Travel Wyoming needed a campaign that set the state apart from other destinations and set the stage for future growth. A campaign that was genuine and authentic to the ethos of Wyoming.
The Modern Explorers campaign was born out of key research findings:
Wyoming had low awareness but a high conversion rate
Wyoming had the perception that it lacked vibrancy and community
Localism continues to be a hot travel trend; travelers want to have experiences where they feel a part of the local communities they are visiting
Most tourism destinations focus on the ‘things to do’ while on a vacation. To separate ourselves, we instead focused on the people and perspective of Wyoming. The goal was to create a campaign that tapped into cultural trends and the brand truths to bring Wyoming’s unique voice to life. By highlighting these Modern Explorers, and their stories, we created a distinctive way to inspire travelers, by developing an emotional connection through bold storytelling and invited them to come experience the rich culture in Wyoming. Our paid media plan and supporting creative development focused on bolstering awareness, knowing that once aware, the likelihood to visit is high.
The Modern Explorer campaign’s main objective is to increase awareness of the destination by creating an emotional connection with the viewer. Wyoming has a rich history of colorful characters who blazed their own trails like Calamity Jane and Buffalo Bill. Much like those early explorers, we featured real-life Wyomingites with a deep love for their sport, craft or profession. They’re individuals who always aim for the next level—pushing their own boundaries and abilities, while encouraging or inspiring others to push theirs. Their achievements capture attention on their merit alone, but they also contribute to the community in some way - culturally or materially. Not just rock climber, but a rock climber turned Academy Award winning director. Not just a distiller, but a distillery that produces zero-waste, respecting Wyoming’s natural resources. Not simply a rancher, but a rancher who provides refuge for Wyoming’s wild horses.
Finding people that meet these criteria in the least populated state took a little digging, but we found some amazing people that embody what it means to be a Modern Explorer.
Jimmy Chin, an Academy Award winning filmmaker, photographer, and outdoor athlete that cares deeply about wild spaces and constantly pushes himself to explore deeper into the unknown through his work. Although he has traveled and led expeditions around the world, he still chooses to call Wyoming home.
Taylor Thoman, a fifth-generation rancher. At just 12 years old, she takes inspiration from the land and the strong women in her family, most significantly her Cowboy Hall of Fame grandmother Micky, to express her love for Wyoming.
Tim Trites traveled the world in the corporate world and settled in Wyoming to make his dream of a zero-waste distillery come true thanks to the natural resources and friendly people in Wyoming.
Jess Oldham manages the Wind River Wild Horse Sanctuary with his family. Jess is a rancher with a passion for ensuring that Wyoming’s ecosystem stays strong by providing refuge and rehabilitating wild mustangs.
The visuals and language of the campaign are bold, ownable and unabashedly Wyoming. Using storytelling to capture people’s attention and connect emotionally was hugely successful. We did it in a way that stayed true to Wyoming’s DNA and created a unique voice to rise above the competition. And once we had their attention, we strategically created assets meant to engage and convert to ultimately drive visitation.
A strong media plan that featured a diverse channel mix, key partnerships and real-time optimizations ensured we would hit our goals.
The measurement plan specifically included:
Increase the number of potential travelers considering Wyoming as a leisure travel destination
Educate on sustainable travel principles
Drive intent to travel actions and metrics that signal trip planning
Stimulate engagement with owned channels and content
A trip to Wyoming is a transformative experience — allowing travellers to explore not just wide-open spaces, but to dig deeper within themselves. It’s a place where you can connect with a truer sense of self. Our campaign tone is motivating and slightly challenging. Headlines range from the imperative to the inquisitive, but they are always encouraging. Presenting the reader with the opportunity for self-reflection and inspiring exploration.
The Modern Explorers Campaign has had incredible impact on Wyoming tourism. As the #1 industry, visitation impacts all the communities within Wyoming and all her residents.
Key impact points
Increased aware households by 3.2mm YoY
Ad Effectiveness study shows Modern Explorer campaign delivered highest intent to travel metric in the past decade
Growth in all key attributes
Increased influenced trips by 14% YoY
Influenced spend up by 12% to $1.35B
Video views had an increase of 133% YoY
Nearly 250,000 conversions for the paid media campaign which was 175% over goal
Paid and Organic social not only increased follower counts by 253,723% but increased comments by 35% and shares by 16%
More importantly, this campaign urges the industry to use storytelling in a way that is more than listing the things to do in a location. The campaign gives the viewer a window into the diversity and richness of Wyoming’s culture. Focusing on people, place and perspective and directly tying that to traveler desires not only creates immediate impact but sets the destination up for long-term success.
