The German National Tourist Board is faced with the challenge of coming up with new ways of presenting Germany as an inspiring travel destination to a wide range of people.
For the target demographic of under-25s, the GNTB was supported by the insight that this group is mainly interested in cities, either for longer summer trips to Europe (e.g. students from the US) or for mini-breaks (e.g. from the UK, Scandinavia, Benelux), and that Instagram is their preferred means of finding inspiration.
Together with the digital agency BOOM, the GNTB decided to use Instagram in an entirely new way – with its first travel show using Instagram Stories. The aim was to showcase a new facet of Germany on each slide, showing users something they had never seen before.
Travel doesn't start at the train station or the airport, it starts in one`s mind – inspired by images and stories on Instagram, Facebook, etc. Our young target demographic spends more than 30 minutes on average on Instagram - they feel like there is nothing they haven´t seen before. Our aim, therefore, was to overcome Instagrammers' usual viewing habits and to use this format to gain their interest. Keep it short and simple – most producers of Instagram Stories stick to this rule. But we approached the format in a different way, opting for a detailed storytelling that could include up to 20 slides and last several minutes.
On 3 September 2017, the first episode of the Germany Travel Show went live – the first weekly travel show in Instagram Stories. What makes this different to the spur-of-the-moment influencer vlogging is the format of recurring modules. By combining travel influencer content and elements from late-night TV talk shows, an entirely new format evolved: a travel show on tour.
Over 16 weeks, Instagram users followed travel influencer Joe Baur on his travels through Germany's 16 states and their capital cities. Every Sunday, @germanytourism published a new episode from a different location on Instagram Stories.
During each stay, Joe was given a challenge. These took him along the city's streets to famous sights, to insider tips and to pubs and bars. The challenges not only taught Joe a little German, they also showcased regional traditions, stories and food. Fancy an up'n Swutsch with the Bruchmeister, anyone?
All this was supported by video edits of the stories on YouTube and the GNTB's international Facebook pages.
All episodes are available on the campaign landing page.
In order to retain the authenticity of the content, the format was not shown as story ads.
Most episodes consisted of eleven to 17 slides. One even had 20 slides and was just over four minutes long – contrary to the recommendation of keeping stories short. The average completion rate of 41 per cent is therefore quite a success.
Despite the length of the shows, users stayed with them all the way through.
On Instagram, the following figures were achieved organically:
Average completion rate: 41 per cent
Max. completion rate (Bremen, 16 slides): 51 per cent
