SITUATION

The Louisiana Office of Tourism is the destination marketing organization for the state of Louisiana. It is charged with the sales, marketing and promotion of the state as a travel destination for potential visitors, both domestic and international. Their objective is to increase the number of visitors annually, enhance visitor experiences, generate and increase annual visitor spending to result increased tax revenues for local and state government and increased tourism employment for all areas of the state. The Louisiana Office of Tourism wanted to create buzz around the city of New Orleans by introducing Mardi Gras to four major regional markets.

With an incredible bounty of food, music, history and culture, Louisiana can feed one’s soul like no other state. Though many people often think of New Orleans, the French Quarter and Fat Tuesday when they think of Louisiana, Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser and the Louisiana Office of Tourism wanted to show off the many assets of the entire state of Louisiana. The brand launch coincided with Mardi Gras or "Fat Tuesday,” which signifies the last day before Lenten season. Louisiana is a place where you can “Feed Your Soul” in any number of ways including its world-renowned cuisine, indigenous music or unique cultures.

The “Louisiana: Feed Your Soul” strategy targeted travelers who are in constant pursuit of enjoyment by showing them how easy that is to attain in Louisiana. The brand's key takeaway is that Louisiana is not just for spectators but rather active participants who truly want to feed their soul. They do not want to only live in the moment but BE the moment.

CAMPAIGN

Gambel Communications collaborated with the Louisiana Office of Tourism to roll out the campaign on Mardi Gras Day in a big way, with branded “Louisiana: Feed Your Soul” food trucks serving a taste of Louisiana in Atlanta, Houston, Dallas and Washington, D.C. The food trucks served king cakes, and distributed beads and cups to promote the new brand. This created unique, memorable and high-profile experiences for the general public and media in these markets.

To draw attention to the brand launch, the Gambel team secured major media coverage including articles and interviews in the Atlanta Journal Constitution and The Washington Post. To generate media interest in the key markets, Gambel Communications coordinated media drops to news stations, radio stations and publications located in each of the four major cities. Each media drop contained a king cake from local bakery, Haydel’s. Enclosed in the box was a scroll outlining the history of New Orleans Mardi Gras, beads and a press release informing the media of the food truck arrivals on Mardi Gras. Gambel Communications also customized media alerts to each of the four markets. Finally, to leverage the national reach for the Louisiana Office of Tourism, Gambel Communications also wrote and distributed a press release via PR NEWSWIRE.

Following the momentum created by the king cake deliveries, Gambel Communications continued media outreach leading up to Fat Tuesday by coordinating interviews with local television stations, influencers and print reporters. Efforts also included implementing a call center involving Gambel’s complete staff to place follow up calls to media on Lundi Gras to ensure coverage in the key markets. 

RESULTS

“Feed Your Soul” events garnered significant media coverage in all four out-of-state markets as well as in Louisiana. The objective of the project was exceeded, and each of the communications objectives were achieved. Nearly 2.2 million brand impressions and 118 million were reached through earned media. The press release even appeared in Times Square in the heart of New York City. In each target market, Gambel Communications coordinated and booked at least three media interviews, as well as interviews across Louisiana. Gambel Communications also secured several interviews for Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser and coverage of him handing out king cake and assisting tourism volunteers in promoting Louisiana and in Washington, D.C.

Media highlights include:

• Feature coverage of the event by The Washington Post and Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

• Television coverage in all four target cities

• Live on-site coverage on local TV morning shows in Washington, DC and Houston, along with stories posted on its social media feeds, garnering significant engagement.

• Significant social media coverage from micro and mega-influencers, which extended traditional earned media coverage.

• Recognition of the project’s success from the LT. Governor Nungesser in an editorial letter published in the Beauregard Daily News.