Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?
Visit Rhode Island tasked the Agency with shining a spotlight on the diverse offerings that make Rhode Island so quirky and unique, ultimately enticing trip planning and overnight visitation throughout the state. To position Rhode Island as a hospitality leader, we needed to grow regional partner relationships to better seize media visits, leading to positive promotion of multiple regions.Then we implemented themed press trips designed to focus our efforts and guide editorial content to produce targeted features. We set our sights on top national outlets in the travel space and targeted Coastal Living, which publishes its summer travel issue, to attend our group press trip. An article here would place Rhode Island in front of a motivated and affluent audience, boosting awareness and showcasing offerings that make the state stand out.
We invited Tracey Minkin, Travel Editor at Coastal Living, knowing her affection for Rhode Island. Thanks to our close relationship, she agreed to join our trip to South County and Newport County to explore potential story opportunities. We worked closely with partners to execute an itinerary showcasing the best of Rhode Island’s culinary, culture and luxury offerings including a farm to vine dinner at Ocean House’s Center for Wine & Culinary Arts, a tour of Weekapaug Inn with its on-site naturalist and a wine release event at Newport Vineyards. In May 2019, we staffed the press trip and ideated unique angles with Tracey for the Summer 2020 issue, which ultimately led to the multi-page Wes Anderson-inspired coastal feature. Following the press trip, she assigned freelancer Meg Noonan to return and dig deeper into the state’s natural beauty that surely inspired Anderson's “Moonrise Kingdom.” In June 2019, we worked closely with partners to secure Meg’s accommodations and created a custom itinerary tailored to the theme of Anderson’s imagined lens of Rhode Island’s coastline met with the state’s unique traditions and dreamy hotels.
Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign? Entrants should provide quantifiable results of their tactics or campaigns. (for example, click through rates or ad equivalency)
After more than a year of ongoing relationship building, planning and press trip execution, we landed a 10-page feature titled “Sunrise Kingdom” in the summer travel issue of Coastal Living, which was distributed in June 2020. The feature has an estimated 1,741,619 media impressions and an ad value of $841,000. The beautifully crafted piece is split into “Acts” as it follows the coastline - from Westerly to Little Compton - in desaturated lens similar to Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom," which was shot in Rhode Island.
The feature highlights Weekapaug, Newport and Little Compton, showcasing various regions throughout Rhode Island which was a top goal. The visually stunning piece spotlights Rhode Island’s unique, only-in Rhode Island classics such as stuffies, clamcakes, Del’s Lemonade and Cabinets, along with its luxury accommodation options including Weekapaug Inn, Castle Hill Inn and Stone House. It weaves in what makes Rhode Island a one-of-a-kind treasure by touting its food scene, elevated accommodation experiences, scenic natural wonders and sailing offerings, hitting our key messaging right on the mark.
Once the issue hit stands in June 2020, Visit Rhode Island's website saw a major increase in traffic. During the period June 10-25, 2020, Visit Rhode Island's website saw an 83% increase in users compared to May 25 - June 9 ahead of the published placement. The feature placement helped provide more exposure for the state during the pandemic, as Visit Rhode Island's website traffic demonstrated a 98% increase in organic sessions compared to the previous period (May 25-June 9, 2020). Additionally, one of the key properties featured, Stone House, saw a 40.7% increase in website views from June 10-20, 2020 compared to June 1-10, 2020.
Entry Title
Shining a Light on Rhode Island’s Magical Landscapes and Quirky Culture
Division
Public Relations - FEATURE PLACEMENT PRINT - Consumer Magazine or Newspaper