It's a simple insight, in retrospect. Tourism is usually thought of as "seeing the sights." But what if visiting a particular region offers such a rich experience, for all your senses, that seeing it with your eyes is a relatively small part of the picture?
That's the simple and pretty wonderful premise behind "Blind Love," the centerpiece video of a new campaign by agency lg2 for Tourisme Québec.
The long-form spot, which rolled out a few weeks ago, features an American named Danny Kean, who has been blind since birth, exploring Québec for the first time—flying in a helicopter, riding river rapids, kayaking alongside whales, zip-lining over Montmorency Falls and exploring the province's francophone cities.
Check out the spot here:
The ad has racked up 4 million views on Facebook and 2 million more on YouTube. And no wonder. It's three-and-a-half minutes of pure joy—a great mix of expertly shot action sequences and surprisingly emotional quieter moments. Lots of tourism campaigns have beauty shots. Not many have this rich of a narrative, or this smart of a creative hook.
If you can have this much fun without even seeing the place, it must be special.
The campaign launched this spring in the U.S., France and Canada, and includes digital, social media and content marketing, as well as an experiential website that lets you relive "blind love" through memorable moments of Kean's trip.
"Today we have to win over a tourist who is already well traveled," says Marc Fortin, partner, creative director at lg2. "Tourist destinations around the world try to outdo each other to be the most unique and desirable vacation destination. We had to find a truly original way to showcase Québec in all its beauty. I believe we achieved that."
"This ambitious concept presents Québec from a rare viewpoint," adds Sylvain Talbot, promotional campaign coordinator at Tourisme Québec. "It's the first time that we deployed an offensive simultaneously in several markets with this kind of reach and impact. The level of enthusiasm from our partners was also unprecedented."
CREDITS
Client: Tourisme Québec (Sylvain Talbot, Elizabeth Manadili, Martin Hudon)
Agency: lg2
Creative Direction: Marc Fortin, Marilou Aubin, Katherine Melançon, Jennifer Varvaresso
Film, Copywriting and Artistic Direction: Philippe Comeau
Campaign and Interactive Experience: Alexandre Jourdain, Jean-François Perreault, Philippe Comeau, Marie Eve Gosemick
Strategic Planning: Sabrina Côté
User Experience: Nicolas Baldovini, Geneviève Monette
Client Services: Julie Dubé, Audrey Lefebvre, Nicolas Girault, Julia Lemyre-Cossette
Production (Agency): Johanne Pelland, Julie Lorazo, Valérie Lapointe
Director: Matt Charland
Production: 1one, Jean-René Parenteau
Director of Production: Simon Lebrun
Editing: Philippe Comeau, Étienne Bergeron, Matt Charland, Olivier Guimette
Postproduction: 1one
Postproduction Coordinator: Nancy McDonald
Sound Studio, Engineer: 1one, Pierre-Olivier Rioux
Music: Apollo, Mathieu Lafontaine
Web Production: lg2fabrique
Media: Touché!, Sophie Labarre, Paul Rousseau