merit
While many know South Dakota for Mount Rushmore, research showed that most travelers saw the state as a one-hit wonder. How could we help Travel South Dakota break this misconception and show people that the state has so much more than Rushmore?
Unlike your obvious or cliche vacation spot, South Dakota offers the freedom to be spontaneous, a nostalgia for simpler times, and the increasingly rare element of surprise. So, we positioned South Dakota as a haven for jaded, mystery-starved travelers and introduced the world to a bold, new campaign: “So Much South Dakota, So Little Time”.
South Dakota: Home to… a single landmark? While most know that South Dakota is home to Mount Rushmore, research showed us that the majority of American travelers had negative misconceptions about the state’s accessibility or diverse offerings like sports, culture, arts, and culinary attractions. How could we challenge South Dakota’s one-hit wonder stereotype, build awareness, and drive economic impact throughout all parts of the state?
We also had to consider that in 2019, South Dakota welcomed 14.5 million visitors who spent more than $4.1 billion dollars (both all-time records). And in 2020, South Dakota suffered some of the smallest declines in the nation in visitor spending and overall visitation. Knowing that we wanted to both maintain and build momentum, how could we completely rethink introducing an integrated campaign to travelers?
South Dakota isn’t your typical vacation spot. It’s undiscovered and uncomplicated, with more opportunities for spontaneity, presence, and nostalgia for simpler times. By positioning the state as a haven for mystery-starved travelers, we developed a bold campaign: “So Much South Dakota, So Little Time”.
It elevated how industry partners and state leaders advocate for South Dakota, and a more expansive view of the state led to more visitors. Media exceeded benchmarks by +70%. Since launch, it’s driven +258.2MM impressions and +219.2K hotel & flight bookings. It gave Travel South Dakota their most successful tourism year ever (2023) with a record 14.7MM visitors, $28MM in hotel revenue, and about $5B in visitor spending (about 5% more than 2022, also a record). For 2024, we’re building on the momentum.
While its Western regions (home to Rushmore) have historically been a tourism hub, the Southeast tourism market drove more revenue than the West in 2023, proving there's more than Rushmore.
A significant reference is Mount Rushmore, a massive granite mountain sculpture located in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It features the carved faces of four iconic American presidents, with each face about 60 feet tall.
Understanding the dynamics between South Dakota’s East River and West River regions is also important. West River, home to the Black Hills and Badlands regions has historically dominated in attracting tourist visits and spending in the state. Due to not all regions of the state sharing the benefits of tourism equally, the need for dispersion was a key focus for our campaign.
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