VERB Snow Sports Day
& VERB Project Zero Degrees
December 4, 2004
VERB Snow Sports Day will be held Dec. 4, launching a four-month program in which kids can earn rewards by skiing or snowboarding. VERB's programs have triggered more than a 20% increase in youth activity. In addition, VERB - which was developed in response to the national epidemic of youth obesity - boasts a 79% brand recognition level among 9- to 13-year-olds and has touched more than 17 million kids through its programs.
U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) - the national governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding and the leading producer of winter action sports events and athlete programs - joins SnowSports Industries America (SIA) to bring the first winter sports program to the highly successful VERB campaign. VERB, which debuted in 2002, has led to increased physical activity among kids through a variety of marketing initiatives, including alliances with most major U.S. professional sports leagues and athlete spokespersons.
A VERB Project Zero Degrees activity pack will be available to kids at participating retailers coast-to-coast. The pack will contain a variety of cool prizes and educational tools to help get kids excited to try skiing and snowboarding, including “action cards” featuring top U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboarding athletes. It also will include information about fun things for kids to do on snow and a free mini-subscription to Ski Racing magazine.
VERB Project Zero Degrees Activity Pack includes:
* Keepsake Ziplock Sport Pouch
* Weatherproof, 6-card Snow Pass Instructional Cards featuring USSA athletes such as alpine ski world champion Bode Miller, freestyle world champion Jeremy Bloom, and X Games snowboard champions Hannah Teter and Lindsey Jacobellis.
* Carabiner (to secure Snow Pass cards while playing in snow!)
* Brand Decals
The Snow Pass book will drive participants to verbnow.com and snowlinkjr.com for various activity alternatives, gaming, sweepstakes contests and more throughout the winter months. Prize packs will be awarded to a randomly selected site visitor each week from January through March. "The goal of this event is to expose 250,000 new kids, children and parents to snow sports as a fun, healthy and exciting option for winter activity", said Scott Mellin, SIA director of sales and marketing. "Partnering with VERB and the USSA to develop this program enables us to reach hundreds of thousands of children in a kid-cool way", he added.
The integrated VERB™ campaign uses advertising, marketing, events and partnership activities to ensure that campaign messages reach children whenever they are looking for something physical to do. Through multicultural media partnerships, the campaign is designed to reach children in all socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds - including specific outreach for African Americans, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders, Native Americans and Hispanics/Latinos.
VERB SnowSports Day is one element of SIA’s Project Kids initiative aimed at increasing participation in snowsports among kids age 6-13. Snowlinkjr.com and Winter Feels Good are additional programs that are driving increased awareness of snowsports nationally.
Last year SIA launched a new consumer marketing initiative, Project Kids, based on the information gathered from the research project, "Growing the Snow Sports Industry". The main focus of Project Kids is to reach out to youth via two different avenues, the first being directly through the newly-launched snowlinkjr.com, which generated nearly 18 million impressions in its inaugural year. The second program is "Winter Feels Good" which speaks directly to youth influencers, such as parents, teachers, coaches and others.
In an effort to make these programs even more successful, SIA has partnered with various organizations to help spread the message including the President's Council on Physical Fitness, Winter Trails and our newest collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In July, SIA announced the formation of a formal partnership with the national VERB™ campaign, which is a $70 million annual program funded by the CDC aimed at motivating kids aged 9-13 to get more physically active in a "kid-cool" way.
“VERB offers the U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboarding two outstanding opportunities,” said USSA’s Vice President of Marketing Communications, Tom Kelly. “VERB connects our athletes and brands with the message of activity for kids, and it helps to make kids more aware of our top athletes and the excitement of our sports of skiing and snowboarding.”
“We are excited to work with the U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboarding and build a successful program, VERB Project Zero Degrees,” said Faye Wong, director of the VERB campaign. “VERB reminds children to discover and participate in all kinds of physical activity, including skiing and snowboarding.”
VERB was developed in response to the national epidemic of youth obesity. The marketing campaign has had great success targeting 9-13 year olds directly through the Web, promotions, advertising, public relations and media partnerships, including Parents, MTV, Disney and ABC Family.
“Skiing and snowboarding are among the most popular and fastest growing kid-friendly and family-friendly sports activities,” said Kelly. “And U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboarding athletes are outstanding role models to excite youth about being more active.”
In its campaign, VERB has worked with such well-known athletes such as tennis star Venus Williams, the NFL’s Donovan McNabb and MLS’s Landon Donovan as spokespersons. In addition, VERB has partnered with professional sports leagues, using its brands to reach kids. U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboarding brands and athletes will be used in a similar way, with SIA providing the infrastructure to deliver the program through ski and snowboard retailers.
A significant element of the program will be web content and the ability for kids to log activity online and to pick up skiing and snowboarding tips through the VERBnow.com website, as well as SIA’s snowlinkjr.com and USSA’s web sites at usskiteam.com and ussnowboarding.org.
Promotion Support
* 5 million print impressions in Sports Illustrated for Kids and other print vehicles
* 30 million online impressions through banners in some of the highest rated kid's sites including: nick.com, bonus.com, SIforKids.com, kaboose.com, Disney.com and more.
* Hundreds of snow sports retailers across the U.S.
VERB Project Zero Degrees has been endorsed by many industry organizations including: American Association of Snowboard Instructors, Board Retailers Association, Cross Country Ski Areas Association, Inland Northwest Ski Association, Midwest Ski Areas Association, National Ski Areas Association, National Ski and Snowboard Retailers, National Ski Patrol, Professional Ski Instructors of America, Ski New Hampshire, Ski Washington, Sports, Inc., Ski Merchandising Corp, Sports Specialists, Ltd., Ski Utah and the United States Ski and Snowboard Association.
USSA manages more than 3,000 grassroots ski and snowboard events through more than 400 local clubs at ski and snowboard areas from coast-to-coast. USSA also supports over 170 athletes on national teams through the U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboarding and produces major international action sports events in alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, nordic skiing and snowboarding which are seen on NBC Sports and OLN.
Among the top athletes in USSA’s programs include alpine ski world champions Daron Rahlves and Bode Miller, freestyle world champion Jeremy Bloom and medalist Toby Dawson, cross country skier Kris Freeman, and X Games snowboard champions Hannah Teter, Lindsey Jacobellis and Steve Fisher.