Destinations Council Destiny Awards > Video, Film or Podcast Series

Chasin' The Sun

About This Entry:

Panama City Beach is known for its white-sand beaches and turquoise blue water.
Lesser known, however, is its world-class fishery that offers easy access to a wide variety of angling experiences few other destinations can match.

In an effort to promote the fishery and support the local charter fishing industry, Visit PCB produced “Chasin’ The Sun,” a fishing, diving, and coastal lifestyle TV series. The show targets outdoor enthusiasts, primarily men aged 25-54 with household income exceeding $70,000 annually.

With Chasin' The Sun, Visit Panama City Beach sought to drive incremental visitor demand among outdoor enthusiasts along with elevating the exposure of its lesser-known world-class fishery.

Additionally, Visit Panama City Beach wanted to create awareness of Panama City Beach’s diverse fisheries by showcasing the wide variety of species – redfish, snapper, tarpon, cobia, grouper, kingfish, etc. – and the many options anglers have to pursue them.

Finally, Visit PCB sought to highlight Panama City Beach’s coastal lifestyle by featuring restaurants, attractions, shopping, local “characters” and events throughout the show.

Campaign Strategy:

Visit Panama City Beach worked closely with the local fishing industry to gather research for content and a production company was selected to capture footage of the area's fishery and hidden gems.

With Discovery Channel on board as well as a list of premiere sponsors, the 2019 broadcast season consisted of 13 original episodes (30 minutes in length), and each episode aired twice over a 26-week period (January through June).

The show attracted national sponsors – including B&W Trailer Hitches, Dulce Vida Tequila, Engel Coolers, FireDisc Cookers, Florida Fishing Products, Kicker Audio, Mojo Sportswear Company, Native Eyewear, Power-Pole, and Z-Man Fishing Products – which delivered revenue to offset production costs and product for in-show and promotional use.

Co-hosted by Capt. Justin Leake and Capt. Travis Holman, each episode included a fast-paced angling action and a feature segment on one of Panama City Beach's popular attractions such as events, amusements, restaurants and public or state parks.

Digital assets included a microsite (ChasinTheSunTV.com) featuring pre-roll video, host bios, sponsor page with click-thru links, episode descriptions, broadcast schedule, monthly fishing reports, weather data, species information and links to fishing/diving partners. Dedicated social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) created further awareness.

The show’s website and YouTube channel featured full episodes and periodic e-newsletters were sent to the show’s email database of subscribers interested in fishing and the coastal lifestyle.

Public relations efforts included pre-broadcast press releases to national/regional outdoor media and local media outlets, FAM trips for outdoor journalists, and feature articles in quarterly issues of Visit PCB magazine.

Promotional activities included activations at various Visit PCB signature events and periodic social media contests with sponsors’ products as prizes.

In June, the show conducted an “Angling Adventure” sweepstakes which offered weekly sponsor product prizes and a grand prize of a trip to PCB.

A 30-second promotional video for the show was broadcast to thousands of concertgoers during Pepsi SandJam and Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam, two major music festivals held in Panama City Beach.

Visit Panama City Beach used metrics from digital assets, Discovery Channel, Amazon, and anecdotal research from the local fishing industry.

Results:

The results, well they have been pretty incredible.

Chasin' The Sun was seen by 3.7 million viewers as reported by Discovery Channel!

• Amazon Prime delivered 1,550 hours of on-demand “Chasin’ The Sun” content
• Sponsorship sales of $229,000 in cash/product offset 47% of the program cost
• Facebook followers increased 112.78% (11,608 likes in 2019)

Chasin' The Sun elevated the exposure for Panama City Beach beyond its core markets and has proven Visit Panama City Beach achieved its goal of showcasing the spectacular fishery and hidden gems of the destination all the while driving incremental demand.

Finally, Bay County had experienced Hurricane Michael in the fall of 2018, the first Category 5 storm to make landfall in the area. Chasin' The Sun played an important role in the area's recovery by serving as a leading voice showcasing the destination to visitors.

Why This Is A Finalist: 

It's hard to argue against the partnership brilliance of this campaign. This is the best use of content as advertising that I judged.

It was all executed in hi-fidelity. My only nit to pick is the design of the brand ID could have benefited from some refinement.