Media Contact:
Faye Pantazopoulos, Creative Director
South County Tourism Council
fpantazopoulos@southcountyri.com
857.225.4261 (mobile)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 24, 2024, Charlestown, RI – The South County Tourism Council premiered their 2024 destination video and accompanying marketing campaign yesterday afternoon at a special screening at the United Theatre in Westerly. “This is South County, Rhode Island” showcases the quiet beauty of the region using striking imagery, ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) and a poetic voice over as well as a cameo appearance by Rhode Island Olympian, Elizabeth Beisel.
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The video was shot by Rhode Island based Tandem – started by Dave Sarazen, a South County native who interned at the council in 2019. “When I saw his portfolio,” says Faye Pantazopoulos, Creative Director, “I went to Louise (our president), to ask if we could offer him a paid internship and she said yes. What’s great about working with local talent is they know and understand the beauty of the region, and how to capture it exactly how we wish to portray it.” The video presentation included vignettes from the shoot and discussed how it utilized local talent enjoying the beauty of South County and then rolled into the one-minute video, followed by a slide show of accompanying marketing materials – from billboards and digital ads to print advertisements.
South County Tourism Council only employs seven people in total and only three of those are full time. “We don’t hire a PR agency or advertising firm,” states Pantazopoulos. “We see it as our job to be the agency for the region.” That said, everything South County Tourism Council puts out comes out of their office. The one thing they hire out is photo and video. With a generous grant from RI Commerce, South County Tourism Council was able to invest the most they ever had in video last year and hire Tandem.
The entire video was shot in South County, everyone involved in the production is a Rhode Island native and every cent invested in the production of this video went back to South County and the state of Rhode Island. “We’re extremely proud of not just the final video,” says Louise Bishop, “but that 100% of our investment in it, stayed in the state.”
The first ad from the marketing campaign is already in the latest issue of Yankee Magazine, and more ads will follow in USA Today’s Go Escape, Boston Spirit, and others. Digital ads will appear in targeted markets including New England, DC, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and more. Billboards will follow and broadcast TV ads will start on May 1 in Boston, on public television via WGBH, as well as on local networks and streaming services.
“This wasn’t just a tourism campaign,” says Sarazen, “it was a love letter to South County, a tribute to its spirit, its resilience, and its unwavering charm.”
https://vimeo.com/937870838?share=copyn
