2020 Winner
2020 Winners
Dawsoncity.ca
Gold Rush II
It’s no secret that there are a variety of breathtaking travel destinations on every person's bucket list. While Canadians dream of jet-setting to places in Europe or Asia, many overlook the beauty and adventure in their own backyard. We needed Canadians to reimagine their travel bucket list and encourage them to put Yukon at the top of their list. Leveraging PR we set out to increase travel consideration for this adventurous and breathtaking destination.
Insights and Strategy
In 1896, the Klondike Gold Rush put Dawson City, Yukon on the map. Around 100,000 people made the journey up to the Yukon during the first Klondike Gold Rush. Travel to the Yukon had fallen flat and in 2019, the Yukon needed an idea to create buzz and ultimately, encourage Canadians to make the trek North once again.
Tapping into the Yukon’s rich heritage and eccentric activities, we set out to create history, by repeating it. Enter Gold Rush II, a campaign designed with DawsonCity.ca to fund a brand new gold rush, in hopes of driving Canadians to the beautiful territory, pan-in-hand.
Execution
We recognized that many Canadians might not know about the adventure, beauty, and unique experiences that await them in the Yukon, so we had to show them. To recreate the infamous original Gold Rush, we were missing one thing: gold. We kicked off the program with an Indiegogo campaign, encouraging Canadians to donate their hard-earned cash, in exchange for cool perks.
We launched the Indiegogo donation page through a national press release, encouraging consumers to buy perks and help recreate history. Perks ranged from $5 to $1,000 CAD which got donors everything from their name in a history book at the Dawson City Museum to a flight from Vancouver to Whitehorse, and a two-night stay at the famous Downtown Hotel — Sourtoe Cocktail included (practically a rite of passage for visitors to Dawson City, Yukon).
Leveraging targeted media relations, influencer amplification and media mailers, PR worked hard to spread the word of this campaign on a national level and showcase the quirky, vibrant travel destination that is Dawson City.
After the Indiegogo page had been live for 40 days, DawsonCity.ca converted the money earned into real Klondike Gold. And what did they do with all that gold? They threw it into Yukon creeks for public access panning.
On August 20, 2019, that sweet, sweet gold was placed into Claim #6 on Bonanza Creek and everyone, near and far, was invited to pan for gold in hopes of striking it rich. Leading up to the event, we created personalized itineraries for media and influencer guests to fly to the Yukon and partake in the fun. These top tier guests captured breathtaking content of the beautiful Yukon landscape that inspired their audiences to reconsider the Yukon as an epic travel destination.
Results and Impact
Overall, the Gold Rush 2 campaign was a national success, putting Dawson City, Yukon back on the map for Canadian travellers. The campaign caught the attention of prominent outlets including Huffington Post, CTV News Online, CBC, Radio Canada, Edmonton Journal and Vancouver Sun as well as top travel sites including Vacay.ca and Travel Press.
Our quirky campaign caught fire generating:
-210 pieces of coverage and 56 social posts
-59 pieces of social content from influencers and 112,400 social impressions from influencer content
-52.5 million total Canadian campaign impressions, surpassing our KPI of 30 million by 175%.
But most importantly, the campaign showed Canadians that Dawson City, Yukon is a destination filled with adventure and rugged beauty and was a place worth rushing to.