Destinations Council Destiny Awards > Integrated Marketing and Messaging Campaign: Overall Marketing Budget $1 Million to $5 Million

Visit Spokane Room to Roam Campaign

About This Entry:

The objectives of the Room To Roam campaign were to promote awareness and inspiration around the Visit Spokane brand, drive leads for our hotel community and bring visitors to the region to safely experience the many “outdoor” activities and "uncrowded" places to explore.

It’s a unique and challenging experience to develop and promote an integrated campaign during a pandemic—especially when that campaign promotes travel and tourism. Since one of the goals of the campaign was to book hotel rooms, it was imperative that the campaign be built on the foundation of safety. We needed our visitors to know that Spokane was current with all Covid-19 safety protocols and was doing everything possible to keep visitors and our community safe. This was done through direct links from the campaign landing pages to Covid-19 Travel advisory pages on the website, messaging and weekly e.news updates by the CEO.

Since most people weren’t comfortable flying during the pandemic, we targeted the drive-market 22-60 in order to reach people that were looking to get outside and away from their “work from home” lives. The campaign's integrated tactics showed people from Seattle, Portland, and other surrounding cities how to escape the work-from-home monotony and enjoy the many interesting outdoor activities in the Spokane region—away from the crowds.

When developing our creative strategy, the goal was to stand out in a non-traditional way from competing DMO’S. In order to meet this goal, we integrated whimsical critter illustrations with photos and live-action video.

The advertising campaign included regional print magazines, paid social/digital campaigns, broadcast/OTT, out-of-home and a large presence of transit in Seattle. The digital campaigns targeted California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington. And the out-of-home focused mainly in Portland and Seattle. The year ended with the campaign/critters being part of Visit Spokane's holiday spot and our beloved outdoor “Crescent Christmas Windows” in downtown Spokane. Local artists were sponsored to bring the 5 Christmas windows to life with their creativity and spirit. And while the COVID-19 pandemic had canceled countless holiday events, friends and families were still able to get outside and bask in the holiday magic.

Campaign Strategy:

Mixing illustrated animals with regional photos of inviting outdoor destinations and live action video was very intentional. We wanted to include illustration in order to set Visit Spokane apart from the myriad of traditional looking DMO campaigns.

The campaigns use of illustrated characters also checked a diverse set of boxes for messaging during the Covid-19 pandemic. The first of which was not having to put real people in masks in the creative. People in masks were not only unappealing, but they also assured that none of the creative assets could be used after the pandemic.

The illustrated animals also leaned into Visit Spokane’s brand tagline “Creative by Nature” while not opening Spokane to unnecessary social or political criticism. Room to Roam summed up everything everyone wanted at the time, especially those living in crowded cities such as Seattle and Portland, both of which had extreme unrest and disruption during this time period.

And by using anthropomorphized animals as subjects, it allowed us to peak interest in the campaign. We chose to use a diverse mix of species, native as well as animals from other countries to symbolize welcoming people from all backgrounds. For the TV spots we showed the characters enjoying a range of seasonal activities, but also made sure to include “point of view shots” so the viewers could imagine themselves in those locations.

The animals lend themselves to character development and future brand development and use. Most importantly, they’re whimsical: they’re fun; and they’re unexpected. Something all of us needed during such a difficult year.

It was important to the authenticity of this campaign that Visit Spokane and the agency of record, Klündt Hosmer, use trusted local vendors to execute on our mission. From the agency illustrator to the producers & animator, from the media buyers to the woman singing Deck the Halls in the holiday video – we are proud of the creative work developed by the people that know Spokane best, the locals.

Results:

By the end of 2020, the campaign achieved immense success and delivered more than a 2-to-1 return on advertising spend (ROAS) and generated over 100 million measured impressions.

During the worst year for hotel occupancy worldwide, and within a 2.5 million Visit Spokane marketing budget, the campaign itself earned over $5 million in hotel room revenue for Spokane County. Because of the campaign, Spokane fared much better than other regional cities, with a hotel room occupancy rate of double that of Seattle. And Spokane County had a higher revenue per available room than both Seattle and Portland in 2020, according to hotel industry market data provider STR.

TOTAL ROOM NIGHT REVENUES: $5,032,624
Website Room Night Revenues: $1,372,258
Media Room Night Revenues: $3,660,366

TOTAL DIGITAL IMPRESSIONS: 160,401,946
Adara Attribution Impressions: 78,597,871
Arrivalist Attribution Impressions* (EXPOSURES): 81,804,075

TOTAL TRADITIONAL IMPRESSIONS: 121,435,750
Total Print Impressions: 4,738,750
Total Outdoor Impressions: 116,697,000

TOTAL ARRIVALS: 11,404
Total Website Arrivals: 6,161
Total Media Arrivals: 5,243

TOTAL HOTEL BOOKINGS: 20,444
Website Hotel Bookings: 5,205
Media Hotel Bookings: 15,539

Along with powerful stats, many people simply reached out via email or social:

"I wait on TV to see these lovely animated videos. I've seen three versions. They make me so happy.” - Koryn R., Seattle, WA

"I don't know who made these or who is responsible, but I think this is the best ad I’ve ever seen, and every time it comes on it makes me happy.” - Ken S., Seattle, WA

The campaign also received seven awards at the American Advertising Federation Spokane competition. The campaign won a GOLD Award, Best of Division — Cross-Platform, and the coveted Best of Show — Integrated Branded Campaign. The whimsical critter illustration series also won a GOLD Award and Best of Division. The print advertising and the outdoor transit design also won a Silver Award. These projects were honored by American Advertising Federation judges from around the nation and announced on April 2, 2021.

As we move into 2021, the Visit Spokane Room to Roam campaign is still underway, bringing smiles to peoples’ faces and visitors to our city and region.

Why This Is A Finalist: 

Clever, thoughtful and strategic approach to marketing during the pandemic. Using the illustrated animals was a good approach to promoting the region.

Love the combination of beautiful photogenic imageries combining with 2D graphic animations.

The overall outcome of the campaign was successful and the use of illustrated characters will help the campaign continue with other creative extensions. Congratulations on a nice campaign.