One is a video game that shows off what Kentucky–and Henderson–can offer
With travel and tourism steadily ramping back up in a post-Covid world, it’s important for tourism destinations to stand out from the pack in the long list of places to go.
That’s why Kentucky tourism organizations—Henderson County included—are teaming up and devoting some American Rescue Plan Act tourism recovery funding to do some creative marketing.
Henderson County Tourist Commission Executive Director Abby Dixon said the multi-county collaborations provide “marketing in a transformational way” that would be difficult for a single entity by itself.
One of the many multi-jurisdictional projects is “The Great Big Kentucky Adventure,” a 12-level video game created by the Coomer, a marketing agency in Lexington. It launched May 13.
The game is easy for parents to cue up on a mobile device and expose kids to a destination before they arrive, thus building some excitement and familiarity.
Dixon said that though travel costs might limit the frequency of a big-ticket vacation that they have to save up for, such as Disney World, families still want to travel on their spring, summer and fall breaks.
“What they don’t realize is they can have ‘The Great Big Kentucky Adventure’ at a fraction of the cost,” she said. “The idea was to create something that gets kids really excited about a trip with their family.”
Dixon said the opening screen is designed to look like a postcard from Kentucky. Players choose a character when they start the game.
“Our level takes places in Audubon State Park and a kid is trying to make it past the ‘boredom monsters,’” she said, noting that the video game will also be kind of nostalgic for parents. “It feels like something from the ‘80s or ‘90s,” she said. Many parents “grew up playing games just like this one.”
The tourism director said the video game itself will be marketed in a couple of innovative ways. A 9-year-old social media influencer named ZaZa will be the “poster child” for the campaign. Also, over-sized postcard photo selfie spots that look like the game’s opening screen will be dropped in public parks in Indianapolis, St. Louis, Nashville and other regional cities.
“It’s a different way of marketing than we’ve done before,” she said. “It’ll be cool.”
A second project is “kin” to the Western Kentucky Brewery Hop that Dixon helped launch in 2021 to showcase our region’s breweries and brewpubs.
This time, barbecue is the focus and shines the spotlight on 45 barbecue locations (both “holes in the wall” and trendier spots.) Henderson offers Thomason’s Barbecue, J&B Barbecue, Homer’s Barbecue, Taylor’s Grills on Wheels and Chef What BBQ & More on the list.
Just like with the Brewery Hop, patrons of the Western Kentucky BBQ Belt can download a digital pass and collect check-ins (and points for discounts) at participating locations.
“Western Kentucky barbecue is very much a piece of our culture. It comes under the umbrella of Western Kentucky experience,” Dixon said. “(The BBQ Belt digital pass) is a good way to cross-promote and encourage visitors to get and explore all we have to offer.”
The digital pass is available now at wkybbq.com.
“We’ll be able to keep this going indefinitely,” Dixon added, noting that other topics will likely be added in the future to join breweries and barbecue. “I love the branding.”
And, finally, a third project for our local tourism office is a new podcast called “This Is Henderson,” which has released four episodes so far.
Dixon said it is targeted more toward local listeners by informing them about what Henderson has to offer, which has its own value.
“We know that locals can be our best ambassadors,” Dixon said. “We need our people to believe in Henderson as a destination. (This podcast helps them know about) cool things going on in their hometown that they can share on social media.”
Produced in-house by marketing specialist Ellie Kellen, the podcast’s audience is growing weekly, she said.
“It’s fun. It’s light,” Dixon added. “I think you’ll get a giggle.”