The American Advertising Federation of Knoxville’s 52nd Annual American Advertisting Awards on Feb. 25, 2017, included Blount County’s Mary Beth West Communications among its honorees.

 

The firm won two ADDYs for MBWC’s December 2016 cartoon series developed in coordination with Pulitzer Prize-nominated editorial cartoonist Marshall Ramsey for MBWC client, the Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority (SMTDA). 

 

The cartoons were developed and released on social media in response to tourism-traffic concerns immediately following the Nov. 28 Sevier County wildfires. Many travelers faced confusion in thinking that Blount County was impacted, resulting initially in numerous hotel cancellations that impacted local businesses.

 

“Blount County tourism destinations were in a predicament, experiencing cancellations, when the wildfires had actually taken place in Gatlinburg / Pigeon Forge – many out-of-town travelers weren’t making the geographic distinction,” said agency owner Mary Beth West.

 

“We needed to get out a communication – something creative and attention-getting that would have wide play in social media – that helped set the record straight but also would uplift Sevier County, given the tragedy they were facing,” West said.

 

With the collaboration of SMTDA Tourism Director Kim Mitchell, MBWC reached out to cartoonist Marshall Ramsey, who created a series of three cartoons: one spotlighting Dolly Parton’s #MyPeopleFund relief effort; one as a tribute to aid workers; and a third with a direct call-to-action message showing forest animals beckoning visitors to visit the Smoky Mountains.

 

With a modest project budget and with MBWC managing the dispatch and media outreach, the cartoons achieved overwhelming results. 

 

More than 4,400 people shared the cartoons through SMTDA’s and MBWC’s Facebook pages alone. The cartoons’ average cost per impression ($0.002) was a mere 0.62 percent of the industry average ($0.35) for paid reach on Facebook. The Tennessee Department of Tourism shared each cartoon with its nationwide audience, and Dolly Parton’s agent contacted the MBWC team directly to request the original illustration of the “Thanks Dolly” cartoon, which SMTDA donated back to the Dollywood Foundation directly.

Of the most impressive results, however, the campaign increased year-over-year / month-of-December Facebook likes for “The Peaceful Side of the Smokies” page by 1,434 percent, engagement by 287 percent and reach by 375 percent. SMTDA also reported that Blount hotel bookings from Dec. 2016 – Jan. 2017 rose 15 percent from the same time segment in the previous year – meaning that the campaign helped net an impressive increase in normal tourism traffic for the county despite the Sevier wildfires.