SapientNitro Partners with Vail Resorts to Enhance the Mountain Experience with the Launch of EpicMix Photo

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SapientNitro^SM, part of Sapient® (NASDAQ: SAPE), announced that Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN), worked with SapientNitro to help design the revolutionary changes to its much-heralded EpicMix program and application for its second ski and snowboard season. The launch of the Second Generation EpicMix builds upon the success of the first season and adds critical new functionality – including photos – to offer an even more rewarding and thrilling mountain experience for guests.

“Vail Resorts is truly an innovator, and its focus on creating new dimensions to the guest experience makes it unlike any other destination”

Following the success of the first season of EpicMix, Vail Resorts turned to SapientNitro to help design new ways to enhance the guest experience and improve upon the existing platform by adding new features and functionality. These changes are already appealing to a broader audience, including the destination traveler.

The second generation of EpicMix adds a new dimension with the addition of digital photos, allowing skiers to capture, connect and share their “experience of a lifetime” with friends and family. With a scan of their pass, guests can have professional photos taken by a Vail Resorts EpicMix photographer automatically delivered to their EpicMix account. Other new features include the ability to purchase high-resolution digital versions of professional photos, a Mountain Remix collage tool which creates a unique visualization of the guest’s mountain experience, enhanced motivational and reward-based interaction, broadened social sharing capabilities, and more.

“One of the most important parts of any vacation experience is the ability to capture and share those special moments with others,” said Rob Katz, Vail Resorts chairman and chief executive officer. “With EpicMix Photo, Vail Resorts guests at all six of our mountain resorts now have a digital journal to document and share their experiences with friends and family in a seamless, easy way.”

When it launched last year, EpicMix was called a “game changer” and won a prestigious Webby award. Just a month into this year’s ski season, the second generation of EpicMix has already resulted in more than 280,000 posts on Facebook and Twitter, exceeding the total number of social posts from all of last season, with more than half of this year’s posts including photos. Additionally, guest activations are already up by nearly 40 percent.

The first generation of EpicMix enabled Vail Resorts guests to engage with the mountain sports experience in a new way by tracking activities such as mountain check-ins, lifts ridden and vertical feet attained, as well as rewarding their on-mountain accomplishments with digital "pins." Now, EpicMix is taking a leap forward with the incorporation of photos. EpicMix is available via mobile and web applications, and can be shared with friends via Facebook and other social media channels. The best part of EpicMix is that it works by utilizing radio frequency identity (RFID) technology embedded within lift tickets and season passes, and is available at all of Vail Resorts mountains: Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly and Northstar.

“Vail Resorts is truly an innovator, and its focus on creating new dimensions to the guest experience makes it unlike any other destination,” said Anthony Yell, vice president of creative at SapientNitro. “It’s been a great pleasure for SapientNitro to help the Vail team improve EpicMix for the second generation. By combining digital engagement, social integration, state-of-the-art technology and real-life mountain adventure, EpicMix helps Vail Resorts provide guests with the experience of a lifetime.”

To learn more about EpicMix, visit: www.epicmix.com.

Note to journalists: screen shots available upon request.

About SapientNitro

SapientNitro^SM, part of Sapient®, is an integrated marketing and technology services firm. We create and engineer highly relevant experiences that accelerate business growth and fuel brand advocacy for our clients. By combining multi-channel marketing, multi-channel commerce, and the technology that binds them, we influence customer behavior across the spectrum of content, communication and commerce channels, resulting in deeper, more meaningful relationships between customers and brands. SapientNitro services global leaders such as Citi, The Coca-Cola Company, Foot Locker, Singapore Airlines, Target, and Vodafone through our operations in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. For more information, visit www.sapientnitro.com or follow us on Twitter @sapientnitro.

Sapient is a registered service mark of Sapient Corporation.

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