National State Tourism Directors Mercury Awards > Social Media Campaign

Sunshine to Share: Social Media Blitz Target Cities Campaign

About This Entry:

Brand objective: The Arizona Office of Tourism wanted to increase awareness and consideration among travel-minded targets living in New York and Chicago.

Brand challenge: Early research revealed that our target audience held a number of perceptual barriers about the state, the most surprising of which was that those who hadn’t visited viewed Arizona as “unwelcoming.” We needed to create a campaign that would both achieve the primary objectives as well as build positive brand equity and a true affinity for the state of Arizona.

The insight: We noticed people in our target markets giving voice to their winter frustrations on social media. In fact, there were over 12 million negative posts about this past winter across Twitter and Instagram. This emphasized a universal insight: Come spring, we loathe winter. With terms like #bombcyclone, #polarvortex, #snowpocalypse and #chiberia entering mainstream culture, a severe case of winter fatigue had fallen over our intended targets.

The idea: Arizona has an average of 313 sunny days each year and winter temps hovering around a lovely 70 degrees Fahrenheit, the state not only has sunshine to spare, it has Sunshine to Share. Building on the key insight of winter fatigue, the #AZSunToShare digital campaign was born. This social-media-driven effort sought to intervene, relieve and entertain people as they were experiencing the gray, gloom and cold of a lingering winter.

Idea challenge: Mother Nature is fickle. Not only did we have to employ a sensitivity to the dangers of major winter storms and the destruction they can cause, we also had to combat atypical winter weather in Arizona that was making national news and negating our core campaign message.

The campaign objective: The Sunshine to Share campaign was designed to generate reach, engagement, top-of-mind awareness and positive sentiment for those, living in New York City and Chicago, beset by long and gloomy winters, and to communicate that Arizona is a warm, welcoming and fun destination suitable for a winter fatigue escape.

Campaign Strategy:

The campaign components: Hero videos per market, PR outreach and a dedicated paid media campaign, which ran concurrently with existing target city’s consumer campaigns, paved the way to support the real-time #AZSunToShare social media blitz.

The video: Two customized hero video assets and 34 pre-recorded responses were created to promote the key message and engagement with the #AZSunToShare conversation during the blitz period.

The media: We targeted Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube users interested in travel within our key markets. Before the blitz, we wanted to spark more conversation about winter fatigue and discontent and used the hero videos to do so. Post-blitz, users were driven to custom pages on VisitArizona.com to either download a visitors guide, complete a form, or sign up for a newsletter as an indicator of intent to visit.

The PR: We seeded the campaign with a press release to local, travel and marketing industry press and influencers in each market before the blitz. During the blitz, real-time examples of engagement were shared to further entice write-ups.

The blitz: For five days, we responded in real-time to Twitter and Instagram users complaining about the lingering winter. Using three social-listening platforms—Sprout Social, CrowdRiff and Keyhole—we surveyed popular hashtags, including #snowpocalypse and #ihatewinter, as well as location-specific hashtags, such as #nycsnow and #chiberia, to identify posts to respond to with potential reach and impact.

Once posts were identified and it was time to share the “sunshine,” the creative team crafted custom responses consisting of copy, pre-recorded video responses, photos, memes and/or personalized gifts. For example, one Twitter user said harsh winter was wreaking havoc on her houseplants, so we sent a cactus-garden kit.

Once posts were client approved, replies were sent through the Visit Arizona accounts on Twitter and Instagram using the campaign hashtag #AZSunToShare. The hashtag allowed us to track engagement, impressions and sentiment via Keyhole.

The Partners: Many local Arizona partners and brands provided gifts and experiences that were given away during blitz. Several Arizona DMOs also engaged in the conversation using the hashtag, further amplifying the campaign.

Results:

Through two hero launch videos, 34 pre-recorded video responses, 228 custom posts and replies, 46 giveaways including three trips, the Arizona Office of Tourism was able to achieve a 95% positive campaign sentiment. The #AZSunToShare campaign delivered 13.8 million impressions—63% of those resulted from organic use of the hashtag—and over 4,000 engagements. This surpassed far and beyond any of our campaign benchmarks.

We also received more than $1 million in earned media value with two local TV features on ABC 15 and FOX 10, interviews in PRWeek and MediaPost, a pending piece on Forbes.com and press release pick-ups by 165 outlets via newswire distribution.

All of these efforts resulted in a 30% increase in web sessions to VisitArizona.com and a 55% increase in website engagement as defined by newsletter subscriptions, form completions and travel guide downloads.

The Sunshine to Share campaign brightened the outlook of Arizona’s friends in New York and Chicago. This approachable, upbeat and budget-friendly campaign highlighted the best Arizona has to offer, not just the richness of its natural beauty and climate, but also the warmth of the people that live here. It demonstrated that when a campaign and brand can talk with people, instead of at them, everybody comes out on the sunny side.

Why This Is A Finalist: 

This submission was organized brilliantly. Reading about their branding challenges, as well as goals, made judges cling to every word. How does a brand counter "unwelcoming" opinions? It was a nice touch to include the amount of negative weather posts from target areas on Twitter and Instagram. This campaign used personalized gifts to incentivize social media users to engage (and ponder visiting Arizona). One example provided: "One Twitter user said harsh winter was wreaking havoc on her houseplants, so we sent a cactus-garden kit." When we think about social media and brands using a thoughtful, above and beyond approach, this wins. After videos, responses, and 228 custom posts and replies, the Sun to Share campaign yielded a 95 percent positive campaign sentiment.