Snowrush
Testing a winter tourism opportunity through product development, brand strategy and digital marketing, before anyone invested in it.
- Organization
- Atikokan Economic Development Corporation
- My role
- Tourism Development & Marketing Officer
- Timeline
- 2024 – 2025
- Channels
- Website, Meta Ads
- ~$5
- Cost per lead
- 100+
- Prospective customer leads
- $500
- Meta advertising test budget
Leads reflect interest in a proposed offering, not confirmed bookings or sales.
At a glance
Question
Would travellers come to Northwestern Ontario for a new snowmobile experience?
Approach
Build the brand and website first, then measure real demand with a small, targeted Meta test.
Result
100+ leads at around $5 each, plus a clear-eyed read on what interest does and doesn’t prove.
01
An exciting opportunity, an uncertain market
The Atikokan region already had established snowmobile trails and a stunning natural setting. But having an attractive tourism product and knowing whether travellers will buy it are two different things, and snowmobile rentals come with real financial, safety, equipment and maintenance risks.
Before investing in that infrastructure, the team needed answers:
Would travellers rent snowmobiles in Northwestern Ontario?
Would they travel long distances for the experience?
Which parts of the experience appeal most?
Could advertising generate enough interest to justify going further?
The challenge wasn’t simply to promote snowmobiling. It was to use marketing to help evaluate whether a proposed product had commercial potential.
02
Build the experience before building the business
Instead of relying on assumptions, we used a market test: create a branded digital experience for the proposed offering, then measure the response with targeted advertising. Three principles shaped it.
Sell the destination
Snowmobiling isn’t unique. Riding vast, uncrowded northern wilderness is, so that became the story.
Segment the audience
Renters and owners have different motivations and planning needs, so each got its own path.
Reduce uncertainty
Trail access, safety, location and packages up front, so an unfamiliar destination felt like a safe bet.
03
Bringing Snowrush to life
Working with a teammate, we created Snowrush as a consumer-facing brand built around adventure, freedom and wilderness, and designed and built its website to bring the concept to life. The site features 400+ km of trails, the Atikokan Sno-Ho Snowmobile Club and the region’s proximity to Quetico Provincial Park, with separate packages for renters and owners, an interactive trail map and clear next steps.
Visit snowrush.me ↗
04
Testing demand with paid social
I fully led the digital marketing for the test: a targeted Meta campaign of about $500 that went beyond general destination awareness to see whether people would respond to a specific snowmobiling offer. We tested different themes and audiences, monitored performance and optimized the ads as results came in. The test separated two questions that are easy to blur:
Can we generate attention?
Does that attention signal a viable business?
05
Results
| Outcome | Result |
|---|---|
| Consumer-facing website | Snowrush brand and website created |
| Advertising test | About $500 on Meta |
| Lead generation | 100+ prospective leads (~$5 each) |
| Confirmed sales | None established |
| Market learning | Real consumer interest, alongside commercial and operational uncertainty |
The test showed real early interest at a low cost. It also showed what interest alone can’t prove: the campaign didn’t produce completed sales, and some accommodation operators were reluctant to take on a higher-risk rental service. That’s exactly the kind of insight a small test is meant to surface before a big investment.
06 · What I learned
Marketing isn’t only about convincing people to want something. Sometimes it’s about asking whether we’re building the right thing in the first place.
Also at AEDC
The Canoeing Capital of Canada
Alongside Snowrush, I solely managed Tourism Atikokan’s Instagram and Facebook, building the destination’s identity as the Canoeing Capital of Canada. I produced and edited original photo and video content, ran low-budget Instagram ads around a campaign reel, and collaborated with award-winning photographer Alan Poelman, singer Alex Sampson, travel creator Caroline Elkhoury and regional partner Sunset Country.
Photos: Alan Poelman
Brand identity: a logo rooted in place
I also designed the logo for the Atikokan Economic Development Corporation. The caribou draws on the Ojibwe origins of the name Atikokan, set against the region’s rivers and boreal forest, so the identity tells the community’s story before a single word is read.
