Most people thought Nashville, Tennessee, was only for country music fans. It had evolved into the most diverse music scene in the world. A must-see for all music fans. Our challenge was to change perceptions and inspire travel. Problem was, Nashville had a low production budget and absolutely no media budget.

We realized that some of the biggest rock stars in the world actually moved to Nashville. If we could get them to help tell the story of the town’s transformation, we would not only have compelling content, but could leverage their social influence to promote it.

The Black Keys, Kings of Leon, Keith Urban and 21 other artists signed on to be part of the project. Not as paid spokespeople, but simply for the love of the city they call home. The result was a one-hour documentary, “For The Love Of Music.”

We tapped into the musicians’ massive reach by creating social kits with custom bonus content the artists posted on their sites — driving people to view the film.

Music sites and blogs took notice and as buzz spread, ABC took an interest and offered to air the documentary. What was essentially a 44-minute commercial for Nashville ran as pure entertainment on one of the biggest television networks in the world. It even sold and ran ads against our “ad.”

To make it easy for viewers to plan a trip to Nashville, we launched a second-screen app to accompany the broadcast premiere. The app connected the stories in the film to actual places in Nashville. Once in Nashville, it became a personal tour guide, directing them around.

Results*:

24 musicians starred in and promoted the film for free. It aired on some of the biggest television networks in the world, including ABC, Foxtel, Palladia and CMT. ABC even had a 38% ratings bump. It’s been talked about in magazines, on music blogs and news sites. Since its debut, average price paid per room in Nashville rose 15%, the highest increase in the nation. It was also named Airbnb’s fastest growing U.S. destination, with bookings up 365% in early 2014. And the number of passengers traveling in and out of Nashville International Airport increased 6.6 percent. The NCVC attributed the film to helping spark the biggest tourism boom in the city’s history, all without traditional advertising or a dime spent on media.

*Sources: Google Analytics, Hotels.com, Airbnb.com, NCVC public records.

https://www.airbnb.com/press/news/airbnb-unveils-top-10-trending-u-s-travel-destinations-for-summer-2014

https://www.nashvillepost.com/category/subjects/hotel_industry