CASE STUDY

Positioning an Emerging Destination in the Adventure Travel Market (Georgia)

A consumer marketing and distribution campaign repositioning an emerging destination around the themes of culture, food and wine.

Campaign Highlights

DESTINATION REBRAND

We helped rebrand an emerging destination ready to welcome international visitors.

STRONG DISTRIBUTION

Our content received over 47 million network reach.

AWARD-WINNING STORYTELLING

Our films were the recipients of several key awards including Adventure In Motion and Hermes Creative Awards.

Details

Partner: Georgia National Tourism Administration (GNTA)

Location: Georgia

Key Themes: Culture | Food & Wine

CHALLENGE:

Georgia National Tourism Administration (GNTA) enlisted the help of GLP to support the implementation of their destination rebranding campaign. By using the brand vision as the foundation of all things storytelling, the goal of the marketing and distribution campaign was to: increase global consumer and travel trade awareness of the incredible adventure, culture, and culinary travel experiences throughout the country of Georgia. GNTA wanted to reflect the country’s passion and excitement through a series of films that told the story of Georgians uniquely connected to the travel industry. Georgians know that their country is one of the best-kept secrets worldwide, so they wanted to tell their story in a way that responsibly markets the incredible travel experiences.

SOLUTION:

Using authentic character-driven storytelling, GLP produced a series of videos and digital content that best reflected Georgia’s authentic adventure, culture, and culinary travel experiences. We wanted to increase exposure of Georgia’s tourism offerings and the true “emotions” of Georgia to their target audiences — travelers seeking unique and meaningful experiences. The first video, “Georgia: Adventure for the Soul,” shows how adventure is uniquely intertwined with the country’s rich cultural history, through the stories of local guides. The second video, “Georgia: Feast for the Senses,” takes viewers on a journey to experience Georgia's 8,000-year-old wine-making traditions, cross-border culinary fusions, and UNESCO-recognized polyphonic singing.

Key Goals

SPOTLIGHT GEORGIA’S UNIQUE CULINARY, CULTURAL, AND ADVENTURE OFFERINGS.
ATTRACT NEW EUROPEAN TRAVELERS TO GEORGIA.
CREATE CHARACTER-DRIVEN STORIES THAT MARKET COUNTRY RESPONSIBILITY.
HIGHLIGHT EXPERIENCES THAT CAN TAKE PLACE ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, RATHER THAN A SPECIAL LOCATION.

Award-winning storytelling for Georgia

GEORGIA: FEAST OF THE SENSES

Step into Georgia and take a journey through time. Experience Georgia's 8,000-year-old winemaking and their UNESCO-recognized polyphonic singing. Rooted in ancient culture and traditions, Georgia is an unforgettable "Feast of the Senses."

This video was the Hermes Creative Award Winner 2019.

ONE BLOOD: GEORGIA

Voted Best Adventure Travel Film of 2019, “One Blood: Georgia” explores the roots of adventure in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia through the lens of a paraglider named Alex Iskandarov and his grandmother, Helen, and their shared passion for the air.

Impact

The campaign landed 6 major media placements, achieved 14x ROI, and surpassed campaign goals by an astounding 1300%. In addition, the evergreen video content continues to garner video views and engagement through earned media placements that work for the destination long after the official campaign end date.

In just 6 weeks after the campaign launched, video views reached 6.5 million, with 47 million potential consumer impressions and 365K travel trade network reach. Video views continue to climb and have surpassed 7 million views and counting. GLP was able to achieve lofty goals in a short time frame through several strategies. The evergreen campaign videos continue to be repurposed and promoted by earned media partners years after the official campaign duration.

Responsible Destination Marketing Means Promoting the Experience, Not the Place

The travel industry is in an age of overtourism, which means marketing a specific place can quickly lead to “loving nature to death.” Our films focused more on culinary, cultural and adventure experiences that could take place all over Georgia, rather than a specific restaurant or geolocation. We targeted the adventure and food travel industries, as these travelers tend to travel more responsibly and are more apt to want an authentic local experience.

Authentic Character-Driven Storytelling Drives Passion

In just 6 days, the “Georgia: Feast for the Senses” video went viral on Facebook with 600,000 views and 36,000 engagements. A majority of the shares came from consumers (travelers) and the travel trade. We contribute this social media success story to our suite of digital content that uses authentic character-driven storytelling as the basis. This type of strategic storytelling aligns with key travel themes and emotionally connects the audience to the experience. The campaign continued to build upon this success with further media pickups across travel, adventure, and food-related media outlets, expanding the overall campaign reach to 6.5 million views and 47 million potential impressions.