our story arriving in Aspen on Thursday afternoon and posted 47 story elements over the course of the event ending with the departure from the hotel on Monday morning.
This five day Instagram story allowed people around the world to experience the beauty of Aspen, the crafted details of The St. Regis Aspen, the glamour of a Midnight Supper, and the excitement of Snow Polo. Additionally, we were able to provide unique views that even guests at the event wouldn't always see. This included things like "behind the scenes" shots of players and horses in the barn before matches. Each day started with a "good morning" post featuring a sunrise or breakfast or other morning activity. The story then highlighted the activities of that day and ended with a "good night" post to help people follow along.
Between Instagram Posts and Stories, our followers and targeted consumers around the globe were able to see and feel an amazing weekend of ski, style, and sport in Aspen.
Our Instagram campaign to share and amplify The 2017 World Snow Polo Championship was a massive success.
Over a five day period we posted 16 Instagram Posts and 47 Instagram Stories.
Our Instagram posts reached over 1.3M people, driving nearly 60k engagements and over 200k views of our video content.
Our Story was viewed a total of 195k times throughout the weekend, and was referenced and linked to by Nacho Figueras and our influencers.
As you see from these numbers, this Instagram campaign met and surpassed our objective of sharing this event with our followers and key consumers around the globe. In fact, this Instagram campaign was so successful that this strategy is now a core element to how we will amplify all St. Regis events in the future.
