Aspen Skiing Co. unveils new ad campaign for 2015-16

Aspen Skiing Co. dropped its 3-year-old “Before Aspen” advertising campaign in favor of one promoting “Mind, Body and Spirit.”

Christian Knapp, vice president of marketing, said Skico staffers started working with their ad agency more than six months ago on a new campaign designed to “reinvigorate” the Skico brand.

Three new ads were created, and each has a video that builds off of it. He unveiled the ads Thursday at a gathering of members of the Aspen Chamber Resort Association at the Sundeck on Aspen Mountain.

One eye-grabbing ad features Aspen freestyle skier Torin Yater-Wallace launching off a ramp at Aspen Highlands, skis crossed in the air and the Maroon Bells in the background. The headline reads, “Feed the Flame.”

Smaller copy reads, “Yes, that’s a jump built at eleven thousand feet on Highland Ridge with the Maroon Bells towering from above. Because sometimes the only way to push your body is to challenge what’s never been done.”

An online version of the ad provides a link to a video of Yater-Wallace doing his thing and information on booking a trip to Aspen.

The “mind” ad features a skier blasting through deep, deep powder on Aspen Mountain with the Silver Queen Gondola in the background. “Stir the Soul,” the headline reads, with the copy suggesting that a trip to Aspen’s mountain will renew a person’s mind.

The “spirit” ad features a scenic shot of the slopes with the headline “Renew the Spirit.”

“Each will be featured in a variety of national print magazines such as Outside, Ski, Powder, Transworld Snowboarding, Red Bulletin and Freeskier,” Knapp said in an email.

A “micro-website” was created to showcase the video version of the ads. Yater-Wallace will be in a video as well as four-time X Games champion Gretchen Bleiler and Aspen Institute President and acclaimed author Walter Isaacson.

A trailer is available now on the site. The video for the individual ads will go live Oct. 6.

Knapp also announced at the chamber gathering that three airlines serving Aspen’s Sardy Field have committed to additional flights this winter. American Airlines will add a second flight daily from Dallas to Aspen from Dec. 18 until late in the ski season, according to Knapp.

Delta Airlines will add a second inbound flight from Minneapolis to Aspen on Saturdays and a second outbound flight on Sundays, Knapp said.

United Airlines will add a fourth daily direct flight between Houston and Aspen from Dec. 18 through Jan. 5, he said.