Research conducted by Visit Pensacola showed several emerging feeder markets that represented promising opportunities for future tourism business. Among them, four showed strong potential based on population, traveler profiles of their residents and transportation opportunities opened up by the recent addition of direct flights to Pensacola: Nashville, Houston, Chicago and Baltimore. To reach them and influence them to travel here, we designed a “guerilla” promotion that would break through the clutter of competing travel markets and provide a tangible result: “heads in beds.”
The experiential campaign included “Selfie” booths placed in high-traffic events and locations including the Nashville airport, Houston’s Memorial City Mall, the Chicago Air & Water Show and Baltimore’s Star Spangled Spectacular. Pensacola’s Blue Angels precision flight team performed at the final two events, which were attended by a combined 4.5 million people. With #ExplorePcola set up as a live feed on Visit Pensacola’s website and on onsite giant monitors, selfies appeared instantly to passers-by. ChapStik™, mini beach balls, visitor guides and gummy fish, along with free tastes of Pensacola’s signature frozen drink, the “Bushwacker” (non-alcoholic), were handed out to visitors, who could also register to win a free vacation.