Odyssey Resorts is Minnesota’s largest developer of resort properties and a successful leader in fractional home ownership. With seven boutique resort properties throughout Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior, nearly 400 employees, ~425 unique homeowners, and 90,000+ annual guests, Odyssey Resorts requires a strong communications strategy to foster engagement with various stakeholders. Its values and guiding principle are also important to Odyssey Resorts, and is something the company looks for in those with whom it partners.
Craft Impact conducted a communications audit with strategic recommendations for Odyssey Resorts, aimed at pinpointing key areas of opportunity designed to help the company reach its goals. The process and 60-page report of findings and insights provided immense value to Odyssey, who decided to engage with Craft Impact in the development and delivery of the proposed solutions. The process and execution has led to an ongoing partnership over the last 3+ years.
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"Craft Impact has been a tremendous resource for Odyssey. They've summarized our communications challenges and meticulously developed next steps to get us to our goals. They consistently give our efforts highly personalized attention - effectively listening and doing what it takes to get the work done. Craft Impact is a team of true professionals. I appreciate their authenticity and look forward to partnering with them in the future." Chuck Paton, President of Resort Operations, Odyssey Resorts |
Upon gaining new leadership in the spring of 2019, it became apparent that Odyssey, while known for its incredible Hospitality from the H.E.A.R.T culture, had communications that were fragmented. Being homegrown, the individual resorts’ materials tended to differ in look, feel, and tone from the overarching Odyssey Resorts brand. This led to a missed opportunity for consistently and effectively representing Odyssey’s high caliber offerings. Efficiently keeping guests informed also presented a challenge – resort general managers were tasked with creating ad hoc communications. With multiple levels of stakeholders (guests, fractional owners, investors, board members, and employees), Odyssey knew that they’d reached a point in their maturity curve that required them to streamline and improve their communications strategy, but didn’t know where to start.
Odyssey wanted a communications plan that would project who the company is, what it stands for, and why people should care. While partnering with Craft Impact through the company’s acquisition, Odyssey learned that the two companies shared many key values and work ethic. In turn, they decided to contract with Craft Impact to conduct a communications audit that would provide transparency into the current state, evaluate what was working and what could be improved, and build a roadmap for implementing a scalable, effective communications strategy.
THE CRAFT IMPACT SOLUTION
Craft Impact met with key stakeholders at Odyssey to build a comprehensive inventory of company-wide and resort-specific communications. From its interviews with key executives and personnel, Craft Impact gained an understanding of the current communications process and existing materials, as well as goals, gaps and challenges, and areas of opportunity. Next, Craft Impact developed a strategy deck of suggested deliverables to combat specific challenges faced by Odyssey, for example:
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Caribou Highlands Homeowner Guide Example |
Lutsen Sea Villas Winter 2023 Newsletter Example |
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Breezy Point Cabins Rental Guide Example |
May 2022 Board Meeting Presentation Deck |
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"During a large acquisition, we worked with Craft Impact to help us set a strategy and direction for our messaging. The team's ability to guide the messaging was key to keeping employees engaged and ultimately ensuring a smooth transition. We had such a great experience that we've continued to engage with them on communication initiatives and strategic organizational consulting for three years and counting!" Kirk Shultz, Chief Executive Officer, Odyssey Resorts |
THE RESULTS
The communications audit gave leaders clarity around what was currently in place, as well as efficiencies they could build. By providing transparency into the current state of communications and analyzing the ideal future state, Craft Impact and Odyssey were able to align on a strategy for implementing a scalable, effective customer communications plan. Craft Impact successfully developed and delivered personalized communications designed to reach and engage each stakeholder group, utilizing various mediums like email newsletters, print materials, and videos.
