Tennessee Tourism has redefined personalization. The state’s digital campaign targeted at potential travelers is “Amazon-like” in its on-the-fly sophistication to a level that no other destination has tackled. Most haven’t even thought of trying.

eTourism Summit talked to Brian Wagner, assistant commissioner of marketing for the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development about the innovative digital promotion that took home silver and bronze from the 63rd Annual Cannes International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France in June. [Something Brief, 7/11/2016]. 

At eTourism Summit in October, attendees will meet Brian and his creative agency, VML, to find out how they did it. They’ll share the backstory on a digital campaign that catapulted Tennessee tourism’s award-winning one-minute vacation video in 2015 to a heretofore unfathomable creative-digital level for a DMO.

• What’s the technology behind this program?
• What budget did it require? (Less than you might think, due to the co-op partners.)
• What ROI did it achieve?
• What are the learnings for the future?
• What’s the next iteration for Tennessee Tourism?

Co-op partners is what Brian is referring to when he says, “You have to have that to do something like this.”

Result: Over two weeks, a 46% increase in site traffic resulted, with 93% surveyed indicating they’d plan to visit Tennessee within the year. Viewers also shared 13,645 custom travel itineraries via social media, earning even greater engagement with more prospective Tennessee travelers. A giveaway Tennessee trip itinerary competition involving Facebook and Pinterest capitalized on the interactive element via social.

What: The award-winning Tennessee Vacation Matchmaker summer campaign of 2016 was focused on Tennessee as a drive destination for residents of neighboring states.

How: This 2-minute video explains how the groundbreaking Tennessee video customization is designed to work. Click here.