• by Tanya Gazdik , March 17, 2011

For the RockResorts luxury hotel chain, product shots are checking out while lifestyle photography is checking in.

In its first new creative in five years, the Broomfield, Colo.-based Vail Resorts' RockResorts is focusing on the brand experience, as opposed to previous efforts that featured product photos of buildings and interiors. RockResorts is a collection of 12 boutique luxury hotels in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Florida and the Caribbean.

With the recent additions to the RockResorts collection -- including hotels in Jamaica, Miami and the Dominican Republic, as well as in Beaver Creek and Breckenridge, Colo. -- it was the ideal time to develop a new campaign that reflects the unique experiences offered at each destination, says Shelle Pourmanafzadehardabili, corporate director of marketing, RockResorts and Vail Resorts Hospitality.

"The campaign is primarily focused on the leisure guest, though we have featured it in both consumer and travel agent publications," she tells Marketing Daily. "We have moved away from direct mail over the past few years, as it is not consistent with Vail Resorts' culture of sustainability. We would, however, consider creating a high-impact "keepsake" insert for one of our partner publications."

From Denver-based Cultivator Advertising & Design, the creative focuses on the connection that guests experience with each property's natural surroundings. The ads play up that RockResorts properties are small in scale, environmentally sensitive, and unique in location, style and character.

Headlines like "{Be} Hold," "{Be} Come," and "{Be} Longing" are intended to suggest an inner sense of "being there," as are the campaign's snowy Rocky Mountain and Caribbean beach scenes, in which visitors are small and the outdoors is great and large. The new campaign will encompass approximately 100 ads featuring 20 Rocky Mountain scenes and 18 Caribbean shore scenes, and is slated to run through 2012.

The media buy includes magazine spreads, full pages, and full-pages/ opposite columns, as well as newspaper full pages and half pages. Media includes WSJ. Magazine, Ocean Drive, Arrive Magazine, Texas Monthly, Sunset, 5280 and The Denver Post. A cover wrap plus the following full page will run in business-to-business publications including Luxury Travel Advisor and Travel Agent.

However, the resort chose not to include online banners or outdoor boards in its buy, she adds. "Those channels are primarily used to promote larger Vail Resorts Hospitality initiatives (incorporating all Vail Resorts lodging options, including branded and non-branded properties), not RockResorts-specific ones," Pourmanafzadehardabili says. "We are, however, planning to incorporate elements of the campaign into our collateral (in-room directories, key cards, gift certificates, brochures) throughout the next year."

The target remains consumers ages 35 and older with $100K+ household incomes, residing primarily in New York, Miami, Chicago, Texas, Colorado and California.

"There is no shift in our target audience," she says. "For over 50 years, RockResorts has focused on attracting guests who are interested in combining a luxury vacation with authentic ways to experience a destination. We always have -- and we continue to be -- committed to connecting our guests with the true spirit, adventure and natural wonder of each destination. This new ad campaign simply provides a platform from which to illustrate that brand promise and its fulfillment."