From New York City’s glamour to the awe-inspiring beauty of our National Parks, the USA should be an easy sell to tourists.

But to millions of travelers planning their next getaway, America appeared closed for business, and international visitation was declining for the first time in a decade.First, a strong dollar and weak global economy made the US a pricey destination for many. Then in 2017, travelers were faced with the perception that America was unwelcoming, contributing to negative sentiment.

Tasked with increasing inbound international tourism, Brand USA needed to find a new way to inspire wanderlusting around the world in the wake of our new reality.

BRIEF: Create a campaign that nimbly explores America’s vastness, while creating an ongoing stream of content at scale to keep up with consumption.

OBJECTIVES:

Build affinity for the USA through emotive storytelling

Create 600 pieces of digital content showcasing 25 different destinations

The crash collision of different ideas, people, cultures, and places is the heritage and momentum of the United States. It’s a dynamic story perpetually in motion. If we are a nation of Many Voices, defined by the uniqueness of its individual parts, then it’s the roads, highways, byways, and waterways that criss-cross this country that physically connect our narratives.

United Stories is an epic American Road Trip tale that aims to share the countless unheard voices and stories found across America. We embarked on a cross-country journey in our mobile content creation lab – a shapeshifting fleet of vibrantly-branded vehicles designed to adapt to the landscape – inviting a rolling roster of cross-cultural storytellers along on the ride in search of warm and welcoming stories told through the first-person perspective of locals, travelers, creatives, and industry experts alike.

Despite negative sentiment around America, tourists’ perception of Americans was overwhelmingly positive. To appeal to modern travelers who seek out unique, local experiences over one-size-fits-all vacations, we needed to shift away from telling one story of “America” from a central point-of-view, and there was no greater tool at our disposal than the voices and experiences of real people.

Real, individual voices have the power to help travelers experience the warmth of Americans first-hand and uncover local perspectives to activate their wanderlust. Our strategy was simple: to inspire travel by giving a voice to real experiences in the states.

We replaced “our” brand voice - the single arbiter of “the message” - with a symphony of “many voices”, disseminating and amplifying these stories through a social-first approach that matched our audience’s wanderlusting behavior. It’s in these micro-moments of escape, through many lightweight social interactions, that these real voices can resonate.

To bring these voices to life, we hit the road in a custom mobile content studio, exploring high and low, on land and sea in search of stories told from local perspectives.

With two two vehicles being sent out each month, we hosted a star cast of content-creators to capture living, breathing stories in real time that evoked a strong sense of place. These creators helped us not only curate a symphony of real voices - each with a unique point of view on what makes America special - but also enabled us to produce a continuous stream of content at scale, inspiring our audience with a perpetually new, dynamic American road trip.

All content was shared across influencer social channels, amplifying these voices to a collective audience of 20 million.

Since the January 2019 launch, we’ve already garnered:

-7 MILLION engagements and video views

-203 MILLION total organic and paid impressions across Visit the USA and influencer social channels

-Nearly 8 MILLION minutes of total video content viewed

And an engagement rate increase of 300% compared to past campaign benchmarks.

But most importantly, by curating a symphony of voices, Brand USA found a new way to tell a deeper, more nuanced story of America and invite travelers to experience the diversity of our destinations and people first-hand.

And while most hotels, destinations, and even airlines have converged on the theme that tourists increasingly crave unique, local experiences, Brand USA is the first national destination marketing organization to consistently capture and output real-time content from multiple destinations at the pace of consumption, showcasing the sheer scale and scope of local travel experiences which make our nation unique, welcoming, and aspirational.