Ohio ski resort marketing, operations challenged by mild winter

Unseasonably mild weather across the U.S. may be great news for most people, but for the ski resorts in northeast Ohio, no amount of marketing can convince tourists to travel to snowless peaks.

The Plain Dealer reports that several resorts have been forced to stay closed through December, while others have only been able to open up a limited number of slopes.

Steve Mackle, the marketing manager at Boston Mills/Brandywine, told the newspaper that the company was "doing the best we can with what we've got," adding that it was the warm weather that was causing the issue.

At least if it was cold enough to make the fake snow that so often powders ski slopes, "we could go an entire season without natural snow if we had to," he said.

In past years, ski resorts were dealing with another challenge, Advertising Age reported in 2009. Back then, when social media was first gaining traction as a powerful marketing force, consumers were making much faster decisions on ski trips because of the networks.

The magazine said that some slopes, such as ski giant Vail Resorts, started using social media and various other channels to engage skiers in realtime, rather than through more static campaigns.