Robert E. Launey - Ski Industry Advertising Executive

Robert E. Launey, 91, whose advertising agency performed extensive work for the ski industry in the 1960s and ‘70s, died in Tampa, Florida, on December 16, 2018. 

Born in Brooklyn, Launey served in the U.S. Navy, and earned a master’s degree in marketing from New York University. He worked for one of America’s largest ad agencies (Batten, Barten, Durstine and Osborn) before forming his own agency (Robert E. Launey Advertising) in New York City in 1965.  

Launey’s clients included Hampshire Imports (Kastinger boots, apparel); Cubco bindings; A.G. Spalding Ski Division; Larchmont snowmaking; the Ski Specialists Guild of retailers; SKI Magazine; and Ski Industries America. He ran SIA seminars for retailers on how to get the most out of your ski shop advertising and promotion budget. 

A lifelong skier, Launey was the longtime advertising agency for the Catamount area in the Berkshires, near where he had a ski home. 

Survivors include his wife Deborah Fineout Launey, and daughters Ashley and Melissa, the children of his marriage to the late Elizabeth Davies Launey. —John Fry