Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?In spring 2020, Visit Williamsburg commissioned 12 research programs (focus groups, campaign/image testing, consumer sentiment, ad effectiveness, and COVID-19 traveler sentiment) conducted by Strategic Marketing and Research Insights (SMARI), a full-service research firm with a focus on tourism destinations. Their findings helped with audience segmentation, media decisions, and creative messaging that ultimately led to the creation of the “Life. At Your Pace.” advertising campaign. The goals of the “Life. At Your Pace.” campaign were three-fold: drive overnight visitation, grow/enhance brand awareness, and support industry partners and local businesses. Creating linear and connected television advertisements was part of the multi-channel, integrated media strategy launched in June 2020. The ads were distributed in 20 designated marketing areas, including short and long drive markets with established success, as well as new markets with exciting potential. Creative content featured the breadth of Williamsburg’s tourism product – arts & culture, entertainment & amusement, food & beverage, history, and outdoors & golf. The footage is in-line with consumer sentiment during that time, showcasing Williamsburg as a safe and relaxing escape from a life of strain and complexity. The messaging honored the true spirit of travel and encouraged people to reunite with what truly matters. Further ensuring that the campaign creative and messaging resonated with target audiences (Gen X, Millennials, and Active Mature), Visit Williamsburg customized the “Life. At Your Pace.” narrative through the identification of three data-driven traveler personas rooted in motivational attitudes and mindsets – Culture Questors, Simple Strivers, and See-ers & Do-ers.

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)To measure the reach and impact of the “Life. At Your Pace.” campaign, SMARI conducted an Advertising Effectiveness and Return on Investment study. Results show that the campaign reached 46 percent of its target audience (roughly 4.4 million people). Consumer reaction to Visit Williamsburg’s advertising is strong, excelling at communicating that Williamsburg is a good place for a family trip, a fun destination, a place with rich history, and a place that is open for tourism. From SMARI’s ad rating benchmark standpoint, Visit Williamsburg’s advertising ranks in the top 25 percentile. According to the study, the advertising not only influenced the decision to visit Williamsburg, but it also gave visitors ideas of things to do – leading to longer, more active, and better trips with higher spending.

Budget: Please include total budget vs. total actual cost. How much revenue has the piece or campaign generated and how does this compare to your goal? What was the return on investment?Visit Williamsburg invested $3M in television advertising, as part of the overall $7.6M multi-channel, integrated media strategy.

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?

Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals and audience. 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)

Budget: Please include total budget vs. total actual cost. How much revenue has the piece or campaign generated and how does this compare to your goal? What was the return on investment?

Situational Analysis: Please provide a brief background on the original initiative and how it evolved as conditions changed from pandemic to recovery.

Goals: Clearly state your goals. What did you strive to achieve with this initiative and how did your goals change over time?

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

Objective(s): What problems did the sales, marketing & guest satisfaction, or revenue optimization technology aim to solve?

Innovative use of technology: The extent to which new directions are charted or old challenges are resolved by using the technology in a new way.

Implementation & creativity: How was the technology implemented so that it was easy to use, solved a manpower problem, streamlined a function, or fueled recovery?

Results & Evaluation: How did the technologiy move the department or business foward to achieve goals, revenue or otherwise?

Goal: How did you demonstrate that you are committed to advancing diversity in your organization through your marketing?

Initiatives: Describe the promotion. What was your organization's message and how does it foster diversity? How was the target audience channel developed/pursued?

Results: Please describe how your organization was purposeful in advancing diversity through this initiative. Please describe the metrics you used to judge success. What were the forecasted and actual outcomes described in your Key Performance Indicators (KPI)? What impact did the initiative have on your organization and for your customers?

Goal: How did you demonstrate that you are committed to advancing diversity in your organization through your campaigns?

Initiatives: What was your approach to this campaign and how was the organization purposeful in advancing diversity through it? What types of data did you use to support your plan? How many locations were involved in the campaign? How did you effectively reach diverse audiences? What was the message?

Results: What metrics are you using to evaluate diversity (soft and/or hard metrics)? Were you successful at meeting forecasted goals? Was it limited to a specific promotion or across multiple creatives? What impact did the campaign have on your organization? How did this campaign change your brand’s perception amongst travelers?

Entry Title“Life. At Your Pace.”

DivisionAdvertising - Television - Consumer

CategoryAdvertising