Utah Office of Tourism

The most successful campaign in the history of everything.

For a long time, Utah’s tourism efforts tried to make everyone happy—promising an endless variety of activities and amenities. But that strategy always left the state vulnerable to other destinations who could offer something just a little more compelling in a specific area. Golf in Utah is pretty great… but it’s not as great as golf in California. Fishing in Utah is awesome… but maybe not as awesome as fishing in Montana.

So, when it came time to re-energize Utah’s advertising, I pushed our teams to explore the state just like a visitor would, plotting itineraries and taking road trips. I constructed design thinking exercises along the way, striving to better understand our audiences, their needs, and their motivation. In the end, I worked to focus our campaign on something that no one else could match: Five national parks, all within driving distance of each other.

The result was the Mighty 5—a clear proposition to travelers and adventures, something they could put on their bucket list. The multi-channel campaign (and its follow-up, The Road to Mighty) have driven record-breaking results for the state, including all-time highs in tax revenue and more than $300 in tourism revenue for each $1 spent on advertising.

Even more impressive, the work has created economic opportunity throughout rural Utah and opened conversations about responsible and sustainable tourism across the state.

Agency: Struck
Executive Creative Director: Matt Anderson
Creative Director: Alexandra Fuller
Art Directors: Dave Bunnell, Phil Smallwood, Chris George
Copywriters: Alexandra Fuller, Ryan Coons

Hi. I’m Matt Anderson—a creative director, agency leader, and strong advocate for diversity/equity/inclusion. I live in Portland, OR. If you’d like to work together, let’s talk.