Discover Southeastern NB
What do you do when you're a tourism operator and your entire industry comes down with the plague? That's exactly what our clients were facing when the summer came down with a case of covid, and our borders slammed shut. We needed a new source of bodies on our beaches and trails. Who better to engage than those who already love South Eastern New Brunswick? All it took to mobilize our citizenry was a quick reminder that when on holiday, anything goes.
- Campaign & art direction
- 2024
- Campaign strategyArt directionOut-of-home & merch
“When you're on holiday, anything goes.”
The problem
Borders closed, tour buses parked, and an entire tourism season written off. The operators of Southeastern New Brunswick didn't need awareness — everyone already knew the region existed. They needed permission. A reason for locals to behave like visitors in their own backyard, and to spend like it too.
The thinking
Holiday isn't a place, it's a licence. The moment people call something a holiday, the rules loosen: the second ice cream, the swim in your clothes, the jump off the wharf you'd normally talk yourself out of. We took that licence and handed it to residents, then built a campaign that showed permission rather than describing it.
The result
A campaign that ran across billboards, social and merch without ever repeating a joke, and a summer where beaches and trails filled up with the people who live twenty minutes away. Placeholder metrics to be swapped for the client's reported numbers.
“When you're on holiday, anything goes.”
“Permission over persuasion.”
What this work holds onto
Permission over persuasion
Nobody needs to be sold their own province. They need a reason to act today, so every execution grants permission instead of arguing a case.
Local, not touristic
Real places, real weather, real people. No stock sunsets, no aerial drone clichés — the imagery had to be recognisable to someone who drives past it weekly.
One idea, many voices
A single line of thinking flexed from a billboard headline to an enamel pin without losing shape, so operators of any size could join in.
Say the reckless, joyful thing out loud.
Don't hedge it with 'discover your own backyard'.
Let the photography feel a little unpolished.
Don't retouch the humidity out of a New Brunswick summer.