What it had to solve
Showcase Alabama's uniquely relaxing experiences when studies show the emotional and physiological benefits of vacations drop immediately afterward unless travelers return very relaxed.
How it works
Video, banners, animated banners and a website ranging from 15 seconds to three minutes: long-form landing-page films of the hypnotherapist speaking directly to viewers, plus tongue-in-cheek short hypnotherapy sessions ending on 'Take your mind to Sweet Home Alabama', running on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pandora and programmatic across 16 target states.
What it did
No performance numbers in the source; the campaign was positioned as the tourism department's latest 'breakthrough, nontraditional idea' in its brand strategy, with the URL as the only conversion ask.
Background
In June 2022, Intermark Group unveiled 'Mind Trip', a digital campaign for the Alabama Tourism Department built on the power of suggestion. The hero films feature a hypnotherapist speaking directly to viewers: 'Welcome to this guided hypnotic trip to the sugar-white sands of the Alabama Gulf Coast'. From the couch, viewers are talked into a calm, deeply relaxing immersion in Alabama's beaches — or, in an alternate execution, a hiking experience at Little River Canyon — through a soothing tone, stunning photography and descriptive language.
The strategic insight came from research: 'Studies show the emotional and physiological benefits of taking vacations drop immediately afterward unless travelers return very relaxed', said Keith Otter, Intermark's chief creative officer. So instead of listing attractions, the campaign manufactured the relaxed state itself, at a moment when audiences were 'full of stress from a pandemic, war in Europe, and rising inflation'.
The media plan matched the idea: long-form hypnotic films lived on the landing page, while paid short-form videos — tongue-in-cheek hypnotherapy sessions ending with the suggestion to 'Take your mind to Sweet Home Alabama' — ran on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pandora and programmatic, targeting consumers in Southern and Midwestern states from Arkansas and Texas to Michigan and Ohio.
Why it lands
Every tourism ad promises relaxation; this one delivers it in the ad itself, making the creative the product demo.
Hypnosis framing turned a media buy into an experience people had a reason to finish — the opposite of skippable.
Targeting drive-market states made the suggestion actionable: the beach being imagined was a short drive away.
What you can take
Sell the after-effect, not the itinerary: if vacations only work when you return relaxed, advertise relaxation itself and let the destination ride along.
Since then
The campaign rolled out across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pandora and programmatic channels in June 2022, alongside the Alabama Tourism Department's social channels and email, with Intermark serving as the department's agency of record.
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