National State Tourism Directors Mercury Awards > Public Relations Campaign

Frank Lloyd Wright Trail

About This Entry:

The word “prolific” hardly begins to describe architect Frank Lloyd Wright. His buildings can be found all over the world, but his connection to Wisconsin is undeniable. He wasn’t just born here, he designed over 40 buildings across the state and spent most of his years living and working from his studio estate in Spring Green. Even his signature organic architecture, known as “prairie style,” was inspired by Wisconsin’s natural landscape.
In 2016, the state legislature designated the world’s first Frank Lloyd Wright Trail and gave Travel Wisconsin this challenge: Raise the profile of the nine Wright-designed buildings along the new trail.
Recognizing the opportunity to boost awareness about Wright’s ties to Wisconsin and increase visitation to the trail sites, Travel Wisconsin created a campaign to tell the world about the first-ever Frank Lloyd Wright Trail and inspire people to visit. Knowing the trail would most impact a niche audience of Frank Lloyd Wright enthusiasts and art, architecture, design and history buffs, the campaign relied on public relations supported by social media, special events and partnerships.

The campaign objectives were: Raise awareness of the trail and inspire travelers to visit the nine sites; garner national media attention; and spark social media discussion about the trail.

With a mix of fate and foresight, the Frank Lloyd Wright Trail was ready to unveil in 2017, the 150th anniversary year of Wright’s birth. The well-timed launch was a perfect way to begin the conversation about the trail and partner with the nine sites on events themed around the milestone. A content marketing strategy and partnership with a key Instagram influencer also helped amplify the campaign.

Anchored in media relations, special events, social media and key stakeholder collaborations, the campaign generated 526 earned media placements for a value of $56.4 million. Social media became a conversation platform through our online Wright-themed articles and video content. Sites saw an increase in visitation, some by as much as 20% since the trail’s launch. The Frank Lloyd Wright Trail quickly became Travel Wisconsin’s most successful PR campaign ever.

Campaign Strategy:

To set the wheels in motion, Travel Wisconsin formed a steering committee with representatives from several trail sites. SC Johnson, housed in one of the sites, designed and trademarked the highway signage, which paid homage (down to its organic brown tones) to Wright’s famous prairie style. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation installed the freeway guide signs, route markers, and directional and trailblazer signs in partnership with Travel Wisconsin.

Travel Wisconsin worked with each site to gather information on their visitor experience, such as hours, tours and events, especially those tied to Wright’s 150th birthday. We developed a media kit that included a trail map, fact sheet, three-day itinerary, photos and news releases announcing the official trail launch and Wright “birthday” events taking place throughout the year. Materials were branded to match the highway signage.

Media outreach began in February to long-lead publications to reach our niche audience, such as Architectural Digest, HGTV, History Today and Smithsonian. Pitching for nation-wide short-lead publications began in April. Travel Wisconsin coordinated individual and group press trips that allowed journalists to experience the trail firsthand. In addition to traditional media, we partnered with Darren Bradley of @ModArchitecture, an architecture influencer with 75,000 Instagram followers, to document his journey along the trail.

To announce the official opening of the Frank Lloyd Wright Trail, Travel Wisconsin hosted a ribbon cutting press conference at the SC Johnson Administration Building in Racine. The ceremony took place on May 10, during National Travel & Tourism Week, and included remarks from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, SC Johnson Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson, and Wisconsin Tourism Secretary Stephanie Klett.

Leveraging Travel Wisconsin’s content marketing strategy would be key to social engagement. We developed nine articles for TravelWisconsin.com, as well as a short-form video. The content was published on our Facebook and Twitter accounts throughout the campaign and targeted to users matching our designated audience. To carry the momentum beyond the summer travel season, we partnered with Discover Wisconsin, a popular TV show dedicated to Wisconsin tourism, to create a half-hour episode about the trail. The show aired in December across eight states.

Results:

Media outreach, social media strategy and community collaboration helped the Frank Lloyd Wright Trail campaign become Travel Wisconsin’s most successful PR campaign ever. The total budget was $106,605, with $50,000 going toward highway signage as required by the Wisconsin state legislature. With more than $56.4 million in earned media value achieved, the return on investment equaled 528 percent.

Media Mentions: 526 articles, including international coverage from The China Post, Taiwan News, The Telegraph (UK), Architectural Digest, Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, CNN, New York Times, USA Today, Smithsonian Magazine and HGTV. This resulted in 1.1 billion impressions and $56.4 million in earned media value.

The trail and corresponding PR campaign were so successful, our neighboring state of Illinois approached us about using our highway signage for their own Frank Lloyd Wright Trail, which launched one year later in May 2018. Since imitation is the best form of flattery, we’d call this a big win! Illinois has since contacted Travel Wisconsin to start a conversation about partnership.

Frank Lloyd Wright Trail sites were also positively impacted. Six of the nine sites reported higher visitation than previous years, with one site seeing a 20 percent jump in visitors and another reporting an uptick in public tours by 12 percent. All six cited the Frank Lloyd Wright Trail and highway signage as a catalyst for the increase.

PR Campaign Awards: 2017 HSMAI Adrian Award, 2017 Bulldog Reporter Media Relations Award, PRSA-Southeastern WI Paragon Award of Distinction and Award of Excellence, and finalist for 2018 PRSA Silver Anvil Award.

Engagement was measured through social media and website traffic. Analytic highlights from February 1, 2017 – April 30, 2018 include:

Social Media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram): Posts on Travel Wisconsin’s social channels generated over 8,300 engagements and nearly 3,000 mentions of the Frank Lloyd Wright Trail. Our social media influencer partnership with @ModArchitecture resulted in more than 35,000 engagements on Instagram.

Frank Lloyd Wright Trail articles on TravelWisconsin.com received 58,611 pageviews, unique previews at 47,909 and an average time on page: 1:55

Discover Wisconsin TV episode: 500,000 viewers throughout the Midwest. Show aired December 2017.

Why This Is A Finalist: 

Wisconsin had great foresight with this campaign, specifically using Frank Lloyd Wright’s birth year as an anchor. They exhibited excellent marketing and great results. The campaign was strategically timed with a clear vision and objectives. The tactics were well-rounded and encompassed media outreach, social media engagement and community outreach.