Positioning Campaign / Beaver Creek

About This Project

When we became AOR for Vail Resorts’ Beaver Creek brand, North American ski resorts were poorly differentiated, largely content to just glamorize snow and gravity. Beaver Creek is a custom-built alpine village at the foot of one of the only mountains in the world to host World Cup downhill races. It offered a rich experience beyond just the skiing, and richly deserved to rise above the crowd. We positioned this experience with the unexpected brand promise “Not exactly roughing it,” a clear nod to luxury but in an accessible, tongue-in-cheek tone. The campaign was highly disruptive, growing skier numbers – in an otherwise flat market – nearly 29%. Our relationship lasted nearly 10 years, producing persistently strong business results. This promise drove not only our campaigns for the brand and the best years yet for the business, but it also underpinned the operations of the resort.