Out in Val Thorens earlier this season, I found myself admiring the resort logo.

VT

Introduced in 2009, it strikes a strong impression.  It says – Val Thorens is contemporary; find us on the Internet; we have great facilities; we are a modern resort.

Val Thorens is one of the newest resorts in Europe and an insider at the Tourist Office told me that there was considerable opposition to the idea of changing the logo.

The older generation had been there in 1965 when the resort was created and didn’t want to let go of that connection with the past.

Fortunately they accepted that the time for change had come.  In the 21st century consumers have an enhanced appreciation of brands.  Now the resort has a logo to match its superb skiing and its unique position as Europe’s highest resort.

Val Thorens

The old logo

 

Other neighbouring resorts, such as Meribel have updated their logo in recent years, but the one that really needs it is La Plagne.

laplagne

Perhaps back when this logo was created, the resort felt it summed up the family-friendly nature of its slopes and would target the ‘right’ sort of skier.

More than 30 years later, it looks more dated than any resort logo I can think of and makes a poor impression.  It says old.  It says boring.  It’s more childish than family-friendly.

After the advent of the Paradiski area in 2003 (linking Les Arcs to La Plagne), they did make an ill-advised attempt at modernising the logo. This only succeeded in making it look worse – a clumsy blend of two completely different styles.

LaPlagne_logo2

If it was children who made the decisions, it might be okay.  But the internet- and brand-literate Generation X and Y parents, who are now booking family skiing holidays are increasingly going to look elsewhere. La Plagne, it’s time for a change.