Using a combination of thorough research and creative thinking, Mikula-Harris created the perfect brand strategy and ad campaign to promote tourism in Abingdon, Virginia.

The research showed us that Abingdon is best known as the home of the historic Barter Theatre, whose stage has hosted stars like Gregory Peck, Ernest Borgnine and Patricia Neal. The community also happens to be a terminus of the Virginia Creeper Trail, a very popular rails-to-trails project, along with a thriving arts community and dozens of locally-owned restaurants.

We used all of the insights and research to develop brand messaging that leverages the town’s most famous tourism asset in a way that also introduces the public to Abingdon’s other great amenities.

All local tourism offices want to promote local restaurants. Abingdon, Virginia chose to go a step further and promote restaurants that buy and serve products from local farms. With the help of a regional non-profit organization, the Rooted in Appalachia program was born.

An innovative program deserves exceptionally creative marketing. That’s exactly what happened when Mikula-Harris joined the team. In fact, the campaign won Best-in-Show at the Roanoke AAF ADDY Awards.

An eye-catching series of ads and posters cleverly point out the heritage of family farms in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. A website connects people to participating restaurants. The centerpiece of the creative family is a beautiful video that takes viewers from the field to the table.

Considering its long history, its heyday as a railroad hub, and its stunningly beautiful mountains and rivers, the Alleghany Highlands was a blank slate when Mikula-Harris was chosen to develop a tourism brand.

Building a brand from scratch is both exciting and daunting. Solid research and plenty of input from local tourism partners are critical to success. It’s also important to spend time in the community getting to understand what makes the destination special. Accurately capturing the personality of a place and differentiating it from others are equally important to our team.

The ad campaign focused on experiences that are “Uniquely Alleghany.” It has been a very popular campaign both inside the community and beyond, spawning the use of the hashtag #UniquelyAlleghany.