Great outdoor hospitality experiences deserve great stories—and how a property tells its story can make all the difference in connecting with potential guests.
In this AGA Member Spotlight, we're featuring Aspen Creative Co., a full-service creative agency bringing a fresh, adventure-driven perspective to marketing for campgrounds and glamping businesses. From photography and video production to brand strategy and social media, Aspen Creative Co. helps outdoor hospitality businesses showcase what makes their properties unique through authentic, experience-driven storytelling.
With a background in the outdoor and adventure industries, the agency understands that effective marketing goes beyond beautiful images. It's about building trust, capturing the feeling of a place, and helping guests envision the experience waiting for them.
Get to know the story behind Aspen Creative Co. first hand, featuring Tony Mellinger (founder and Chief Creative Officer), and their approach to working with glamping businesses.
What inspired the name of your company? Is there a story or meaning behind your company’s name? How does it reflect your brand or values?
The name comes from the aspen tree, not the town. Aspens grow in groves connected by one shared root system underground, so a whole hillside of them turning gold in the fall is technically a single organism. That felt like the right metaphor for an agency built around adventure and outdoor brands: when a client grows, we grow with them, because we're genuinely tied to their success and not just billing hours. It also doesn't hurt that aspens only grow at elevation, in rugged country, which fits a shop built for people who run businesses outdoors.
What is your role within the company?
I'm the Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Aspen Creative Co. In practice that means I'm usually behind a camera or in an edit bay one day and pitching brand strategy to a client's leadership team the next. I built the agency to be full-service on purpose, photography, video production, social strategy, and brand messaging all live under one roof, so an outdoor or adventure brand doesn't have to stitch together five different vendors just to tell their story.
How long has your organization been operating?
Aspen Creative Co. launched in 2024, so we're just over two years in as of this feature. Before starting the agency I spent close to a decade producing branding, documentary-style video, and digital strategy for adventure and outdoor companies, so this was less a leap into a new industry and more a formalization of work I was already doing.
Where is your business primarily located? Is there anything special about this location to you?
We're based in the St. Louis area, in Wentzville, Missouri. It's not a mountain town or a coastal outdoor hub, and that's actually the point. Being in the Midwest puts us close to a huge concentration of overlanding shops, off-road brands, campgrounds, and glamping properties across Missouri, Illinois, and the broader Midwest that rarely get the production quality or marketing attention that West Coast or Mountain West brands take for granted, and we get to be the team closing that gap.
How did you get started in the glamping industry? Share the story behind how your company or you personally entered the glamping industry. What motivated you to get involved?
My path into glamping came through the broader outdoor and adventure space rather than one lightning-bolt moment. I spent years producing content for overlanding shops, off-road brands, and campgrounds, and campground clients like Lazy Day Campground made it obvious how much overlap there is between outdoor adventure marketing and glamping marketing: same guest mindset, same seasonal pressure, same owner-operator hustle. Joining the American Glamping Association and speaking on an AGA panel made glamping a core part of who we serve, not just an adjacent niche.
What is unique about your approach to glamping? What sets your business or services apart from others in the industry? Describe any unique philosophies, products, or services that define your brand.
Most agencies that touch glamping treat it like luxury hospitality and lean on the same polished, aspirational stock-photo playbook every property is already using. We treat it like what it actually is: an adventure brand with really nice beds. Our approach leans into the real, sometimes messy texture of running a property, the last-minute cancellation, the nervous first-time camper talked into the yurt instead of the tent, because that's what guests actually connect with, not another photo of string lights over a bell tent. We're also full-service, so a client gets brand strategy, photo and video production, and social execution from one team that already understands the seasonality and owner-operator reality of the industry, instead of educating a generalist agency from scratch.
What’s the most innovative thing your company has done in the last year? Share a project, product, or initiative that your company has launched recently that you believe is pushing the boundaries of the glamping industry.
This fall we're running a free virtual Lunch & Learn with the American Glamping Association called "Stop Sounding Like a Robot: Brand Voice 101 for Glamping Businesses," teaching glamping owners how to build a dedicated AI workspace that writes in their voice instead of the generic "book your unforgettable escape" tone every AI tool defaults to. Instead of just telling people AI copy sounds flat, we built a live before-and-after demo into the session: run a generic prompt, then feed the same tool real brand inputs and a founder's actual tone, and show the difference out loud. It hands owners something they can reuse on every platform long after the session ends, not just a one-off deliverable.
How do you incorporate sustainability into your business practices? In what ways are you making your business more sustainable? What are the challenges and benefits of these efforts?
As a marketing and production partner rather than a physical property operator, our biggest sustainability lever is being intentional about travel and gear instead of land or energy use. We batch multi-day shoots so a single trip, like a recent weekend with Two Track Campers in Wyoming's Medicine Bow range, covers as much usable content as possible instead of making repeat trips for the same client. On the client side, we also push glamping and campground clients to lead with their real sustainability practices in their marketing, water conservation, native landscaping, leave-no-trace guest education, rather than burying it, because authenticity there matters more to today's outdoor guest than a green logo ever will.
What’s one product, service, or idea you wish existed in the glamping industry? If you could introduce something new to the industry, what would it be and why? How do you think it would change the landscape of glamping?
I'd love a shared, industry-wide content co-op where smaller glamping properties could pool budget for professional photo and video, the way some tourism boards already do for a region. Most of the owners we talk to know they need better visual content to compete with hotels and short-term rentals, but a full production budget is out of reach for a five-unit property in its second season. A co-op model, maybe even run through the AGA itself, would let smaller operators get agency-level content without agency-level budgets, and it would raise the visual bar for the whole industry at once.
What role do community and collaboration play in your business? How do you engage with your local community, other industry professionals, or your customer base? Why is this important to your business?
Community is the whole business model, not a nice-to-have. Nearly every client relationship we have started through a real-world connection, an event, a referral from another outdoor brand, a conversation on a trade show floor, rather than a cold pitch, and that's by design. Being part of the American Glamping Association, speaking on panels, and staying active in overlanding and off-road communities keeps us plugged into what's actually happening on the ground for owner-operators, which makes our marketing work sharper and more credible than if we were guessing from behind a desk.
Can you share a story of how your work has positively impacted a customer or community? Describe an instance where your business made a significant difference in someone’s life or in the local community.
With Lazy Day Campground, we didn't just deliver a highlight reel, we planned a full shoot covering everything from drone aerials of the property to amenity walkthroughs to real guest testimonials, so the campground ended up with a full library of assets to use across their website, social, and booking pages instead of the handful of phone photos most small campgrounds are stuck marketing with. That kind of asset library is real relief for an owner-operator who doesn't have time to be their own photographer between check-ins.
What do you see as the next big shift in consumer expectations in the glamping industry? How are you preparing to meet or exceed these evolving expectations?
Guests are getting sharper at spotting when marketing isn't real, whether that's an over-edited photo, AI-generated imagery standing in for the actual property, or copy that could describe literally any glamping site in the country. The next shift is guests expecting proof before they book: real photos of the actual unit they'll sleep in, real reviews they can cross-check, and a brand voice that sounds like an actual person runs the place. We're already preparing clients for that by leaning hard on authentic, on-property content and steering people away from letting AI imagery replace real photos of the actual property, since guests book what they can see is real.
What challenges do you see the industry facing, and how are you addressing them? Discuss any significant challenges within the industry and how your company is working to overcome them.
Seasonality and thin margins are still the two biggest challenges for the glamping owners we work with, and both make it hard to justify real marketing spend during the slow months when cash flow is tightest. The other challenge is time: most owners are still doing their own marketing between checking in guests and restocking firewood, with no formal training and no bandwidth to keep up with every platform change. We address both by building systems instead of one-off content, brand voice frameworks, reusable templates, and batched production schedules, so an owner gets a year's worth of authentic marketing assets instead of needing to reinvent their strategy every quarter.
Can you share a recent success story or milestone your company has achieved? Describe a recent achievement or success your company has experienced. What was the impact on your business or the industry?
This year we were invited to speak on a panel with the American Glamping Association and are now hosting our own free Lunch & Learn for the AGA community this October, which feels like a real milestone for a company that only launched in 2024. On the client side, we've grown from primarily overlanding and off-road work into real case studies across campgrounds and glamping properties like Lazy Day Campground, which tells us the full-service, adventure-first approach genuinely translates across the broader outdoor hospitality space, not just Jeep and off-road brands.
What’s the most unexpected lesson you’ve learned in the glamping industry? Share a surprising insight or lesson that you’ve gained from your time in the industry. How has it shaped your approach to your work?
I expected glamping marketing to be mostly about aspiration, beautiful photos of string lights and clawfoot tubs, and it turns out the businesses that actually convert bookings lead with reassurance instead. Guests considering glamping for the first time are often nervous, not dreamy, worried about bugs, weather, safety, or whether "glamping" is code for roughing it with better branding, so the marketing that works hardest answers those doubts directly instead of just selling the fantasy. That was a real shift in how I approach every glamping brief now: lead with trust, then layer in the beauty shots.
If you could spend a week at any glamping site in the world, where would it be and why? Whether it’s a dream destination or a place that inspires you, where would you go to unwind or gather new ideas?
Given how much time I spend chasing red rock and open sky for client shoots, I'd pick a glamping property somewhere in canyon country around Moab, Utah, ideally something with dark-sky certification and easy trail access. I've shot enough sunrises and sunsets out there for clients that I wouldn't mind finally doing it on vacation instead of a call sheet, camera optional.
How do you stay inspired and creative in your work? What practices, hobbies, or experiences help you maintain your creativity and passion for what you do?
Getting out of the office and back into the field is non-negotiable for me. Between Jeeping, riding my Africa Twin on adventure motorcycle trips, and gravel and mountain bike rides, I'm regularly putting myself in the same headspace as the guests and customers we're marketing to, which keeps the work honest instead of theoretical. Shooting on location for clients, whether that's a weekend with Two Track Campers in the Medicine Bow mountains or a campground shoot closer to home, keeps me creatively fed in a way sitting behind a desk never would.
What’s your vision for the future of your company within the glamping industry? Describe your long-term goals and ambitions. How do you see your business growing or evolving in the next few years?
I want Aspen Creative Co. to become the go-to full-service creative partner for glamping and campground brands ready to grow past word-of-mouth and Instagram-only marketing, the same role we've built for overlanding and off-road brands over the last two years. That means deepening our case study work in the space, building more educational resources like our AGA Lunch & Learn sessions, and eventually developing repeatable content systems that smaller glamping operators can plug into without needing an in-house marketing team. Long term, I'd like Aspen Creative to be a name glamping owners hear from other glamping owners, the same referral-driven trust we've already built in the off-road world.
What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had with a client or partner? Share a story that stands out in your career, whether it’s funny, touching, or particularly impactful.
Spending a weekend deep in Wyoming's Medicine Bow mountain range with the Two Track Campers team is one that sticks with me. We were out there to capture footage of their trailers in the environment they're actually built for, and there's something different about shooting a product story when you're camped in the same conditions your customers will be in, not on a studio set. Moments like that are why I built Aspen Creative around real field production instead of stock photography and Zoom calls with clients I've never met in person.
If you could write a book about your journey in the glamping industry, what would the title be and why? What title would capture your story or philosophy in the industry? Give a brief description of what the book might include.
I'd probably borrow from our own blog and call it "Fieldnotes: What Nobody Tells You About Marketing the Outdoors." So much of what I've learned running Aspen Creative didn't come from a marketing textbook, it came from being on location watching what actually works for owner-operators in real time. The book would be less a how-to guide and more a collection of the stories, mistakes, and small wins from two years of building an agency around an industry I already loved.
How is your company innovating within the glamping space? Describe any new technologies, products, or services you are developing or implementing to push the boundaries of glamping.
A lot of our current innovation is happening around AI, not by using it to write generic content, but by teaching glamping owners how to build brand voice systems so AI tools actually sound like them. Our AGA Lunch & Learn is built around a repeatable framework: define who you are, who your guests actually are, what makes your property different, then feed that into a dedicated AI workspace instead of a blank prompt box. We're also pushing full-service production, photo, video, and strategy from one team, into glamping and campground work the same way we already have for overlanding brands, so smaller properties get agency-level output without hiring five separate vendors.
What do you think the future of glamping looks like? Share your vision for the future of the glamping industry. Where do you see the industry headed in the next 5-10 years?
I think the next five to ten years split glamping properties into two camps: those that lean into their specific, authentic sense of place, and those that get commoditized by looking identical to every other bell tent and A-frame on Instagram. Guests are getting more discerning and more willing to travel further for something that feels genuinely distinct, whether that's a wild location, a strong sustainability story, or a different guest experience. The properties investing in real brand identity and authentic content now are the ones guests will remember and rebook, not just the ones with the prettiest single photo.
Can you share a memorable story or experience you've had in the glamping industry? Describe a particular event or experience that stands out during your time in the glamping industry.
Being invited onto a panel with the American Glamping Association earlier this year was a genuine full-circle moment. I'd spent years building content and strategy for outdoor and adventure brands from the outside looking in at the glamping space, so sitting in front of AGA members with something useful to say about brand voice and marketing felt like real validation that the crossover between overlanding, off-road, and glamping marketing is more real than people assume. It's also what connected us to several of the owner-operators and stories that show up in this feature.
How has being a part of the glamping industry impacted you personally? Reflect on how your involvement in glamping has influenced your life, whether personally or professionally.
It's made me a better storyteller across my whole business, honestly. Glamping clients forced me to get sharper about emotional, sensory detail, what a place smells and sounds like at dusk, not just what it looks like in a wide shot, and that skill has made every piece of content I produce for overlanding and off-road clients better too. It's also reinforced something I already believed: people don't book an experience, they book a feeling, and glamping is one of the clearest examples of that in the entire outdoor industry.
Is there anything else you would like to share about your experience in the glamping industry? Use this space to add any additional thoughts, stories, or insights that you believe are important.
Just that I'm genuinely glad the AGA exists as a home base for an industry that doesn't always get taken seriously by outsiders who assume it's just camping with better sheets. Being part of this community, from the panel to the upcoming Lunch & Learn, has been some of the most rewarding work Aspen Creative Co. has done since we launched in 2024, and I'm looking forward to doing a lot more of it.
Share a quote that inspires you in your work, and explain why it resonates with you.
A line I come back to a lot in this work is close to "amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work," often credited to Stephen King. Client shoots don't wait for perfect light or a good mood, you show up in the Medicine Bow mountains or at a campground at 5 a.m. whether you feel inspired or not, and the work gets made anyway.
For Aspen Creative Co., successful marketing starts with understanding the experience behind the brand. From capturing the details that make a property special to helping business owners communicate with authenticity, the focus is on creating meaningful connections between outdoor hospitality businesses and the guests they hope to welcome.
As the glamping industry continues to evolve, the need for distinctive storytelling, genuine imagery, and strong brand identities will only grow. Aspen Creative Co. brings an outdoor-focused perspective to that conversation, along with a commitment to collaboration, education, and supporting businesses across the industry.
We're grateful to have Aspen Creative Co. as part of the AGA community and appreciate its willingness to share its experience and insights.
Learn more about Aspen Creative Co. and its creative services!
