Visit Iceland
Putting Iceland at the Center of the Cultural Zeitgeist
In 2020, the pandemic shut down global travel. For Iceland, whose GDP is over 10% tourism, this was an existential threat. So we launched “Looks Like You Need Iceland,” a brand platform brought to life with earned-first campaigns that helped restore tourism levels a year faster than anyone projected.
Outcomes
- $40M
In earned-media value
- #1
Preference in key markets
- +5.7%
Increased intent to book
When the World Needed a Release
With the world in pandemic lockdown, frustrations began to build as people couldn’t travel anywhere. So Iceland gave would-be travelers the next best thing–a chance to let out their angst by recording cathartic screams, which we then played through 7 speakers set up across the 7 regions of Iceland.
After a year in lockdown, people had been on the couch for so long, they were stuck to the cushions. We had to get them out of their sweats and over to Iceland. So we launched Sweatpant Boots — exclusive hiking boots handmade from travelers’ personal pandemic sweatpants, only available in Iceland.
We sent boots to influencers, who made unboxing videos. On our website, potential travelers could do virtual try-ons and explore the seven regions of Iceland. And we had a popup experience in Reykjavik, where travelers could pick up their sweatpant boots.
On Oct. 28, 2021, Mark Zuckerberg announced a “revolutionary” new virtual world called The Metaverse, and the launch video became an instant meme. 12 days later, Iceland released “The Icelandverse,” a parody video featuring a man named Zack Mossbergsson reminding travelers that Iceland is visually stunning, physically real, and can be experienced today.
Yes, even Mr. Metaverse himself visited the Icelandverse.
While world travel surged in 2022, so did always-on work culture. According to a March 2022 study, 60% of us check work email on vacation. So Iceland introduced OutHorse Your Email, a revolutionary service where real Icelandic horses write out-of-office email replies on a horse-sized keyboard.
Iceland always seems to give us what we need.
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