5 Takeaways from Seattle Southside’s Alien Campaign

Explore Seattle Southside Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications Ashley Comar says the Pacific Northwest destination prides itself on being very welcoming.

In an award-winning marketing campaign, the CVB went to extremes to make the point.

While visitors from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Spokane, and elsewhere are encouraged to visit, the Seattle Southside team actively targeted interstellar tourists with its most recent launch.

"Alienvitations,” as the campaign is called, is built an the premise that E.T., should he or she take up the offer, will be making a return trip.

“Why don’t you come see what we’ve done with the place?” Comar asks of the aliens.

As the legend goes, Harold Dahl, a fisherman in Des Moines, Washington, spotted six flying saucers hovering over the area in June 1947, two weeks before the arguably more famous landing in Roswell, New Mexico. The event is now commemorated by the Maury Island Incident Mural.

Adding to the story, one of the aliens apparently returned a day later and wiped the earthling’s memory clean, tying into the local “Men in Black” society.

The campaign, the result of a collaboration between the CVB and its marketing partner, One23 West, won a City Nation Place Award in November. The prizes recognize the organizations that are setting the standard for excellence in place branding and place marketing. It’s also drawn praise from fellow DMOs, notes Comar.

Here are five standout elements that make the aliens campaign work so well.

It’s Grounded in Reality

With the fisherman’s experience a distant (or erased) memory, no one really knows what happened in 1947. However, there are real records of the FBI investigating the incident. Also, per capita, Washington State ranks No. 2 in the nation for reported UFO sightings, according to Comar.

Because the campaign didn’t come out of thin air, it’s been easy for the community to latch onto and have fun with.

The “Men in Black” society holds an annual birthday bash marking the big occasion. The organization has also debated Roswell representatives over where aliens landed first. Meanwhile, Maury Island in Puget Sound is an attraction unto itself, complete with a mural, obelisk, and other artifacts.

It Breaks the Norms

A typical destination marketing campaign would target travelers likely to visit. That’s not the case in the Explore Seattle Southside push, although alien enthusiasts are likely to gravitate to the region.

Even Comar admits extraterrestrials are not a sure bet to arrive anytime soon, and could mingle undetected even if they do come.

That said, she is confident the effort put into the campaign is worth it. “You have to do something to stand above the noise,” she says, noting the push for E.T. is only one unusual part of the marketing.

“A lot of destinations will focus really heavily on beautiful photography, and we decided to go the opposite direction and not include much photography at all,” she says.

That leads us into our third point, regarding the striking visuals.

Out of this World Aesthetics

The alien sightings predate “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” by decades, so Explore Seattle Southside took its visual cue from “Buck Rogers” and B horror films. The video and stills are deliberately kitschy, which is part of the fun.

The campaign also includes social media stunts that aim to entice aliens back. These posts feature items shaped like objects associated with close encounters. They include a mochi donut floating in space, a billboard with a bubble tea sample at hover-height, and a crop circle in the shape of a QR code.

The CVB Went All the Way

Despite its light-heartedness, the CVB took a full-funnel approach to this endeavor. The UFO-themed landing page includes recommendations for the otherworldly guests to explore, and the entire page can be converted from English to alien.

Additionally, an "alien communicator" telephone booth was installed as part of a pup-up experience at Westfield Southcenter Mall. There, Earthlings to leave messages that will be beamed into space, re-inviting the aliens to return. Thousands of people have already left recordings, according to Comar. “It’s a fun experience,” she said.

Restaurants have gotten into the act as well, with one serving a “Men in Black” drink and Seattle Chocolate Factory creating “moon rocks.”

It Has Cows

Just ask Chick-fil-A how effecting cows are in any marketing effort. Aliens are known to be unusually drawn to bovines, says Comar. We’ll leave it to you to decide if the CVB was milking the alien angle a bit too much here.

Photo Credit: Explore Seattle Southside