Destinations Council Destiny Awards > Social Media Campaign

Open Studio

About This Entry:

Americans are spending less time than ever before in the outdoors (less than 5% of their day!), and it’s making us anxious, depressed and unimaginative. Yet research shows that spending time in nature increases energy and creativity by as much as 50%.

In Seattle, people don’t only understand that, they thrive on it. Seattle is a city that lives and breathes nature which is also part of why it’s one of the most creative and imaginative cities in the world. In fact, the outdoors is where some of our most creative types get their energy and inspiration. We wanted to celebrate that fact and encourage our core audience, Advenculturists, to experience it for themselves.

Advenculturists are drawn to destinations that deliver a perfect blend of urban culture and outdoor adventure. They are both adventurous and creative, and we knew Seattle’s story of natural inspiration could feed both sides.

Given our audience gained much of their travel inspiration through social and through video, we knew we could deliver our story most strongly through those outlets – making it both entertaining and shareable.

Our goals were simple:
• Drive visibility about the effect of Seattle’s natural surroundings on creativity.
• Encourage people to explore how Seattle’s diversity of outdoor areas allow for creative inspiration through engagement on social.
• Encourage people to dive deeper into Seattle’s outdoor culture and where to go for themselves.

Campaign Strategy:

National Geographic is one of the biggest names in travel. They are also the first brand to top 100MM followers on Instagram. Those hallmarks made them the perfect partner to help us share our story of outdoor inspiration.

Together, we created a social and digital-first program that celebrated the places and spaces that served as the muse for some of Seattle’s hot musicians.

#OpenStudio paired Aaron Huey, a renowned world-class National Geographic photographer and long-time Seattle resident with a passion for exploration, with four Sub Pop recording artists based in Seattle. Together, they embarked on a four-day photo and video shoot that immersed them in the diverse outdoor culture and spaces around Seattle -- in turn, capturing the essence and magic of four locations across the city.

Each story was brought to life through Instagram stories and mini-documentaries that focused on a different location around Seattle, showcasing the destination with video and photography, travel tips and inspirational quotes. To tie everything together, a musical snippet composed by one of the four Sub Pop Records artists played throughout the duration of the story, allowing followers on social media to experience a boost of creative energy from Seattle’s natural surroundings – all without ever leaving Instagram.

These stories were shared across National Geographic's travel social media accounts, Visit Seattle social media accounts and aggregated on National Geographic in a newly redesigned Seattle Travel Guide.

To further explore how and why Seattle inspires and unleashes creativity and imagination, "Behind the Inspiration" videos, featured Aaron Huey and musicians in a discussion on the location, and Seattle's unique ability to inspire them creatively. This content was distributed via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube across both National Geographic Travel and Visit Seattle accounts.

A highly immersive and audio/visual online passport was created and housed on NationalGeographic.com, where followers were given the opportunity to learn more about Seattle and explore the featured urban spaces and local Seattle treasures through photos, videos and editorial content.

Results:

The introduction of a unique content approach for a familiar location resonated and this content was recognized as one of the top overall performers on the @NatGeotravel social accounts, breaking their typical benchmarks for engagement on social and digital efforts.

In total, the campaign garnered nearly 20M impressions across National Geographic's social and digital distribution channels, over 40K social video views and 9MM minutes of watch time. Each piece of ‘Behind the Inspiration’ videos delivered an average retention rate of over 85% (besting YouTube norms by over 2x).

Additionally, the digital passport experience on National Geographic garnered more than 25K+ page views, and consumers spent an average of 3:45 on the site, delivering above benchmarks and signaling an engaged audience with increased interest for Seattle as a travel destination that could deliver some much-needed inspiration.

Why This Is A Finalist: 

Judges felt this was a groundbreaking partnership with National Geographic paired with slick, excellently crafted content across channels made for a highly-successful campaign that stands out among various destinations—and could easily renew interest in the region for visitors. The campaign showed solid insights, and creative and innovative execution with top-tier partners. The vision was defined from the start—that a decrease in outdoor activity leads to less creativity. Visit Seattle outlined clear goals to focus on nature and encourage people to get outdoors! Judges loved the idea of pairing music with the outdoors. The blending of culture and nature is a shoo-in for the Seattle target demographic, highlighting the full range of what the city has to offer. The storytelling element of this campaign is immersive and engaging, and the visual elements are authentic and beautifully done. This series presented the city in a new and innovate way. Each element told its own unique story, yet worked as a cohesive whole which felt authentic and raw. The outdoor locations were highlighted through a personal lens, which is an innovative approach to outdoor marketing.