CASE: LEVI SKI RESORT

Avalon has been working in close cooperation with various companies and organisations in the Levi region for more than 20 years. In spring 2018, we started designing and building a new kind of digital customer experience for the Levi Ski Resort.

The guiding light of our design was the idea of a fully restructured digital solution which would optimise communications and marketing, and enable a truly integrated customer experience.

Premise and goals

The goal was to build a clear and integrated digital solution that would fuse seamlessly not only Levi Ski Resort’s entire service offering but also the various technologies and platforms utilised in producing and delivering the services.

The project was launched using SmartStart, a system developed by Avalon, which comprehensively maps the client's data streams from different sources, and then suggests the optimal solution for integrating the relevant data from all of these. For the groundwork, we analysed Levi Ski Resort’s own operations and technologies, and mapped also the technologies of the company’s partners, as well as the best ways of using all of these together. SmartStart showed that there were multiple potential sources of customer data that could be used more efficiently in guiding the company's operations, in terms of customer communications as well as sales and marketing.

Strategy

Based on SmartStart’s results, we came up with several alternative solution models. The most comprehensive and ambitious of these, the WOW model, was finally chosen for implementation. The long-term goals of the project were defined in close cooperation with the customer.

The primary strategic goal was defined as improving customer experience and communication by digitalising as many customer-oriented processes as possible. This meant that several of Levi Ski Resort’s functions would be automated. At the same time, we would save the end customers time by making ski pass purchases and equipment rentals possible beforehand online.

Implementation and solutions

The WOW project focuses on collecting and centralising all data into a single environment, and on developing a new website for the company into the same, integrated environment. For the technical platform of the website, we selected HubSpot which is easy to use and supports new types of visual site design. For the online store, we chose SkiPerformance. The integration of these two platforms would enable data collection from all of the available sources, including the systems used for managing ski passes and equipment rentals.

HubSpot has now been taken into use at all of the relevant levels of the organisation to streamline functions and to centralise customer data into the same unified environment. HubSpot's features enable a significant boost to the efficiency of marketing operations, data collection and analytics.

The integration of the data streams from different interfaces ensures that the data is always up to date in all of Levi Ski Resort’s service channels, including the website and the mobile application. Efficient data collection and analysis enable better customer understanding, which in turn makes it possible to approach the customer with more accurately targeted messages and with topics they are demonstrably interested in.

Avalon is responsible for the design and implementation of the project. The implementation is done in cooperation with Avalon's close partner company, the inbound consultancy Hubit. Hubit’s HubSpot expertise will play an important role throughout the project in supporting Levi Ski Resort’s marketing and sales operations especially during the deployment stage, but also with regard to continuous training.

As part of the partnership, Avalon takes over also Levi Ski Resort’s social media channels. In this role, Avalon is responsible for maintaining and developing all of the channels, and works as an additional resource for Levi Ski Resort’s social media, communications and customer service, side by side with the client’s internal resources.

The project is further supported by the communication guidelines and visual identity designed by Avalon. 

Results

On the surface, the most visible result of the project is Levi Ski Resort’s recently launched website Levi.ski. The website neatly brings together all of Levi Ski Resort’s services and up-to-date information regarding ski lifts, slopes, etc.

Avalon continues to develop Levi Ski Resort's service concept as a whole, focusing at the moment particularly on enabling outstanding customer experiences by optimising Levi Ski Resort's customer service and commercial operations, as well as by developing customer engagement through new channels.

“I have known Avalon's entrepreneur brothers Jari and Pete Laakso for about twenty years through Avalon's long-term involvement in our regional travel marketing. In the spring of 2018, when Jari introduced me to Avalon's new modern marketing operating model, and Pete suggested SmartStart as a clever way of starting the project, I was absolutely convinced that this was the integrated solution I had been looking for to take Levi Ski Resort’s operations to the next level.

During the early stages, SmartStart made such an impression that after the initial conversations with Jari we agreed to start the project immediately. This is how Levi Ski Resort started the journey along the digital development path towards even better service and customer experiences.  

We have already come a long way in the first stage of the project, and the way forward is clearly signposted. The future looks bright – we are very happy with our partnership with Avalon!”

Jouni Palosaari, CEO, Oy Levi Ski Resort Ltd