Find Your Freedom is a well-designed strategic campaign. The centrepiece of this campaign is an interactive travel adventure highlighting the beauty and culture of Cape Town. The campaign used African culture as a clear differentiator that helped it to stand out and showcase authenticity; being the first interactive adventure for an African destination. The African storyteller and high-paced game exploration helped to present the image of Cape Town as a vibrant destination. Stories can be played in English or German, representing the languages of the main source markets for South African destinations.

Cape Town Tourism segmented their audience into three communities of travellers - 'Nature Warriors'; 'Urban Adventurers' and 'Fearless Foodies'. Three characters were created as guides for the digital interactive journey, showcasing the main attractions in the city. Prospect travellers selected which character best represents them and then make decisions about which content to watch. The interactivity and choices mean that users can find their own freedom and have a personalised preview of their holiday.

The game ends with an encouragement to book a trip, with a link provided to finalise the travel purchase. Combined with the effective targeting, this meant that the return of investment was 8:1, with a strong increase in hotel and flight booking KPIs.

Hear from Nadia Aniff, Head of Marketing at Cape Town about the strategy

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Communication Channels

The game was a centrepiece of Cape Town's promotional strategy and was distributed through multiple channels between 28 March - 30 June 2022. Each channel presented the content in different manners to best engage with the target audiences. On TikTok, a branded effect was developed, enabling consumers to transform themselves into one of the three campaign characters. Meanwhile, GoPro's international ambassadors were invited to Cape Town to film their own adventures, which were shared with their own social media followers.

The campaign was successful in identifying the correct gamified design and communication tools to target Millennial travellers - the key target market. Cape Town Tourism selected this demographic as they believed Millennials would have the strongest desire to travel, despite the lingering concerns about the COVID-pandemic and Omicron variant.

Crucially, the campaign was not just about driving interest to visit, but was also augmented by in-destination activities. For example, there was an activation booth at Cape Town's International Airport, in which travellers were again exposed to the campaign. The DMO's community team used iPads in the main tourist areas and took the Find Your Freedom campaign direct to travellers, along with exclusive offers for the different travel experiences showcased in the game.