Magic More Soul
Magic Mountain is a historic, independent New England ski area known for some of the most challenging terrain on the East Coast. In 2025, I was tasked with developing a fully integrated brand campaign that would inspire a new generation of skiers and riders to choose Magic over larger destination resorts.
The strategic insight was simple: people weren't just choosing Magic for the terrain—they were choosing it because it felt different. While many resorts had bigger budgets and more amenities, Magic had something they couldn't manufacture: soul.
That insight became the foundation of the More Soul campaign. More Soul wasn't just a tagline; it became the creative filter for every piece of content we produced. It meant embracing authenticity over polish, celebrating the community that makes Magic unique, refusing to take ourselves too seriously, and creating entertaining, unexpected content that larger resorts simply wouldn't make.
Over the next two years, I effectively operated as Magic Mountain's in-house creative agency, leading the brand across every touchpoint. I redesigned the website, developed print and digital advertising, directed photography and film productions, and created a series of skit-based social campaigns that became some of the most viral content in the ski industry. Every execution reinforced the same brand truth: Magic might not be the biggest mountain—but it has more soul.
While traditional advertising was essential for reaching Magic's broader audience, the biggest opportunity was organic social. With virtually no paid media behind the content, every piece had to earn attention on its own.
For this, we leaned into Magic's unapologetically unfiltered personality. Trail openings on the West Side became spaghetti westerns. Midweek promotions fueled regional rivalries. Employees staged playful skits behind the mountain president's back. When conditions turned icy, we embraced the joke instead of hiding from it.
The result was a social presence that felt authentic, memorable, and unmistakably Magic. Across platforms, these skit-based videos generated more than 1 million organic views—proving that a distinct brand voice can outperform a media budget.
Just because the skits were performing well didn't mean every piece of content had to be a comedy. When the moment called for it, we shifted to cinematic storytelling that highlighted what makes Magic special.
These films captured the mountain at its best—from powder days and steep terrain to the people who make the place what it is. They celebrated the employees, locals, and passionate community that give Magic its identity, bringing a more emotional side to the brand without losing the authenticity at the heart of the More Soul campaign.
While the off-season is typically a quieter time for the ski community, we saw it as an opportunity to keep the energy going and stay connected with our audience. We continued the More Soul approach by creating entertaining content—from a season pass campaign spoofing pharmaceutical ads to a parody of Batman Returns celebrating the relaunch of Magic's snowmaking system in the fall. We also covered local community events on the mountain. Rather than treating the off-season as downtime, we used it as another chance to showcase Magic's personality and keep the community engaged.
To complement the film content, we captured a constant stream of photography that kept the More Soul campaign alive day after day. These images captured everything that makes Magic unique—from the terrain and conditions to the people, community, and unexpected moments that happen around the mountain.
