Tennessee’s tourism industry saw record-high travel spending in 2019, which led to an increase in economic activity, jobs, and crucial tax revenue supporting essential public services such as firefighters and teachers. After the pandemic hit, no one was traveling. The tourism industry was hit the hardest, resulting in sharp economic and employment losses. At the same time, the music industry is huge in Tennessee. Live music wasn’t happening. Tours weren’t happening. So, there were many musicians stuck at home.

Tennessee Tourism was on the back burner. To rebuild tourism in Tennessee, we had to find a way to convince Americans they could still travel safely, but we couldn’t just say it — we had to demonstrate it. We based our audience on the research findings that Americans were going to start traveling closer to home and targeted those within 500 miles of Tennessee.

After months stuck at home American’s wanted to travel, but they were afraid to. Research showed that people felt most comfortable taking road trips, and travel by RV was gaining popularity. We needed to show them that Tennessee is full of outdoor activities that families can do safely, inspiring them to visit.

So, we tapped into Tennessee’s most important available resource: musicians stuck at home. We sent them back on the road — with their families — and asked them to document their experience through songwriting. We asked them to write a love song to the American people, reminding them they could still travel across Tennessee safely. We filmed their safe adventures and the moments inspiration struck, along with every back-and-forth detail of their songwriting process in real time. We released their songs on Spotify and produced a six-episode web series documenting the journey.

We identified travel activities that American’s felt safest participating in. Then we found one of America’s most talented couples in music, Drew and Ellie Holcomb, who had been sidelined from touring, and sent them on a road trip across Tennessee with their families. We had them write songs along the way to document their experience. Leveraging the power of music — the state of Tennessee’s core brand asset — we showed America through film and music that they could still create memories with their families safely. We gave viewers an intimate look into something rarely seen — the process of songwriting in real time and the inspiration behind it.

Hulu — We targeted families and music lovers with an immersive sequential ad experience. Each :30 video was served during a single episode of CTV programming. Placement utilized in-episode sequential messaging. Creative used: 30-second videos.

YouTube — We aligned with travel and family content to reach users interested in road tripping with their families. Placement utilized: TrueView video. Creative used: Long-form videos.

Facebook/Instagram — Drew and Ellie Holcomb posted in-feed to share their experience with fans. The episodes were also promoted to users with key music interests who displayed travel intent. Placement utilized: In-feed video. Creative used: Long-form videos and :30 cuts.

We also worked with Drew and Ellie Holcomb to create an EP, releasing the songs they wrote about their trip on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, etc.

The storytelling content resonated with viewers, and users watched more than 23 years’ worth of content in 30 days. They watched an average of four to five minutes of our branded content BEFORE watching the video they had selected. The press also loved the story, and it garnered more than 756 million earned impressions. A SMARI Research advertising effectiveness study showed that intent to travel to Tennessee doubled for out-of-state travelers who viewed the content.