The Island Resort’s resident mermaid blossomed into a Florida icon following a viral social media campaign during 2020. Our weekly “Mermaid Tales” video series featured Misty reading children’s books next to the resort’s famous Grotto Pool. Each week, we selected a lucky winner to receive a signed copy of the book shipped directly to their doorstep. This organic video series had over 250,000 views and grew the social media following by 38% on Facebook and 49% growth on Instagram. The campaign didn’t stop there – Misty was featured as the cover story of VIP Destin Magazine, as well as on Emerald Coast TV, local radio shows, and more. The campaign’s popularity also ignited an entire section of various Misty the Mermaid merch in the resort’s retail shop, Misty the Mermaid birthday parties, and more. The Misty the Mermaid campaign as a whole was named the #1 Integrated Marketing campaign in the state of Florida, as well as receiving a Bronze Flagler Award from VISIT FLORIDA.
Our team built out a year-long campaign to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Seagrove Village Market Cafe, the first restaurant established on Highway 30A in Northwest Florida. Our goal was to highlight the history of the restaurant, embrace the long-time loyal followers, and engage new guests through multiple aspects.
Our team coordinated a full unveiling for a new development in Northwest Florida that was in partnership with the Air Force. This integrated campaign included media relations, a press conference with Florida’s Secretary of Commerce, and a private VIP event with a WW2 flyover and official flag-raising to unveil the project. The media campaign brought in over $11,036 in press coverage value and 1,193,169 UVM reached, successfully building regional and statewide awareness of the economic impact of the project, as well as bringing in opportunities for future commercial and residential leasing tenants on property.
Known for their “Deep Fried Love” and famous po’boys, this outrageous dish was conceptualized and named after the beloved owner of the restaurant. This 4 lb po’boy is enough to feed four people and features every fried item in the house, all drizzled with housemade remoulade. We coordinated influencers and well known members of the community to come in and try the monster sandwich. Within 24 hours of the first post, the restaurant had a guest drive over an hour to come experience the George-normous. The sandwich is a new staple on the menu and has generated over 300,000 views through influencers’ photos and videos.
@marquaythegoat Replying to @Kay dang The George-normous Po’ boy at Seagrove Village MarketCafé #SeagroveVillageMarket #GeorgenormousPoBoy #HartleyRestaurantGroup #seagrovebeach #30a ♬ original sound – HELICOPTER MAN🚁
Our team developed the concept of a “Free Burgers for a Year” campaign for a restaurant franchise, spanning across all their stores in Florida and Alabama. We built this campaign from the ground up to include an influencer collaboration, geotargeted ads on Facebook and Instagram, supplementary social media posts, and email reminders to current subscribers.
Our team was hired to help introduce the community to a new dining concept in the South Walton area of Florida. We created an integrated campaign that included a mixture of tactics including:
Upon review of the restaurant’s menu, we recognized that the dishes varied in origin and style, from Asian, Latino, Caribbean, and some old-fashioned southern comfort recipes from family members. The owners, a well-known and well-traveled couple with over 40 years of marriage under their belt, shared that almost every single dish came from their travels throughout their marriage. We immediately knew that these precious (and hilarious) stories were the key to connection with the community.
We pitched the idea of a “Storyteller Dinner” where media and hand-selected influencers would attend for a unique, four-course dinner experience. In between each course, the owners would stand up and share the story behind that course’s dish. By the end of the night, guests were laughing, crying – the whole room was one big family. The stories and the food were the star of the show, but each influencer’s platform and coverage helped share the experience.
This client introduced a “Buy 3 Nights, Get the 4th Night Free” promotion. Our team supported the offer with a Meta ad campaign that targeted their full email list and retargeted anyone who had clicked through to the specials page of their website.
When the breakfast restaurant introduced online ordering, we launched a Meta traffic campaign to target nearby audiences and direct them to the new ordering experience. This helped generate momentum and drive orders during the launch.
We launched a Google Ads campaign focused on increasing visibility for the restaurant in Google Search and Google Maps. The goal was to capture high-intent local searches and drive actions like calls, directions, and website visits.
Our team handled all media relations for the Santa Rosa Beach and Golf Club’s $3.8 million renovation, garnering an increase in press coverage. We worked alongside the social team to strategically release cohesive messaging to the regional media, as well as current and potential members.
We pitched and secured WaterSound Village Market’s grand opening to be the feature of WJHG’s morning show. The host and crew came onsite to the restaurant to film a four part segment, reaching over 30,000 viewers including an online segment. Our team also provided media coaching for our client’s talking points and attended to direct the shoot.
We helped negotiate a collaboration between our client Oversee and Lighthouse, a small charity covering the cost of a vacation to families of children with cancer, to further their mission. Through one of the owner’s personal connections to the mission, we were able to secure a story that landed them on the cover of Thirty-A Review.
Our team conceptualized a 12-part video series for social media featuring The Island Resort’s Misty the Mermaid. In five months, the campaign more than doubled the resort’s Facebook and Instagram following, and sent the resort’s engagement rate through the roof. Social media became the third highest source of traffic to the website, and direct bookings increased dramatically.
This 56 acre, mixed-use shopping and lifestyle center sought unique ways aside from festivals to attract people to the center. We pitched and coordinated seasonal art based installations including interactive sandcastle displays, an umbrella sky canopy, and more. We coordinated all vendors before launching each installation with influencer and media coverage. The activations increased email subscribers and user generated content on social media.
We sourced and coordinated six unpaid influencers to visit The Island Resort. Each influencer received trackable codes and links that allowed us to track over $33k in room night revenue for the resort, an increase in followers and engagement.
