Up for some Fishtrailcanoeski?
Upstate PA
Our client, which consisted of five convention and visitor’s bureaus joining forces to market themselves, wanted to be all things to all people. We uncovered that there was a group of folks that was actively seeking what all 11 counties in the region had in common. They could be identified not by similarities in age or income level, but by their shared passion for the outdoors. They were out there talking, blogging, tweeting and flickering about their mountain biking trip or snowboarding escapade. We wanted our client’s brand to join the conversation. We identified this group as the Roof Rackers and started talking to them via all kinds of media–from one outdoor enthusiast to another. We also renamed the region Upstate PA and created a tagline that would speak directly to these Roof Rackers’ desire to be challenged, and drive them into action – “Mount Up.”
To get people talking, all of the activities Upstate PA has to offer were combined to form an adventurer’s dream vehicle: The Fishtrailcanoeski. This eye-catching contraption was rode through local towns, immediately creating buzz. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Digg were also used to spread this buzz even further. Not to mention, ‘traditional’ ads were created (although we use that word loosely) and launched in outdoors magazines.
Well, we anticipated our audience would accept our “challenge.” What we didn’t expect was such an overwhelming response. Within three months of launching the campaign, UpstatePA.org generated over 12,500 hits. Once on the site, people are finding out about all of the amenities the area has to offer.
A strong Twitter community was also cultivated, which includes over 1,300 active followers to @UpstatePA. This following regularly outranks overall engagement scores of many larger tourism brands. Press surrounding the launch of the brand resulted in coverage in every major paper in the region, multiple TV news stories and even a story in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Perhaps most importantly, Roof Rackers are talking. Social media monitoring on the web shows a huge spike in the term Upstate PA following our launch. In a very short amount of time, people have embraced this new term and accepted it as part of their lexicon.
As of right now Roof Rackers from all over are hitting the trails every day, packing their sense of adventure and making Upstate PA more than just a destination, they’re making it a community. Wanna see for yourself? Then Mount Up.
