Celebrating the Louisiana Year of Food
Industry
Services
Challenge
From food festivals and backyard boils to Michelin-starred restaurants, Louisiana culture is food culture. The flavors speak for themselves, but the challenge was to position Louisiana as a top-of-mind destination for gourmand travelers by showcasing the state’s unparalleled dining scene and promoting culinary tourism in Louisiana.
The Year of Food campaign aimed to inspire travel to Louisiana with the promise of an utterly unique experience in which food and culture are inextricably linked.
Strategy
Louisiana is unique among competing destinations for its expansive culinary scene. The Year of Food was about much more than recipes – it offered a taste of local flavor and lifestyle, encouraging truly immersive travel in Louisiana.
Louisiana is home to some of the most distinctive food in the nation, a blend of traditions including West African, French, Spanish, Native American, and more, dating all the way back to the state’s founding days. This mingling of cultures and cuisine gives Louisiana a flavor you can’t find anywhere else, appealing to locals and visitors alike.
With specialized creative content as well as out-of-home activations at food festivals, influencer partnerships, digital and traditional media, and beyond, the Year of Food connected visitors and residents to the world of flavors of Louisiana, inviting them to explore the state bite by bite.
Results
The Year of Food campaign successfully elevated Louisiana’s culinary identity, showcasing its rich regional diversity through immersive storytelling and on-the-ground experiences. According to Zehnder’s campaign analytics report, airport activations in Atlanta and Chicago generated over 3.2 million impressions, reaching targeted long-haul and regional markets across the country.
During the process, we also discovered a key audience segment designated as the “Reflective Diner,” a traveler motivated by authentic, culturally immersive food travel experiences. For these audiences, travel is more than a vacation – it’s an opportunity to expand their comfort zone, indulging in one-of-a-kind dining experiences that reflect local culture.
Dive in with Z
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