Brand USA's 'See How Far You Can Go' messaging has resonated deeply with Chinese consumers, inspiring them to expand their understanding of the U.S. by experiencing its many diverse destinations first-hand. As Brand USA's China agency of record, Hylink sought to amplify this sentiment with an engaging H5 game on WeChat that conveyed the beauty, intrigue, and unique qualities of key U.S. travel destinations through the content pillars of road trips, neighborhoods, entertainment, and the great outdoors.
Based on the well-known concept, 'spot the difference,' our team created an H5 game with this familiar game, along with integrating storytelling and traveler persona elements to enhance travel inspiration, branding, and engagement.
The campaign ran on WeChat, wherein users were served ads directing them to an H5 game on Brand USA's account page. The game takes players through several rounds of a fun and interactive process resulting in the accumulation of virtual travel items and learning what one's own unique 'U.S. traveler style' is.
In a campaign that ran over a total of three weeks, our team leveraged WeChat Moment Ads and WeChat Banner Ads that read, "What's your traveler type?" directing users to the H5 game on Brand USA's WeChat account. Once the user landed on the game, they had a limited amount of time to identify three differences in each image, after which a pop-up window appeared to provide two options of travel items to include in their virtual suitcase.
After eight rounds of 'spotting the difference' in select destinations – from PCH, to Horseshoe Bend, to Miami, and Brooklyn, NY – and subsequently selecting their preferred travel items to add to their suitcase, the user is notified that they're ready for their trip, and are assigned a designated travel archetype: adventure seeker, walking lover, stylish traveler, selfie lover, light packer, foodie, driving lover, or globe-trotter.
Take the 'foodie' for example – if player 'Lucy' was deemed this type of traveler, she would be given the following message at the end of their user journey: "Lucy, your suitcase reveals that you are a foodie who appreciates the local scenery, and, more importantly, the local cuisine. Click here to find out more about the speciality foods in Seattle, Chicago, and Dallas." Upon clicking the link, Lucy then is directed to an article on these cities, what makes the local cuisine unique, and recommendations of restaurants and cafes to try while visiting.
The campaign generated 13.5 million impressions among WeChat users, which accomplished our goal of increasing brand awareness and inspiring Chinese travelers to choose the U.S. as a top travel destination. WeChat's new 'Moments' ad proved the most impactful, as the new feature appears native in the platform's content and increases engagement within the material promoted.
Consumer insights from the campaign also proved incredibly valuable. We learned that the 'driving lover' and 'globetrotter' were the most popular traveler types, indicating that Chinese like to cover a lot of territory in their travels – literally!
Knowing that Chinese have the desire and intent to travel the globe and experience many different countries and cultures also shows how aspirational this group is, which certainly will be taken into consideration for future campaigns.
Through this H5 game, we brought a certain playfulness to Brand USA's WeChat account, and successfully communicated to Chinese users that everyone has their own U.S. traveler style.
