Business/Marketing Objective: Strengthen brand awareness for Yosemite National Park through publicity of the Yosemite Lower Falls completed renovation and its attractiveness as a destination tourist site.

Situation: Many national parks were suffering from budget cuts, and Yosemite turned to private and public funding partnerships to support its park. They needed to increase public awareness of the natural wonders of the park and demonstrate the increased value in the Lower Falls after a $13.5 million renovation. Mercury Multimedia was hired by the organization’s PR agency, Landis Communications, to create a broadcast media element for a larger campaign to encourage people nationwide to visit the Lower Falls.

Mercury Solution: Since Yosemite Lower Falls draws visitors across the country, Mercury wanted to tell a visual story that would relate to a broad audience and a larger trend but also create a sense of urgency for media results. Mercury researched other national parks that were suffering from budget cuts and scripted a VNR that briefly profiled Yellowstone and Acadia along with Yosemite. Mercury tracked down footage of these parks and edited hours of footage of Yosemite to feature the most prominent highlights of the Lower Falls renovation. Mercury wrote the VNR with multiple story options in mind to attract the attention of broadcast media outlets, from a larger feature story on national parks to a breathtaking visual story about North America’s largest waterfall. Mercury distributed the VNR via satellite and tapes, and followed up with national networks and television stations in select markets to ensure coverage of the VNR.

Timeline: 6 Weeks

Results: Mercury obtained over 54 broadcasts, including CBS Up to the Minute, Travel Channel, and dozens of local stations across the country. Mercury’s Yosemite VNR reached an audience of over 3 million viewers, from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, Buffalo, St. Louis, Nashville, Kansas City, Honolulu and dozens of other cities. Both Landis Communications and the Yosemite teams considered the Yosemite Lower Falls unveiling a success.