Mower: A Campaign That Revitalized Travel When It Didn't Seem Possible

These factors coupled with the need to help local businesses get back on their feet sparked an idea for the New York State Tourism Industry Association NYSTIA What if they could bring together the state39s highly competitive tourism partners to encourage New Yorkers to vacation in their home state Little did they know that the idea would grow into an awardwinning campaign with massive results for New York39s tourism economy under the creative direction of Mower an agency with deep roots in the stateIn 2020 the tourism industry saw the loss of over 330000 jobs nearly three times the employment impact of any other major category There was an estimated loss of 56 in travel revenue to New York State businesses which corresponded to a 12 billion drop in state and local tax revenuesThe industry needed help The idea NYSTIA sparked turned into a kernel of a cause campaign New Yorkers for New YorkNYSTIA put out a probono request for proposals Mower answered the call It developed the idea for quotRoam the Empirequot a rallying cry to celebrate loud and proud all the splendor of New York The campaign extolled to residents that New York was not only back open but also offered an endless array of adventures from Lake George to Central Park it invited locals to visit and support the destinations right in their backyard And then visit another And anotherquotWhen you think of New York State there39s really nothing that it lacksquot said Mary Gendron Senior Vice President Managing Director of MowerUnlike typical tourism campaigns it didn39t just focus on aspirational adventures It also called on New Yorkers to support each other As one Instagram post shared quotWhy RoamTheEmpire Well to keep things local With 62 unique counties in New York State there39s always something fun to do all while supporting and recovering our great state39s local businessesquotThe agency39s passion for the state made sourcing content seamless quotIt was such a feelgood opportunity There was no hesitationquot said Gendron of how agency employees from all five New York offices raised their hands to get involvedMower helped to empower local tourism agencies to participate in the campaign by creating a branded logo look and language as well as usage guidelines to ensure a consistent approach quotWe created the logo so that you could put the destination or tourism partner logo with the 39Roam the Empire39 logoquot Gendron explainedMower also created a dedicated landing page on NYSTIA39s website where a robust campaign toolkit gave the state39s tourism industry partners everything they neededAn ongoing content strategy consisting of original easytodeploy assets usergenerated content and gamification of adventures allowed regions to promote destinations While they were normally competitive the destinations joined together to provide content cross promotion and a unified voiceThe effort was conceived as a B2B campaign but Mower felt passionately that it could also be geared towards travelers themselves The agency went beyond the initial requirements to develop launch and maintain custom quotRoam The Empirequot Instagram Facebook and Twitter accountsPlanned with no paid media budget quotRoam The Empirequot caught fire with statewide media groups which provided advertising grants earned media and pro bono press services to amplify the program39s reachNYSTIA39s goal was for 50 tourism partners to sign on and participate in the campaign In the first 90days that goal was shattered when over 100 tourism partners signed on coming together in an unprecedented coalitionAnointed the most successful single initiative in NYSTIA39s history it is being institutionalized with campaign assets available to members and anyone else interested in using them on an ongoing basis The theme is being considered as a rebrand of the organization39s scholarship programBy the end of 2021 170000 of the jobs lost had been recovered Travel spending increased 84 yearoveryear during the first nine months of the campaign That led to a tax revenue lift that was nearly 5 of 2019 preCOVID numbers While these stats are not specifically tied to quotRoam The Empirequot the campaign certainly buoyed the recoveryMower has been pleased with the results as well quotWe39ve really had fun entering it into award programs It39s been our biggest winner in 2022quot said Gendron Most notably a firstofitskind quotNew Yorker Awardquot is being presented to Mower by NYSTIA at its Tourism Excellence Awards The award serves as a special acknowledgement for Mower39s unique contribution to pandemic recovery in support of one of New York State39s most vital and heavily impacted industries during the pandemic The campaign also won five ANA Ace Awards as well as othersWhile there are no plans for Mower to develop a quotRoam The Empirequot 20 campaign Mower continues to do a variety of pro bono work for New York causes including One Hundred Black Men of New York an organization of youthfocused leaders who advocate for improvement in conditions in their communitiesClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Mower: A Campaign That Revitalized Travel When It Didn't Seem Possible

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Brandie Feuer

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Mower: A Campaign That Revitalized Travel When It Didn't Seem Possible

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