Campaign Case Study
Destination Vancouver
Survive Vancouver: Watch the city transform
#1
in search for “The Last of Us in Vancouver”
8,233
views in first two weeks
83
physical visits per day to AR experience
Let’s Talk
The opportunity
Leveling up film tourism in Vancouver
Destination Vancouver is a leading tourism non-profit specializing in marketing and destination development for both local and international audiences. They’re known for showcasing Vancouver as a world-class destination, blending natural beauty and vibrant culture with emerging trends to push the boundaries of modern tourism.
They came to us looking for innovative ways to promote tap into the worldwide super fandom for HBO’s hit show The Last of Us by using new trends in people traveling for film tourism. Fans want to experience the show where it was shot, just look at the tourism boost that countries like Northern Ireland and Croatia got after the filming of Game of Thrones.
Our Strategy
The challenge
Gamifying film locations
We asked ourselves, how can we bring a next level film location tour of all the iconic Vancouver spots where The Last of Us was filmed, and bring Vancouver into the minds of fans to get them excited about the city at the same time?
The research
Give fans what they want
We dove deep into Reddit and Discord communities, scouring the internet for potential filming locations to learn what fans were most excited about in Season 2. The symbolic easter eggs, the backstory, the sets, plot predictions, and the most anticipated scenes based on a ring of citizen location scouts photographing possible filming locations and tying what they saw on set with the possible scene from the show.
We wanted to capture fans’ excitement by tying the story directly to iconic Vancouver locations. We wanted activations at key spots in the city so we started investigating potential avenues like projection mapping, audio sculptures, and audio walking tours. We ultimately chose augmented reality so that we could keep it alive for as long as possible (and because it’s really cool).
Testing limits
Capturing audience and imagination
Armed with sharp insights and a clear mission we went to work with a two-pronged approach to capture attention online and drive hype to Vancouver. First, we created content for the Destination Vancouver website directly related to each episode as they came out. And second, we built a city-wide AR scavenger hunt set to launch right after the season finale. This combined approach tied filming directly to Vancouver, both in Google search and in the city itself.
In order to stay within the storyworld of The Last of Us, we developed a visual style inspired by the post-apocalyptic world of the show. Each AR location was connected to the plot of season 2 so that fans of the show could relive those moments and walk in the footsteps of their favourite characters.
Every episode’s location guide mixed exclusive behind-the-scenes details for fans with must-see Vancouver hotspots. We took the same tack with our AR activations, hand-picking stops that let explorers hit the best film spots while getting the most of Vancouver’s iconic neighbourhoods. This approach elevates Vancouver’s reputation, proving it as a film-making hub and as a memorable travel destination.
We also extended the post-apocalyptic concept by bringing in fungus and overgrown props. We even drew inspiration from behind-the-scenes images taken by fans, including broken down buses and food trucks. The campaign’s name “Survive Vancouver” plays on the gritty dangerous atmosphere of the show while giving those who complete the challenge a badge of honour to take home in the form of a hand-illustrated postcard.
We developed custom components for the Destination Vancouver website to highlight filming and bring the city into the storyworld. One component shows side-by-side comparisons of scenes from the show and the real-life filming location in Vancouver. Another collects behind-the-scenes photos from social media into a scrolling carousel. And as for the AR experience, it was integrated directly into the web browser so players wouldn’t need to download an app at all.
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Our Solution
The moral of the story
Boots on the ground
Our development team was confident in their ability to build both the web and AR pieces of this experience, but due to the short timeline, we decided to bring our long-time collaborator Hololabs onto the project to speed up production. We also worked closely with a local illustrator, Krystian Guevara, to create visual targets for the AR experience and hand-drawn collectible postcards for visitors. Our teams worked together seamlessly to build a knock-out experience for Destination Vancouver in just 4 months.
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In the end we were very proud to have created something that brought awareness to Vancouver in such an exciting and innovative way. Our team was on location during and after launch testing the experience to make sure everything worked smoothly from end to end. And yes, it's true that every few days we have to replace the foot markers because they keep getting stolen. (We are looking into getting some stronger glue).
Winning customers
Enterprise results
#1
in search for “The Last of Us in Vancouver”
4
month turnaround time
8,233
views in first two weeks
83
physical visits per day
“Bravo!! Well done Team—just popped on the website and LOVE the [Last of Us] treatment! That’s what I had envisioned years ago—leveraging our digital properties to highlight fun and interesting events like this. Keep up the great creative work Team!”
Royce Chwin, CEO of Destination Vancouver
