Last week, Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser unveiled a new advertising campaign promoting tourism in Louisiana at the Annual Travel Summit in Lake Charles. The trio of 30-second commercials incorporates the new brand strategy, Louisiana: Feed Your Soul, which was launched in Jan. 2018.
In a press release, Lt. Nungesser said the campaign is inspired by experiences that can only be done in Louisiana. Three objects – a hat, ticket stub and sandwich (a shrimp poor boy to be exact) – tell the story of what makes travel in Louisiana unique. Each ad makes the point that while these items are ordinary elsewhere, they are special because, “today, you’re in Louisiana.”
The production team filmed on location throughout the state and incorporated food, drink, live music and outdoor adventure in the three scripts. The hat ad takes place in New Orleans and the French Quarter is prominent. The ticket stub ad celebrates Cajun and Zydeco culture in and around Lafayette. And Shreveport gets the starring role in the poor boy commercial with an unnamed Herby K’s being the “hole in the wall café” where the sandwich is eaten paired with a locally-brewed Great Raft beer. The sandwich in question is not, however, the acclaimed “Shrimp Buster.”
“This ad campaign is the result of months of data research and marketing strategy,” said Lt. Nungesser in a press release. “I am confident our new advertising strategy and Feed Your Soul branding will continue to grow our record breaking tourism numbers.”
The Louisiana state tourism numbers are indeed record breaking. 2017 marked the sixth consecutive year of growth in visitation and spending with a new record of 47.1 million visitors who spent $17.5 billion. The numbers, as reported by DK Shifflet, equated to $1.8 billion in state and local tax revenue generated by the travel and tourism industry in 2017. That tax revenue breaks down to a 37-to-1 return on investment of state funding.
The continuing investment in the promotion of Louisiana tourism is paramount to its ongoing success. The new Feed Your Soul brand strategy, replacing the former Pick Your Passion campaign, launched on Mardi Gras day in 2018 with food trucks literally feeding people a taste of Louisiana in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Washington, DC.
An excerpt from the brand description reads: “Louisiana isn't for spectators. It's for participants—for those that want to feed their soul and not only live the moment, but to become the moment. Here, excitement is a constant pursuit, and one that's easily found.” The new advertising campaign builds on the brand by featuring tourists having the time of their lives with locals leading the way.
The three new ads aren’t yet on the Louisiana Office of Tourism’s YouTube page, but they are available for download here. To view the Feed Your Soul branding video on YouTube, you can do so here.
