Visit The Woodlands receives Four MarCom Awards for top-level campaigns

THE WOODLANDS, TX – As the official convention and visitors bureau for The Woodlands, Visit The Woodlands is responsible for marketing the Township as a premier destination for leisure and business travel. The MarCom Awards recently recognized Visit The Woodlands’ marketing efforts with four awards.

• Platinum Award – ‘Fashion Forward’ Advertising Campaign

• Gold Award – #SoWoodlands Print and Online Publication

• Honorable Mention – Tourism Toolkit (Special Event Media Kit)

• Honorable Mention – ‘Art Gladness’ Social Media Campaign

The MarCom Awards have honored excellence in marketing and communication since 2004. Each year, around 6,500 print and digital entries are submitted from dozens of countries.

“Our team is dedicated to promoting The Woodlands as a top-tier destination for business and leisure travel,” said Nick Wolda, President of Visit The Woodlands. “It’s a great honor to receive this recognition from the MarCom Awards for our marketing efforts.”

Platinum Award – ‘Fashion Forward’ Advertising Campaign

The ‘Fashion Forward’ advertising campaign won a Platinum MarCom Award in the Marketing and Advertising Category. Visit The Woodlands worked with a fashion-forward photographer and videographer during a five-day photo shoot to capture assets for this campaign in 2022. These assets were then used to develop print and digital advertising that showcased The Woodlands as an urban oasis with luxury shopping and elevated experiences. The campaign targeted leisure travelers and meeting planners, highlighting The Woodlands as a destination that's ideal for effortless vacations and memorable conventions.

Along with the recent Platinum MarCom Award, Visit The Woodlands’ Fashion Forward advertising campaign has won a Gold Viddy Award and a Gold Hermes Award.

?Gold Award – #SoWoodlands Print and Online Publication

#SoWoodands received a Gold MarCom Award in the Publication/Magazine – Consumer Category. This print and online publication, which is published quarterly, was first launched in November 2022 to increase awareness in the local community and further establish Visit The Woodlands relationship with residents, local business-owners, and hospitality partners. The publication features stories about members of the community in The Woodlands, ranging from business owners to hotel managers. #SoWoodlands has also received a Destination Excellence Award from the Texas Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus.

Honorable Mention – Tourism Toolkit

Visit The Woodlands’ Tourism Toolkit received a MarCom Honorable Mention in the Media Kit – Special Event Category. This Tourism Toolkit was developed to prepare residents and businesses for the influx of visitors that occurred over the course of three weeks in April 2023, when The Woodlands had more than 100,000 tourists come to town for four major events: The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival, The LPGA Chevron Championship, the IRONMAN Americas Championship, and the Insperity Invitational, all in the same month.

The Tourism Toolkit provided information about the benefits of April’s major events, along with resources that residents and businesses were able to use to welcome visitors. Throughout the month, Visit The Woodlands’ Tourism Toolkit website was viewed approximately 800 times, with an average time on site of 1:30. Best of all, businesses and residents were prepared for the influx of visitors and maintained a positive sentiment towards tourism in the community.

Honorable Mention – Art Gladness

The ‘Art Gladness’ Social Media Campaign received a MarCom Honorable Mention in the Strategic Communications – Social Media Campaign category. This campaign was created to showcase a variety of public art and engage Visit The Woodlands’ Instagram followers with a bracket-style voting tournament during the same month as the well-known college basketball tournament, March Madness.

Throughout the campaign, Visit The Woodlands’ Instagram stories received more than 76,000 impressions. After more than 3,000 votes were cast, ‘At Water’s Edge’ by Dixie Friend Gay was chosen as the winning art piece for ‘Art Gladness.’ Along with an Honorable Mention from MarCom, Visit The Woodlands received a Gold W3 Award for this campaign. The W3 Awards is an international award competition that celebrates digital excellence and honors outstanding websites, video, social media, podcasts, mobile sites and apps, and emerging tech across the globe. Other Gold winners from 2023 include organizations such as AARP, Frito-Lay North America Inc., IBM, and Netflix.