GSI - “Explore Florida” Campaign for Florida State Parks

Overview

“Explore Florida” was a partnership campaign created to drive visitation and excitement around Florida State Parks while reinforcing Guest Services’ role as an authorized concessioner. The goal was to build a campaign that felt instantly Florida, emotionally compelling, and easy to recognize across placements, from out-of-home to digital touchpoints.

The Challenge

Tourism marketing wins when it creates desire fast. The challenge was to design a campaign direction that could speak to multiple audiences and park experiences while maintaining one cohesive identity. We needed:

A strong campaign hook that communicates “adventure” in seconds

A visual system flexible enough to represent different park moments, seasons, and locations

A placement strategy that ensures the campaign is seen at the right time, in the right context, and with the right hierarchy (headline → offer → CTA)

My Role

As Art Director, I led the campaign direction beyond a single execution, shaping the concept, visual language, and how assets would live across placements.

Responsibilities included:

Defining the campaign concept, tone, and visual language for a Florida-first adventure feel

Creating a scalable hero device that could expand across formats and channels

Directing the content approach (what we show, how it should feel, and why it connects)

Establishing the hierarchy rules to protect clarity across sizes (OOH vs. print vs. digital)

Guiding production standards and final approvals to ensure consistency and premium output

Campaign Direction

The creative strategy was built around a bold, recognizable idea: EXPLORE as the visual anchor, filled with vibrant, experience-driven imagery. The word becomes a window into the destination, creating immediate emotional pull before any offer is read.

Direction pillars:

Emotion first: make people feel the destination instantly

Recognition through repetition: one unmistakable hero device across placements

Clarity that converts: offer + QR structured for fast scanning and action

A system, not a one-off: designed to adapt to different parks, themes, and seasons

Asset System + Placement Strategy

Rather than relying on a single ad, the campaign was structured as a hero asset + supporting assets, each designed for a specific job in the funnel.

Hero Asset (OOH / Print anchor):

Built for high attention and fast comprehension from a distance

Bold headline-first composition to stop viewers, then deliver the offer and QR

Supporting Assets (Digital + Social-ready):

Short-form variations that highlight specific park moments (water, wildlife, family, adventure)

Modular crops and layouts for different placements without losing the campaign identity

Hierarchy rules to ensure message stays clear in smaller formats

Where the assets were designed to live:

OOH / large-format placements where impact and recognition matter

On-property touchpoints to connect the experience to the brand in real time

Digital and social extensions to reinforce recall and drive action through the offer/QR

(Si quieres, aquí puedes añadir 1 línea real: “Deployed across [brochures/lobbies/posters/digital]” si aplica.)

What I Delivered

Campaign creative direction and visual system (hero device + rules for adaptation)

Hero creative for print/OOH with production-ready output standards

Supporting asset approach for campaign consistency across formats

Partner lockup and brand credibility placements without clutter

Production oversight (specs, file prep, color accuracy, vendor coordination)

Outcome

The result was a campaign that could be recognized instantly across placements and scaled into multiple executions without losing its identity. The “EXPLORE” hero device created a strong, flexible system that supports future seasonal versions and destination-specific storytelling while keeping message clarity and brand credibility intact.

Why This Worked

Because the campaign leads with what makes people act: emotion and imagination. It invites the audience into the experience visually, then makes the next step simple. Strong campaigns do not just look good. They guide attention, build recall, and make action easy.