OVERVIEW

As locals, we often forget to play tourist in our own city. Stay Local DC—a local initiative under the Discover the Real DC campaign umbrella—is aimed at breaking through that barrier and inspiring Washington, DC residents and those in surrounding areas to discover and re-discover the real DC.

Running in winter 2019/20, Stay Local DC encouraged families, friends, solo travelers and couples in the region to take advantage of the season’s slower pace, amazing hotel deals, world-class arts and culture offerings, delicious restaurants and free museums and attractions.

Stay Local DC replaced Destination DC’s long-running romantic winter initiative, Date Nights DC. This strategic shift in messaging allowed us to target a wider regional audience—more than just couples celebrating Valentine’s Day—with the aim of increasing visitation and overnight stays throughout the city's winter need period.

STRATEGY

Stay Local DC was Destination DC’s first attempt at a social-first campaign to reach consumers where they are the most engaged. To this end, we produced three videos for use on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, each targeting a different audience segment—couples, solo travelers and families. In addition to the social video push, we produced two :30s commercials for more traditional digital buys, as well as print and digital ads.

Social video

The goal of producing social video was to use humor to generate buzz. These videos encouraged viewers to kick-back, relax, and live life like the most stereotypical DC tourist: Stand on the lefthand side of the metro escalator. Wear your most patriotic DC gear and ride off into the sunset on a scooter. Pack up your kids and everything you own into your clown car and drive one block to your hotel. DC is a fast-paced, high-stress environment—we could all use a staycation!

Role: Ideation, creative direction, video direction

other creative executions

PERFORMANCE

“Escaleftor,” the second of three social videos, launched on Dec. 10, 2019 and generated an unprecedented reaction from followers. On Twitter, the video amassed 100,000 views and generated nearly 25,000 engagements. The video was almost solely responsible for the 32,687 engagements on Twitter in the month of December, the highest monthly engagement on Destination DC’s Twitter since it’s been tracked.

Overall KPIs for this campaign were an increase in web traffic over the Date Nights DC campaign from winter 2019. Stay Local DC saw 136,178 Unique Visits—up 135% YOY over Date Nights DC—and 172,091 page views—a 92% YOY increase over Date Nights DC.