Destination DC: The Arts District Murals with Aniekan Udofia

What is your selection process like when choosing partners to work with? Are you involved in the
development of the video itself? How do you find and decide on the stories you tell in your content?

DDC: Our video production process starts at home. Destination DC is a creative agency in our own right, and our team
is involved in every step of creative development from initial concept through final delivery. Our content
development strategy is two-fold: what do we, as experts, want travelers to know about our destination? And
what experience do travelers, as decision-makers, hope to find in a potential leisure destination? The place
where these two buckets overlap is where we find our stories. To bring this content to life through video, we bolster our production capacity by partnering with some of the best visual storytellers in Washington, DC. For The Arts District video series, we partnered with a local documentary film company, Emic Films (www.emicfilms.com). As locals, we look to collaborate with partners who share our love of the District, and we find that these shared values allow us to tell the city’s most authentic stories.

How do you measure and track the success of a video?

DDC: The first step to a successful video campaign is distribution. Depending on the nature of the series, we partner
with different distribution partners to ensure that our content lives on the most appropriate platforms and
resonates with the most viewers. We then analyze web data to track specific KPIs like video completion rate
(VCR) and user engagement.

What were the KPIs and results of this campaign?

DDC: The Arts District video series was distributed in a variety of different outlets, but predominantly through a
partnership with Vox Media. Our primary goal was to exceed Vox’s VCR and RCS (reaction/comment/shares
rate) benchmarks in order to drive consumers to relevant arts and culture content on washington.org. This video
delivered on the goals with a completion rate of 5.93% and a RCS rate of .19%—12% higher than Vox’s short-
form branded content benchmark and 22% higher than their social RCS benchmark.

How are consumers interacting with your brand?

DDC: Our consumers fall into two categories—potential visitors and locals—and these two categories often interact
with our brand in different ways. Locals predominantly interact with us by visiting washington.org or
commenting and sharing on social media. Potential visitors interact with us through paid advertising including
out-of-home, broadcast television, static ads and rich-media digital units, all aimed at raising brand awareness
with the goal of adding Washington, DC to their consideration set for leisure travel.

What role does video content play in your overall marketing and brand strategy?

DDC: Today’s consumers are continuously inundated with visual stimuli, and the need to break through the attention
barrier is stronger than ever. Video has proven time and time again as the ideal disruptor. It’s a scroll-stopper.
Video is king. At Destination DC, video allows us to reach people at every step of the marketing funnel—our :15-
and :30s spots generate brand awareness; our episodic video series tell unique stories, more targeted toward
specific interests; our short, snackable social videos and Instagram stories concisely drive home messaging that
Washington, DC is a hub for unique, one-of-a-kind experiences. And all video content drives consumers to
relevant landing pages on washington.org where they can begin trip-planning and book travel. No other medium
more effectively communicates our brand message that Washington, DC has more to offer than you think.