Nostalgia reigns supreme in Visit Atascadero’s fall ad campaign
Every season is a special time in Atascadero, but the rich whispers of autumn in this town are impossible to replicate during any other time of the year.
At first glance, fall is a beautiful time in Atascadero, since it’s the town on the Central Coast that (by far) boasts the most fall color. The charm of the season goes beyond leaves, however – this is also a time in which history comes alive. Through Colony Days, Art and Wine Tours, the Central Coast’s largest cornhole tournament, docent-led walks of the historic City Hall and other local events scattered throughout the season, “California as it used to be” takes on a new meaning this time of year.
Autumn in Atascadero is a step into warmth and nostalgia. The pace is a little slower, a little sweeter, a little simpler. The town of Atascadero finds beauty in simple pleasures. It’s where pie eating contests still take place. Where people still have picnics. Where friends still spend evenings around firepits. Where the trees still have right of way. Where neighbors still talk to one another. Where cashiers stop and have conversations with visitors. Where no conversation is limited to 140 characters.
As you might suspect, developing a seasonal campaign starts well before the season itself. Our fall advertising campaign for Visit Atascadero has been in the works for several months now, and we are excited that September kicks off the running of this new creative.
A seasonal campaign is no brief endeavor, but it’s one of our favorite processes at Verdin as it brings together the strengths of many individual team members to create an original, innovative and effective solution for a client.
Our beginning brainstorms revolved around the needs and goals of the campaign identified in the creative brief. This critical document identifies and shares everything our team needs to know, and tells us what we are here to do, as we dive into brainstorming.
After our team came together and peppered the whiteboard with big ideas, our Art Director, Copywriter and VP/Client Services met to narrow the ideas down to three that would be compelling, effective, feasible and meet Visit Atascadero’s current tourism goals. We used text and imagery to create examples of each concept, and presented them to the board of the Atascadero Tourism Business Improvement District. All concepts were met with excitement, and we were thrilled that the one they chose happened to be our top pick, too.
After a client chooses a concept, it’s back to our team to create it in its full form, designing imagery and writing copy for every platform decided upon by our Media & Research Strategist. Each individual ad falls under the overall concept, but the way it’s created depends on the platform – for example, an Instagram ad vs. a digital banner that pops up on a webpage – and which segment of the target audience to which we are speaking. The motif of “Where [fill in the blank] still happens” runs throughout all campaign creative, but it takes different forms along the way. This year, our design team brought motion graphics to the mix, creating a design that speaks to the warmth and nostalgia of the campaign through friendly movement on screen.
Keep an eye out and let us know what you think if these Visit Atascadero ads find you in your day-to-day life.
