In the early days of SlopeFillers, I often talked about what I hoped to learn from this project.

Those lists were pretty long at times (and, let’s be honest, they still are) but one of the things that showed up over and over again in those collections of lessons I hoped to acquire was branding.

Time Flies When You’re Branding
Fast forward to 2018 and I’m still not the branding expert I hope to be one day, but I’m certainly closer thanks so a lot of things, including some lessons learned (and remember) from Killington’s “The Beast” series; a campaign that was mentioned in just the second week of SlopeFillers’ existence.

In the classic Chuck Norris style of joke that doesn’t need much introduction, these ads that ran in SKI Magazine were a perfect combination of.

Fun
It entertained rather than made a hard sell or promotion.

Recognizable
Once you saw one of these, you’d instantly notice the next. It had a really clean, strong design pattern.

Insightful
It taught you something about Killington (and, perhaps more importantly, Killington skiers).

Remember
It’s amazing the irony that lies in technology. On the one hand, technology makes it easier to remember what matters. We don’t have to hold everything in our brain because all of it – calendar items, dates, facts, names – is a search away.

But on the other hand it’s many times harder to remember what matters. Why? Because any little factoid in our brains are constantly being overpower by the firehose of information we consume every day.

This ad has always been one of my favorites. It’s not in this year’s magazines, it doesn’t match Killington’s 2018/19 strategy, but it’s a great lesson in simplicity, branding, and design. I wish I remember it more often as I think about branding which makes me think it deserves a few more looks before, once again, the firehose buries it under a new batch of stories.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.