Visit Missouri’s “What’s Your M-O?” Campaign Sparks Interest in the Show Me State
“What’s Your M-O?” It’s not just a question, it’s at the heart of the successful Visit Missouri integrated communications campaign. According to Strategic Marketing and Research Incorporated (SMARI), the campaign generated $884 million in incremental visitor spending in the state of Missouri in 2022.
The Missouri Division of Tourism (MDT) and its agency partner, Osborn Barr Paramore (OBP), created the campaign, which has been recognized with more than 30 awards to date. Most recently, the work won platinum, gold, silver and bronze awards at the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International’s (HSMAI) prestigious Adrian Awards honoring the best in hospitality advertising, digital, PR/communications and integrated campaigns.
“The creativity of this campaign has allowed us to showcase the variety the state of Missouri offers visitors in a unique and personal way,” said Stephen Foutes, director of the Missouri Division of Tourism.
The campaign was shortlisted as a finalist for the 2022 World Advertising Research Center (WARC) Awards for Effectiveness, North America Edition, in the Sustained Growth category. The U.S. Travel Association honored the work with an Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations (ESTO) award. The Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA) awarded the campaign with the first-ever Cheryl Schutz Award for Destination Marketing and Research Excellence. This award recognizes an individual or Destination Marketing Organization for research that resulted or contributed to key decisions that helped promote travel and tourism within their destination and the industry. The campaign also earned two Telly awards for excellence in video and television.
On a regional level, the campaign received a Mid-America EMMY award, several regional American Advertising Federation (AAF) awards and multiple silver and gold honors by the St. Louis AAF.
The “What’s Your M-O?” campaign features “Mo,” a genial tour guide that embodies Missouri and all the state has to offer. Just as different people seek different experiences on vacations, there’s a different Mo for everyone’s M-O (modus operandi). Learn more about the campaign here.
The campaign has generated more than 2 billion impressions and 138 million social engagements through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and 4.8 million website visits to VisitMo.com. New advertising for the campaign debuted in February 2023.
Read more about the success of the campaign and its economic impact on the state of Missouri in the Springfield News-Leader and MediaPost.
