Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?

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)

Project Analysis: Please provide a brief background on the project and your company efforts to demonstrate good corporate citizenship in the areas of community involvement, environmental, or socially responsible practices.

Objectives and Goals: What did organization set out to achieve in undertaking this project in CSR? What were the goals you set to measure your success?

Results: How did you measure the effectiveness of your efforts and what direct and tangible results did you achieve? Please be as specific as possible and share the full impact of your efforts in CSR.

Leadership: Please list the individual in a leadership role responsible for the project and how would you characterize their commitment to promoting corporate social responsibility in the travel and tourism industry?

Situational Analysis: Please provide a brief background on the initiative and the problem, challenge or issue you were seeking to address in the areas of developing emerging talent and engaging existing talent to meet the demands of your business.

Goals: What did your organization set out to achieve in undertaking this initiative? What obstacles did you encounter?

Results and Impact: What results had the greatest impact on your target audience? Please comment on the process and the outcomes. What measures were used to determine success?

Situational Analysis: Please provide a brief background on the initiative and the nature of the issue you were trying to impact.

Goals: Clearly state your goals. What did you strive to achieve with this initiative?

Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the initiative?

Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals and audience. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program? While much of the U.S. was battling the pandemic this summer, South Dakota was in a unique position. It had a relatively small number of COVID-19 cases, and the governor had not mandated a quarantine or shutdown of non-essential businesses. This meant Americans could freely travel there to experience a socially distanced vacation in the great outdoors. Through our agency’s proprietary Travel Intentions Pulse Survey data, we knew a significant number of Americans, 68%, were increasingly feeling more comfortable traveling in their cars. And, we were hearing from locals that RV rentals and campground reservations were up. It was clear this would be the summer of the great American road trip! We wanted to get word out quickly to media and consumers that South Dakota would welcome them as soon as they felt comfortable traveling again. Our goal was to create awareness and consideration amongst media and consumers for road trip and family-friendly travel, showcasing the state’s iconic landmarks and wide open spaces, while strongly emphasizing the importance of social distancing and personal responsibility for mask wearing. Fully maximizing technology in a creative and dynamic way, we created the state’s first-ever Virtual Road Trip for media and Virtual Badlands National Park Jr. Ranger Program for media and their children. These Zoom events brought together tourism representatives and partners from South Dakota’s most popular attractions, including Custer State Park, Badlands National Park and Mount Rushmore, to speak. Journalists and children received care packages to enrich the experience, including souvenirs, snacks, a custom made Viewmaster, coloring books, jr. ranger gear and dinosaur fossil kits. Our goal was to secure 10-12 media attendees, 3-4 stories and 1 social influencer post for the virtual road trip and 6 media attendees + children and 1-2 placements for the junior ranger event.

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)The results of these events surpassed all expectations. We secured 27 attendees for the virtual road trip – a mix of editors and freelance writers for top tier publications and important drive and feeder markets, including Travel + Leisure, Fodor’s, The New York Times, Parents, Reader’s Digest, Minneapolis Star Tribune and The Denver Post. Then, a few weeks later, we hosted 16 media, plus 22 children for the junior ranger program, with editors and freelancers representing Fodor’s, Conde Nast Traveler, Austin-American Statesman, San Francisco Chronical, Star Tribune, USA Today and many more top tier outlets. These journalists produced 9 stories in a short period of time to help drive interest in South Dakota road trips. One editor, Scott Bay of Travel + Leisure, was immediately inspired to drive to South Dakota. His trip resulted in a lengthy online feature titled, “The Ultimate South Dakota Road Trip Itinerary: Where to Stop What to Do, and More.” Writer Cassandra Brooklyn also visited the state and penned “The Best Way to See South Dakota? This Former Trail” for The Daily Beast and “Your Guide to a Mount Rushmore Road Trip” for Reader’s Digest. Another story by Erica Sloan for Martha Stewart included the iconic Wall Drug store in “Five Must-See Pitstops For Your Next Road Trip.” This was exactly the kind of traditional coverage we had been aiming for, with 303,391,192 media impressions and an ad equivalency of $6,082,652.74 (ROI 542:1) Complementing these stories, we worked with artist and social media influencer Aftyn Shah (@RiseandWater) to repost about her 2019 trip to South Dakota, which added 62,611 media impressions and close to 2,500 engagements on Instagram. Journalists’ social media posts showing their souvenirs and junior ranger boxes added another 50,000 social media impressions.

Entry TitleSouth Dakota Shines in Virtual Visits

DivisionRecovery Strategies - Recovery Strategies

CategoryRecovery Strategies