The challenge

Visit Wales needed a smart way to integrate their 2016 above the line ad with their digital marketing.

The solution

Their brand agency had already come up with the idea of ‘finding your epic’ in Wales. They were talking about scale – about epic adventures. I suggested they needed to ‘make epic personal’ for online. Personalising the experience starts to move a potential purchaser from awareness to consideration by showing how those big emotional moments from the TV ads can apply to them as an individual. This would make them start thinking: ‘this kind of experience is my kind of experience, it could be for me’.

The creative

I selected key people who featured in the ads and dug deeper into their experiences, using audience research to inform me. I worked with Visit Wales’ TV production company to make complementary short videos which showed these key meaningful moments.

Here’s just one example: the TV ad features a mum and daughter canoeing in a two-person kayak. The research showed the key motivation for a parent choosing a holiday is enjoying shared experiences with their child. I homed in on this moment, working with mum and daughter to script face-to-camera voiceovers describing the excitement of learning to canoe together for the first time. We filmed at the location of the original shoot, so they could both really re-live that moment. Rather than a producer, I got mum to read the lines to Fifi, the little girl. Fifi spoke beautifully – the emotion shines through. We cut their voiceovers with shots from the main ad and added a clear call to action.

Another nice example is the experience of a teenage boy jumping from a high rock in to a lake. This moment was all about the adrenaline and excitement of daring yourself to do something – literally taking the plunge.

I also shot stills of these people whilst we were on location and worked with the iCrossing design team to design a whole suite of social media ads to drive people to the Visit Wales website.