February 1, 2009
Google chooses South Carolina for travel marketing campaign
From over 1,300 entries, Google selected South Carolina’s tourism department as the winner of their first “Wisdom of the Crowd Award”,
beating out Hawaii and St. Louis’ travel & tourism departments.
SCPRT staged their “Time to Thaw” marketing campaign during the cold winter months of February and March 2008 up in Chicago. The award was presented this week at the annual HSMAI Adrian AwardsHSMAI Adrian Awards
The Adrian Awards honors creative brilliance and best practices in
hospitality, travel and tourism related marketing. In its fifth decade,
the HSMAI Adrian Awards has grown into the world’s most renowned
and prestigious advertising, public relations and web marketing
competition,specifically tailored for the travel industry. The 2007
competition attracted over 1, 200 entries from around the world. event.
South Carolina is trying to warm things up
The concept was geared towards attracting people from cold, northern Chicago to warm, southern S.C.,
illustrated by the transition from a cold ice block one second, to lounging on a warm beach the next.
“Time to Thaw” was a $500,000 effort that centered on engaging, unexpected visuals that turned four of Chicago‟s underground parking garages – along with buses and a trolley – into sun-splashed beaches, perfect green fairways and scenic destinations in South Carolina. – SCPRT.
A minute and a half into the video was a real “Huh?” moment – especially for kayakers.
Sure S.C. isn’t Alaska, The Grand Canyon, or some ‘awesome’ spot for kayaking, but with plenty of water around here, we know a thing or two about kayaking.
“I never really thought of S.C. as a place where you can kayak.”
SCPRT director Chad Prosser said, “Our goal was to generate direct exposure in the Chicago market and increase online traffic from the region. We achieved that. Inquiries from the Chicago area increased by 51 percent and we have experienced an increase of more than 22 percent in overall traffic to our Web sites.”
Well that’s a great goal, I just think it’s kinda funny after last year’s marketing fiasco. Winning Gold and Silver Adrian Awards for best practices in travel-related marketing and media is no easy feat though, so hats off to Chad and his associates. S.C.’s tourism department looks to have made a great turn around, and that’s nothing but good news for us here on Shem Creek – kayaker or not. 
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