Destinations Council Destiny Awards > Short-Term Marketing Campaign

London “YOU CAN in Portland” Pop-up Store

About This Entry:

The goal was to intensify awareness of Portland as a trendy travel destination by targeting potential travelers 25-40 years of age in the United Kingdom. As a direct engagement to reach younger, more hip travelers in the U.K., Travel Portland staged a three-week “YOU CAN in Portland” Pop-up store in London’s trendy Shoreditch district in April/May 2018. The “experiential” store literally brought Portland to London, and created inspirational and interactive activations with a tightly-curated schedule of lectures, discussion panels, presentations, culinary samples, entertainment and Portland products designed to increase awareness of the creative and eclectic nature of Portland. As a creative hub in London’s hip East End, the Shoreditch location was chosen to promote “YOU CAN in Portland” with the Pop-up store because it was most likely to reach the affluent target younger demographic that would be energized to book travel to Portland.

Create Demand to Support Delta Air Lines’ Non-stop Air Service From LHR to PDX

One of the main goals of the project was to support international non-stop LHR-PDX service by targeting Delta Air Lines’ “Emerging High Value Customer” age 25-40 to drive demand through raised awareness of Portland as a culinary and creative destination. The high visibility by Delta Air Lines in the store made the connection between London and Portland obvious.

Travel Portland presented the destination as a place with the same type of cultural interests as London’s trendy Shoreditch district. The Pop-up store proved to be an immense success by all measures, as the “Portland experience” it brought directly to the London market was a perfect fit with the younger demographic that spends time in the city’s Shoreditch District. The store had a hip and trendy vibe, and free registrations for many of the in-store events were “sold out” in minutes; The potential of a free tattoo by Portland’s vegan tattoo artist produced a line around the block. The main mission was to immerse the store’s visitors with a wide variety of sights, sounds, tastes and hands-on experiences, in order to serve as an effective means to educate Londoners about Portland.

Campaign Strategy:

1: Created Several Media Partnerships to Increase Awareness of Pop-up Store

Travel Portland staff forged numerous partnerships with U.K. media, a campaign that included press releases, interview opportunities with Portland artists, collaboration for feature articles, and coordination of social media posts. Significant emphasis was placed with London’s Time Out Magazine, including a seven-day takeover of their “Things to Do” homepage, an advertorial feature, creation of an “event hub,” display and online ads and social media posts. A similar campaign with Selling Travel Magazine included print and online feature articles, inclusion in their online newsletter, and online ads promoting Delta Air Lines’ non-stop service between London and Portland. U.K. media was also invited to a Portland Media Fam Tour held March 23-28, 2018 ahead of the Pop-up store’s opening.

2: Direct Outreach to U.K. Travel Trade With Shoreditch District Events

Travel Portland welcomed 58 media and trade professionals to a launch event at nearby Hoxton Hotel, which featured a Portland celebrity chef and a Portland winemaker. Attendees received gift bags with Portland and Oregon visitor information and products, and Delta Air Lines gifts, kicking off the “Pedal to Portland” challenge.

In collaboration with Delta Air Lines and Travel Oregon, Travel Portland hosted a “Drop in to Win a Trip of a Lifetime” at the Pop-up store. Twenty-four travel agents dropped in for a chance to win two flights to Portland, plus six nights’ accommodations.

3: In-Store “Pedal to Portland” to Promote Delta Air Lines LHR-PDX Non-stop Air Service

A four-day event in partnership with Delta Air Lines and Travel Oregon kicked off the YOU CAN in Portland Pop-up store, featuring uniformed Delta pilot and fight attendants, and drew 1,412 visitors. Additional activities included live painting of murals, coffee and wine sampling, and Portland artists’ presentations.

625 visitors participated in the Pedal to Portland challenge, pedaling five stationary bikes in the Pop-up store, with their progress “pedaling to Portland” live-streamed to a Flight Tracker projected on a large screen. Also projected was video of Portland and Oregon. The prize? Two Delta Air Lines tickets to Portland, with accommodations provided by Travel Portland.

Results:

Because the hip environment in the Pop-up store fit well into the atmosphere of the trendy Shoreditch district, the three-week short-term “YOU CAN in Portland” marketing effort was successful in many tangible ways.
• A multi-dimensional media strategy using all available mediums generated an overall reach of 71,021,999.

• Traffic into the store was reported as 4,327 people through the duration of the three-weeks that the Pop-up store existed. Uncounted others were consistently watching from the walking areas outside, as several of the store’s attractions were held in the store’s windows.

• A total of 1,354 tickets to the store’s free events were claimed by visitors, with many “filling up” quickly. There were 293 people who signed up to receive vegan tattoos from artist Silje Hagland, and 288 signed up for craft beer tasting demonstrations with Lucy Burningham.

• 52 feature articles were published in some of London’s most widely-read magazines and websites.

• A total of 10 radio and print interviews with Portland creatives were produced for an additional reach of 3,605,368.

• The partnership with Time Out London produced 18,526 page views to the YOU CAN in Portland event hub.

• Two eDM digital emails by Selling Travel Magazine were sent to 41,686 recipients, with an average open rate of 10.63 percent.

• The overall campaign produced 684,983 social media impressions with 7,318 click-thrus.

• A total of $11,200USD in Portland products were sold.

• According to statistics sourced by Tourism Economics, Portland’s year over year (2017 to 2018) visitor growth results from the United Kingdom show a gain of 2.8 percent.

• The London YOU CAN in Portland Pop-up store campaign was budgeted at $250,000 and contributed to $43,900,000 in total 2018 spending from the United Kingdom.

Why This Is A Finalist: 

This campaign included solid results and the team did a great job making this campaign interactive as well as innovative and fun. The campaign was very targeted to a select group of people, making the strategy clear and effective. This program's vision, strategy, tactics and achieved results came together to create a powerful outcome more valuable than the sum of all its component parts—judges felt that showed the campaign’s achievement. There was good strategic alignment between Shoreditch and Portland, focused on creating memorable experiences. Because the target market was so specific, the campaign was able to target this group through fun activities that appeal to the consumer like tattoos, coffee samples and beer. The campaign thoughtfully brought together people through fun experiences, likely leaving a very positive association of Portland, OR in their mind for years to come.