Minnesota Tourism tours US with experiential pop-up

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With over 500 million monthly users and counting, Instagram is a force to be reckoned with.

Tapping into consumers – particularly millennials – obsession with capturing and sharing every moment of their lives, Instagram continues to dominate the social marketplace.  Minnesota_image_1.jpg

In a bid to garner the attention of potential visitors, Minnesota Tourism took advantage of Instagram’s popularity with an experiential marketing campaign perfect for social sharing.   

Not exactly high up on the US’s top holiday destinations, Minnesota Tourism wanted to encourage visitors to the state. So they came up with a solution – bring the city to them.

In a creative twist on a pop-up tour, they packed up some of the city’s best experiences into shipping containers and took them on tour across the US.  

Dubbed the ‘MNstagram booths’, each container brought to life a uniquely Minnesotan experience. Kitted out with props, lights and special effects, the booths gave visitors an immersive and interactive experience.Minnesota_image_2.jpg

One container transported people to the state’s Boundary Waters region. Surrounded by a mural of beautiful wetlands, visitors could take a turn in the wooden canoe and imagine what it would be like to be floating through the Minnesota wilderness.

Another container gave a peek into Minneapolis’ iconic First Avenue music club. Approaching the booth, visitors would first have to pass the club ‘bouncer’ but once inside they had the chance to rock out on the club’s drum kit while being blasted by a fog machine – the key ingredient of any rock show!

Each square booth was specifically designed to make a perfect Instagram photo and after taking their picture inside the MNstagram booths, visitors were encouraged to upload their photos using the hashtag #onlyinMN.

So far, the containers have toured Chicago, Denver and Kansas City and generated 1.25 million social impressions.

Just like New Orleans Tourism’s food truck, this shows how a carefully crafted experiential campaign can offer huge potential for social sharing.  


Author bio

GLOBAL BUSINESS DIRECTOR

With nearly 30 years of marketing experience, both client and agency side, I’ve acquired a rare perspective on brands and business: I believe you have to challenge things creatively if you want to grow sales. Consumer technology is reshaping our world, and it’s only the great brands that stay on the crest.