South Dakota Office of Tourism Great Faces. Great Places

The Challenge
In 2004, the tourism industry as a whole was on the decline. As a result of global conflict and rising fuel costs, people were choosing not to travel, and tourism in South Dakota needed a boost.

Governor Mike Rounds tapped L&S to partner with the South Dakota Office of Tourism in helping achieve the state's first goal of the 2010 Initiative: double visitor spending in the state to $1.2 billion by the year 2010.

The Solution
To reach goal one of the 2010 Initiative, the agency dedicated its full range of services.

Research was a foundational element of the marketing efforts. Various tools, such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and national focus groups, pinpointed the best national media buys, giving the Office of Tourism a bigger bang for their advertising dollar.

L&S and the Office of Tourism redeployed the state's slogan, "Great Faces. Great Places" as the main branding message and updated the jingle to a more current, easy-to-remember tune.

Research showed that different areas of the country responded to different messages. In larger markets, image-based ads building awareness of South Dakota encouraged travelers who had not been to the state to learn more about its Great Faces and Great Places. In nearby markets, efforts encouraged vacationers to come for a quick getaway. Locally, events-oriented marketing promoted vacationing close to home.

Together L&S and South Dakota Tourism built one of the leading interactive tourism web sites in the nation, www.TravelSD.com, as a one-stop information site for anyone looking to travel or learn more about the state. They utilized search engine marketing and optimization and continually upgraded the site, adding features like an interactive trip planner to ensure easier online planning.

A strong television campaign encouraged visitors to experience South Dakota. The commercials featured historic locations, national and state parks, Native American heritage, family-friendly attractions and Mount Rushmore.

Co-op efforts allowed South Dakota's tourism industry partners the opportunity to extend their budgets and provide a unified message. These partnerships included integrated campaigns in Chicago, Dallas, Denver and other local markets.

In addition, L&S helped drive internal and external PR efforts with media relations, promotional campaigns and strategic support. Among the promotions was the nationally recognized Twenty Bucks for the Road campaign. Partnering with the ethanol industry, South Dakota Tourism was able to overcome fears of high gas prices by offering a $20 voucher to travelers filling up in South Dakota. It captured national attention in USA Today, The New York Times and Washington Post, and yielded five times the anticipated results of redeemed vouchers.

The Success
In 2003, visitor spending in South Dakota was $698 million. Visitor spending in 2006 reached a record high of nearly $865 million, a $167 million increase from 2003 as a result of the new marketing efforts.

Web and phone inquiries were up 17% in 2007 and tourism traffic was almost two times the national average.

The campaign has won numerous advertising awards, including three national awards, and continues to drive visitor spending in South Dakota.

The campaign is also resonating with its target audience.

Research conducted by Midwest Living indicated the South Dakota Tourism ads did an excellent job of building the brand. Of all the advertisements measured in Midwest Living's September/October '06 issue, South Dakota Tourism's ad creative ranked #2 for total recall and brand association and #1 against the travel category among readers.