Who: Tourism Kamloops, with Here Be Monsters for strategy and creative, media by Stingray.

What: “Welcome to the ‘Loops,” a campaign to increase tourist visits to the B.C. region post-pandemic.

When & Where: The campaign is entirely on social media, and runs from the end of November until February.

Why: “Kamloops’ tourism industry is still climbing back from the financial fallout of COVID-19,” said Tourism Kamloops CEO Monica Dickinson in a release. They wanted a campaign that promoted Kamloops’ outdoor activities, cultural events and food year round.

“We compete against bigger destination names and budgets… That’s why we’re always looking for distinctive ways to stand out,” said Dickinson.

How: Here Be Monsters found inspiration for the new campaign in the city’s nickname and some existing video and visual content. “Many people call it The ‘Loops,” said Matt Bielby, Here Be Monsters creative director. “And name recognition is big when it comes to travel consideration. For our campaign, ‘Welcome to The ‘Loops,’ we came up with a fun and novel way to encourage repeat visitation, play and dining.”

The creative shows existing footage of Kamloops attractions on a loop, while the headlines appear on screen to sell the experiences. One 15-second ad, for example, uses a three-second clip of a snowboarder flying into the air that loops four times. “So good you’ll demand seconds,” reads the first headline, followed soon afterwards by “And thirds.”

“This work proves a good idea can use older video and images in a new way,” said Bielby. With 12 unique assets repurposed for different media channels, there are about 50 pieces overall, he said. The main target is young families and “adventurous retirees,” in B.C. and Alberta.

And we quote: “‘Welcome to The ‘Loops’ shares our spirited personality alongside our affordable and adventurous experiences. Let’s be honest…when something is this good, you’ll want to keep coming back time and again.” — Monica Dicksinson, CEO, Tourism Kamloops