“We have a lot of giveaways across all 11 cities—everything from hotel stays to etched wine glasses or Savannah watercolor kits… This allowed [our small businesses] to have some representation with a minimum of 10 items. We covered the shipping costs; they just had to provide the items.”
–Lauren Cleland, VP-Strategic Marketing, Visit Savannah and Visit Tybee Island
Surprisingly Savannah: The Mobile Tour will make its way to 11 cities this summer.
Visit Savannah is taking Southern charm on the road. Two years since its debut award-winning experiential pop-up in New York City, the brand has taken learnings gathered to launch a mobile tour hitting 11 cities this summer. “Surprisingly Savannah: The Mobile Tour” kicked off in May in Cincinnati and will wrap back in Ohio on Aug. 13 in Cincinnati. At each stop, attendees can sample honey and pralines, create their own salt scrub, answer Savannah trivia for the chance to win prizes, and capture content in a photo booth.
“New York was our test. We said, ‘OK, we have a little bit of extra budget. Let’s try something riskier that we’ve not been able to do in the past.’ Our goal was to have 700 people come through, and then 3,000 came that day, so we considered that a wonderful success,” says Lauren Cleland, vp-strategic marketing at Visit Savannah and Visit Tybee Island. “The team discussed how we could increase the number of cities that we come into contact with. The mobile tour was a great way of amping up the experience that we already created.”
The learnings from that first year made all the difference, giving the organization the confidence to branch out with two more standalone pop-ups in 2023, each two days long in Chicago and Boston, and now a full-blown, multiregional, 12-week Surprisingly Savannah: The Mobile Tour. Here, Cleland breaks down the top four insights and improvements they focused on this year.
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Using authentic décor to immerse attendees.
The original “Surprisingly Savannah” pop-up took place inside a white tent outfitted with big red doors, greenery, lit street lamps and cobblestone-patterned carpet. Cleland says there was a lot of white space, and the team saw the opportunity to upgrade the décor at the next two pop-ups by switching to tents that were clear, adding pops of color and creating a lush floral experience inside.
For the tour, even more design elements evocative of the Savannah setting were added. A white-and-purple branded trolley is the centerpiece of the footprint, and it serves two convenient purposes, which Cleland describes as “go mode,” where the trolley drives from city to city with a teardrop trailer attached, and “show mode,” where the team takes everything off the trolley to set up the “Surprisingly Savannah” experience. The trolley also becomes the backdrop for a cobblestone stage where live musicians perform in every city, and it features a retractable awning and windows that look like they’re reflecting the trees and environment of Savannah.
In addition to flowering pink dogwoods dispersed around the space, Savannah’s famous 30-acre Forsyth Park comes to life in the form of a photo booth (also a data capture opportunity) with the iconic fountain backdrop, potted plants, benches and a lamppost.
“We’re trying to create as many magical moments and lasting relationships as possible so that when they’re planning their next trip, there’s something making Savannah stick in their brain outside of just standard ads, because there are a million things vying for consumer attention, and that’s why we’ve done this so we can stick out from the crowd,” Cleland says.
Brand ambassadors are on hand to answer questions, distribute insider’s guides and pralines, and deliver the city’s quintessential Southern hospitality.
Partnering with local businesses and organizations.
Two inflatable tent structures host experiences tied to Savannah businesses. The first tent is home to Savannah Bee Company, where attendees can sample a variety of honeys. In the second, attendees can make their own salt scrub in three steps with Salacia Salts. “They have a custom bag with QR codes on it and CTAs, so we’re trying to drive quality traffic while also offering a quality giveaway,” Cleland says.
Visit Savannah aimed to integrate as many local boutiques as possible into the tour, and offered sponsorship opportunities at varying levels, like participating in just a few stops rather than all 11 cities, to fit the partners’ different business needs and goals.
“We have a lot of giveaways across all 11 cities—everything from hotel stays to etched wine glasses or Savannah watercolor kits,” she says. “While a lot of our small businesses couldn’t even begin to fathom producing enough items for an 11-city tour, this allowed them to have some representation with a minimum of 10 items. We covered the shipping costs; they just had to provide the items.”
The teardrop trailer serves as a visitor information center, where brand ambassadors answer questions and distribute insider’s guides and pralines from Savannah’s Candy Kitchen. At six of the tour stops, the Savannah Economic Development Authority takes over the trailer as a hub to recruit workforce for burgeoning industries in the city, talking about the Savannah lifestyle and job opportunities—a community partnership in addition to the tour’s leisure and tourism focus.
Adding extra layers of hospitality.
Savannah’s Forsyth Park comes to life in the form of a photo booth.
Southern hospitality is a quintessential aspect of the Savannah experience, and that welcoming vibe needed to come through at each tour stop. At the first pop-up in New York City, the team noticed attendees wanted to bring strollers inside the tented venue, but they weren’t allowed in due to limited space on the floor. The next year, the team added dedicated stroller parking with a QR code sign that took users to a web page listing kid-friendly activities in Savannah. They’re offering the same service on tour this year.
To accommodate passersby with pets, Visit Savannah has designated a dog-friendly area that provides treats and branded water bowls, along with signage that directs dog owners to a web page outlining the city’s pet-friendly elements. “Those were some of my favorite, what seemed like small changes that I think are actually quite impactful because they show that we care about the individuals,” Cleland says.
Popping up at established festivals and events.
Looking to increase throughput, Visit Savannah has positioned a few of its tour stops at popular festivals, events and open-air malls with high foot traffic. The mobile tour has a bigger footprint, about 40 feet by 70 feet, allowing for increased visibility and, the team hopes, longer dwell times.
Touching another side of Visit Savannah’s business—conventions and meetings—the trolley will be rolled onto the trade show floor of the ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition in Cleveland, OH, for its final stop on the tour. Geared toward the association professionals and executives in attendance, the booth experience will promote Savannah as an expo and meeting destination.
During the tour, Visit Savannah is also taking part in parades, with the trolley joining the routes at the Nashville Pride Parade and the National Independence Day Parade in Washington, D.C.
“We wanted to show a very dedicated, concerted effort to support the queer community because in Savannah, we are welcoming. We think y’all means all in Savannah, and so that is a big way of us showing that by being a part of Pride,” Cleland says. “We are trying to be seen everywhere, not just activations. We’re becoming parade people, and just having a blast with it all.” Agency: Engage & Resonate.
More Scenes from Surprisingly Savannah: The Mobile Tour:
Photo credit: Engage & Resonate
