At the recent US Travel/ESTO national conference, the Montana Office of Tourism was presented two of the org’s most prestigious awards: Best Print Campaign and Best Interactive Campaign. As Montana’s strategic/creative agency, we at MercuryCSC were both humbled (aw shucks) and stoked!

Montana’s “Nothing Here” campaign runs against the grain of most conventional state tourism office campaigns. Instead of trying to serve up a formulaic “we’ve got it all” (see Biff, Buffy and the kids all riding bikes or huddled around a campfire) message, Montana’s creative team chose to take an edgier, arguably riskier tact. Having determined via a thorough branding process that visitors are most drawn to Montana for its spectacular scenery and unspoiled natural beauty, the “Nothing Here” headline provides an ironic, understated twist. With big, beautiful landscape photos of the state’s two iconic National Parks — Glacier and Yellowstone — deadpan body copy drives home the message. For certain travel segments, Geotravelers for example, the allure of Montana’s kind of “nothing” has proven profound.

Click to view another ad example from the campaign.

Interactive Accolades Too!

Montana was also the recipient of the Best Interactive Campaign at ESTO’s national gathering in Savannah, Georgia. Montana and Mercury worked together in partnership with the Discovery Channel to develop a compelling Dig@torial. When a user rolls over the banner, it expands, revealing rotating images, articles on Montana, and docu-style video. To see for yourself you can checkout this demo of the winning interactive. This innovative mashup outperformed industry benchmarks across all categories and provided a rich, sensory consumer experience.

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The National Council of State Tourism Directors (NCSTD) Awards, presented at the U.S. Travel Association’s Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations (ESTO) Conference were created in 1985 to recognize members for excellence and creative accomplishment in state/ territory tourism marketing and promotion, and inspire, by showcasing outstanding work, the continued development of imaginative and exciting marketing and promotion programs.

Montana Office of Tourism and Mercury staff were on hand to accept these National Tourism Awards during a ceremony on the last night of the ESTO annual conference. With a theme of "Movies, Music and Mayhem" it seemed only appropriate to honor a famous Montanan who epitomized taking calculated risks — Evel Knievel. In the spirit of honoring risk and reward (as it relates to both Evel and the winning creative), a few crafty Mercurians whipped together four handmade Evel Knievel outfits. Throttle up!