Kansas City | AOR- MMGY
Creative Director: Dustin Sharp
Associate Creative Director: Brenna Paxton
Senior Copy Writer: Becky Boeshaar
Art Director: Dani Maslan
Associate Art Director: Kira Jeffries
2023 – Present
I joined this account in the summer of 2023. Being from Kansas City, I can tell you with certainty that our “From The Heart” campaign is the most true to KC campaign I’ve seen to date. It’s. been a blast to work on and it feels great to get to channel all my KC Pride into a campaign I feel completely captures the essence of KC and then some.
THE GOAL
Build upon the success of the locally exclamatory “That’s How We Do Kansas City” and regionally redefining “The New Midwest” campaigns to confidently step into Kansas City’s position as “The Heart of the Midwest”, continuing to drive measurable improvement of visitation benchmarks and ultimately igniting global passion for Kansas City.
KEY AUDIENCE
Uncompromising, culturally-curious, young-to-middle-aged leisure travelers who crave an authentic, unique destination experience.
HUMAN TRUTH
Travelers are looking for a more authentic travel experience that allows them to feel comfortable coming as they are but challenges them to learn something they didn’t already know, helping them see a part of themselves reflected in us.
TENSION
Winds have shifted in recent years, changing public opinion and perceptions of the Midwest for the better. However, with multiple midwestern destinations claiming to have everything for everyone, there is a distorted view of where the true, authentic version of the Midwest–a place built on more than things–can be found.
OWNABLE OPPORTUNITIES
While Kansas City is always going to have the friendly, humble nature that you expect of a midwestern city, it cannot deny that it has and will continue to set the standard for the true Midwest experience. We’re not just “for everyone”, we’re for the person that you don’t even know you are yet. Kansas City is driving the region forward and they aren’t afraid to let you know it.
QUESTION
What does it mean to be the “heart” of something?
SOUNDBITE
Feel the True Heart of the Midwest.
SOLUTION
Doing what you love requires sincerity, commitment, pride and passion. In Kansas City it goes a little deeper still. Here it means minutes on the plate are worth the hours in the smoker, properly cheering for your team demands 142 deafening decibels, and people don’t just wear their hearts on their sleeves — they plaster the town with them. Kansas Citians love Kansas City. It’s proudly our worst-kept secret, one we want to let everybody in on.
Because everything we do is from the heart.
