The Takeaway
Sundance Mountain Resort ran a billboard program to promote its concert series and fly-fishing lessons across Utah County. Five campaigns on two digital boards delivered 114,701 blips and roughly 640k estimated impressions at an average cost of $0.09 per blip. Even after doubling total events for the summer, sales landed in the 90th percentile thanks to focused advertising.
Why Sundance Turned to Billboard Advertising
Sundance Mountain Resort, founded by Robert Redford in 1969, is a year-round luxury resort dedicated to conservation, the arts, and community. The team already ran PR, digital ads, magazines, and social media, and had previously bought traditional billboards, but the printing and posting costs made those campaigns inflexible.
In May 2019, the team added Blip to expand the top of the funnel. What they wanted was the billboard effect hotel marketing teams talk about: sustained visibility that shows up as event attendance rather than direct-response clicks. Simple designs and a strong SEO base meant the boards did not need to work hard on phone numbers or long URLs.
How Sundance Built Its Billboard Campaign
Campaign manager Abigail Brock ran a rolling program of five flights across two boards, keeping the design deliberately simple.
- Boards selected: Two digital placements: one close to the resort itself, plus a sign focused in a popular city in Southern Utah.
- Creative approach: One-line messages: “Sundance Bluebird Cafe Concert Series” and “Learn to Fly Fish” with sundanceresort.com below.
- Campaign structure: Five flights, each timed to a specific event or lesson calendar.
- Budget approach: Pay per play at an average of $0.09 per blip. Spend followed delivery across the five flights.
The Creative
Sundance already had strong branded search, so the design did not need phone numbers or long URLs. For hotel and resort teams building similar work, Blip’s billboard design guidelines cover what reads at highway speed.
What Sundance’s Campaign Delivered
The five flights delivered 114,701 blips and roughly 640k estimated impressions across two digital boards. By highlighting specific events and classes on Utah County highways, Sundance built the top-of-funnel awareness the team needed. Even though total events roughly doubled for the summer, sales still landed in the 90th percentile thanks to that focused visibility.
That is what a well-planned out-of-home program can produce alongside PR and digital. The boards give the resort a physical presence in the county it draws from, and the search and reservation systems handle the rest. It is the clearest example of the billboard effect hotel marketing teams look for when they add out-of-home to an existing plan.
Billboards are a powerful way to get a message out to a lot of people. We learned that by increasing awareness and expanding our top-of-funnel marketing, we were able to increase sales and event attendance.
Abigail Brock, Campaign Manager, Sundance
Why This Campaign Worked
- Boards close to the resort: One placement near the property and one in Southern Utah, covering both audiences the resort draws.
- One-line creative: “Learn to Fly Fish” is exactly readable at highway speed.
- Strong branded search in place: The design didn’t need phone numbers because the SEO baseline was already handling inbound demand.
- Five flights, not one: Rotating the creative through five campaigns kept the same drivers seeing new information.
What Resort and Hotel Owners Can Take From This Campaign
Resorts and hotels can put these ideas to work:
- Anchor the boards to specific events: A hospitality flight reads better when it points to a specific concert, lesson, or seasonal experience.
- Lean on your search baseline: If your brand ranks for its own name, the board only needs the message and the URL.
- Rotate flights through the calendar: Five campaigns across the season gives you room to feature different offerings without redesigning every board.
- Watch attendance and reservations, not clicks: That is where the billboard effect hotel marketing teams talk about actually shows up.
Run a Resort Campaign Like Sundance
Anchor each flight to a specific event, keep the creative to one line, and lean on your search baseline to close the loop.
Frequently Asked Questions About Sundance’s Billboard Campaign
How many boards did Sundance use?
Two digital boards. One near the resort itself, and one in a popular city in Southern Utah.
What did the campaign cost per play?
The average cost per blip was $0.09. Blip prices pay-per-play, so the cost per blip varies by board and market.
What outcomes did Sundance see?
Roughly 640k estimated impressions, and sales in the 90th percentile, even though total events for the summer roughly doubled.
Is a resort billboard effective for a hospitality brand?
A well-timed hospitality flight lifts top-of-funnel awareness, especially for specific events like a concert series or lesson calendar.
What is billboard effect hotel marketing teams look for?
Sustained visibility that translates into attendance and reservations. The pattern hotel marketing teams talk about is the shift from direct-response clicks to consistent local recognition.