Since 2010, Brand USA has been tasked with positioning and marketing the USA as a tourist destination in countries around the world. At first glance, this should be a relatively straightforward and easy task. After all, when you can take in the wonder of the Golden Gate Bridge, Yosemite National Park, and Las Vegas all in just one vacation, the choice should be a no-brainer.

But in recent years, international tourism to the US was dealt a one-two punch:

First, as the US rebounded from the 2008 financial crisis, the rest of the world remained in a deep global recession, making a trip to the US too expensive for many.

Then in 2017, there was a perception among international travelers that the US was unwelcoming, which contributed to negative sentiment.

What we needed was a new way to inspire wanderlusting around the world in the wake of our new reality.

Something magical happens when music and place come together. A relationship is forged where one takes inspiration from the other, resulting in a piece of art that becomes so inherently associated with that place that they become inseparable. We just needed to harness that magic.

When working to develop a platform broad enough to work globally but also remain relevant on a local market level, we realized that people around the world had a strong, positive affinity with American culture, and, more specifically, to music. Upon further investigation, we recognized that music offered us a competitive advantage and an area that we could own exclusively.

The three major tentpoles of this platform were a giant screen documentary titled America’s Musical Journey, a consumer facing video and social led campaign called Hear the Music, and a partnership with Expedia called American Sounds.

To help combat perceptions of unwelcomeness, we used the voices and experiences of real people to bring to life the exciting diversity of US destinations all through the lens of music.

As a result, we surrendered “our” brand voice - our role as the arbiter of “the message” - by curating a symphony of “many voices”, elevating and amplifying these stories on a global stage. Collectively, these stories bring the boundless possibilities of the US to life, while individually, they create direct, authentic connections between travelers, places, and the people who inhabit them.

This global initiative launched in February of 2018 with the release of the IMAX documentary America’s Musical Journey. This documentary paired viewers with singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc as he traversed America discovering the history of music in America to create a soundtrack for the American experience — one that showcases the nation’s diversity and its collision of cultures, culminating in a unique blend of sound, music and innovation.

With Hear the Music, introduced in April of 2018, we asked musical artists across America to cover an iconic American song (either Boogie Shoes, What I Like About You, or Do You Wanna Dance) in a style that reflected the genre of their hometown.

Throughout the year we partnered with Expedia for Sound Travels, an immersive 3D audio experience, to ensure music had a role to play when people were actually researching and making final decisions where to go before booking a ticket.

While each individual program performed beyond our expectations, the results that deem us worthy of consideration for a Titanium Lion are related to the economic impact this thematic platform had on international tourism to the USA.

As the focal piece of our marketing strategy in 2018, this campaign helped drive 1.13 million incremental international visitors to the USA who spent $4.1 billion on travel and fare receipts with U.S. carriers, and generated$1.17 billion in federal, state, and local taxes and$8.9 billion in total economic impact, and supported 52,305 incremental U.S. jobs (Source: Oxford Economics).