Redford and Benny have cemented their places as spokesmen for Columbia County’s Serene18 Paddle Trail.
The advertising campaign featuring the two scouts who highlight the wonders of the area’s waterways recently took home the U.S. Travel Association’s Destiny Award for best integrated marketing and messaging campaign among destination marketing organizations.
“We knew we had great content,” said Shelly Blackburn, the executive director of the Columbia County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
MORE: Serene18 Promo Draws Visitors to Area Waterways
The campaign was the best out of more than 400 others from across the nation.
Blackburn said the organization submitted the information for the award. When officials learned the Serene18 Paddle Trail was in the top three, they decided to travel to the conference last week in Los Angeles.
“We beat Niagara Falls,” she said.
Convention and Visitors Bureau
The concept for the promotional campaign is designed to showcase the water experiences for kayakers and canoers. Blackburn’s team came up with the concept of a passport with different water trails. People could get a stamp for each leg paddled, and once the passport was complete, paddlers received a T-shirt.
Initially, there were four routes. A fifth route and a short film with Redford, Benny and some new characters were added in July.
“The Serene18 Campaign has generated big results for tourism. The videos were viewed nearly a quarter of a million times, and more than four million people were reached by the content. Hundreds of people have visited Columbia County to participate the paddle trail,” according to a news release.
The U.S. Travel Association’s website posted information about the campaign as well as judges’ comments.
“It is a unique concept, bringing vendors together for a continuous way to explore the waters of Columbia County, Georgia; and to give everyone a safe way to explore and get out of their houses during COVID-19,” was one of the reasons the campaign was chosen.
Blackburn said the concept was years in the making, and it took a bunch of creative types to make it happen, including the people at Kruhu and Cineloco.
Blackburn said working with Kruhu on the concept was a bit of a chance; especially when members of the Kruhu team just asked her to have some faith in them. And Blackburn said she’s glad she trusted them. It was worth it.
MORE: Redford and Benny Return to Promote a New Route on Serene18 Paddle Trail
The stars of the campaign will be back with additional adventures in the future, she said.
“We have no plans of slowing down,” she said.
The national award was the second the marketing campaign won. It also won the Georgia Association of Convention and Visitors Bureau’s TravelBlazer Award earlier this year.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
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