With summer just around the corner, millions of individuals and families are planning their next getaway. What will influence their decision? Enter marketing. The key to tourism marketing is, of course, making that all-important connection with the travelers. Whether they’re looking to challenge themselves, experience something new, bond with family or friends, or just get some alone time, the need to get away can be tapped into by a good tourism marketing campaign.
Many popular tourist spots speak for themselves with beautiful imagery – but it takes real creative chops to make one tropical or mountainous destination stand apart from the rest. And it gives other, less popular spots the opportunity to highlight what makes a place special and make the all-important connection with consumers.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to successful tourism marketing, but there are campaigns that deserve a shout out for the strategic, creative storytelling they managed to pull off. Check out five of our favorites, as well as why we think they worked.
British Airways – Look Up
A concept that hides its complex execution behind a design that seems simple, this Look Up campaign reacted in real time with the flights that were taking off from London Heathrow Airport. Its creative use of technology to pick up data from in-progress flights and reroute the information to a “live” ad throughout the day truly showcased the interesting ways that marketing can evolve in the modern age. While many of us may overlook planes coming in and landing in urban areas, this brought our attention back to wondering where, exactly, those planes might be headed.
Norway – Sheep with a View
Norway’s Freedom to Roam is a staple in the country – and so are its 2 million sheep. So what better way to explore one of Norway’s most unique and cherished rights than with its most popular animal? With mounted cameras, we got to see nature on their terms, which got big results, including 849,888 video views. By attaching personalities to five individual sheep and building a social media following on Instagram, they put Norway in people’s minds and hearts – and inspired other countries to start their own “Sheep with a View” movements.
SNCF Europe: It’s Just Next Door
Closed doors invoke curiosity. Real people can spark genuine emotional connections. Put them together, and you have this great campaign from France’s railway, encouraging people to take advantage of the wonderful adventures that wait just outside their front door. It’s another example of technology used right in creating a memorable, effective advertising experience.
Quebéc – Blind Tourist
We’ve all seen tourism ads full of sweeping landscapes and lofty views. But if those were taken away, would your city or country still have what it takes to attract visitors? By focusing their advertisement around Danny Kean, who was born blind, Quebéc showed that their city had depth and experience beyond its pretty pictures. It was a thought-provoking piece that made consumers think outside their own experiences – because the most essential things in life must be felt with our hearts.
Australia – Crocodile Dundee
Creating one of the most in-depth and altogether surprising travel campaigns of the past few years, Australia launched an entire movie campaign for Dundee: The Son of a Legend Returns Home, a long-awaited sequel to the Crocodile Dundee franchise from the 1980s. From billboards to movie trailers featuring Australian legends including Chris Hemsworth, Margot Robbie, and Russell Crowe (as well as Danny McBride), they had everyone fooled in time for a big reveal at the Super Bowl. The result was memorable, sharable, and ingenious.
Based on their depth of creativity, strategy, and storytelling – we found these campaigns to be inspiring and deserving of a creative shout out. The same campaign ingredients can be found in our own portfolio. Check out our capabilities at bnoinc.com.
