Campaign for Ohio Tourism

May 2

Challenge

TourismOhio, the organization responsible for the health of Ohio’s $46 billion tourism industry, wanted to bring more families and young adults to the state. They were most interested in people within a 6-hour drive.

I was part of a three-person team tasked with bringing a campaign to life in just under one week.

Solution

While some people think of “Middle America” as a negative, the spin is positive in Ohio. The state has a little bit of a lot of things—major league sports, renowned museums, culture, music, food, and kid-friendly entertainment. The key is to share the focus and show potential visitors a version of Ohio that is customized to their life stage and interests. Thus, “It Comes Together” is the campaign I developed to show how a collection of varied experiences makes for one memorable trip.

Because Ohio has a little bit of everything, it’s the only place within a short car ride where you can see and experience so much in a short time. That insight is what drove my concept of “When It Comes Together.”

Additionally, Ohio has a lot of entertainment mixed with midwestern magic. Your visit to the state can be memorable simply because of the unusual and unique offerings we have. That’s how I came up with “Ohio. It’s Anything But Ordinary.”

What I Learned

When you only have a few days to create an emotionally evocative campaign, a manifesto or script combined with a few visuals can do wonders for telling the breadth of a story. While this work didn’t go live (due to the ad agency’s conflict with another tourism board), I’m extremely proud of my ideas and write-ups.