Wyoming is turning travelers’ heads: The state recently ran a four-month television campaign with VDX.tv, that it said significantly boosted interest in the state as a destination for tourism.
“Driving awareness remains essential to bringing people into the state of Wyoming,” said a spokesperson for the Wyoming Office of Tourism.
VDX.tv, the Wyoming Office of Tourism and its agency of record, BVK, worked on the “Modern Explorers” campaign, which ran from March to September 2024. VDX.tv used its TV Magnify product to deliver the campaign, linking video advertising across connected TV [CTV], mobile and desktop. It reached 775,000 households across the United States.
The audience generated more than $115 million in direct economic impact for Wyoming, according to Adara, a RateGain company that analyzed the campaign. Compared with CTV alone, the TV Magnify technology drove a ninefold increase in travelers, incremental bookings, searches and hotel nights for the state. In total, the campaign was attributed to 50% of hotel revenue.
Considering the campaign’s success, Wyoming upheld the partnership for summer 2025—with some tweaks and shifts to optimize performance.
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“Our partnership with VDX.tv and their video-driven TV Magnify solution allowed us to effectively connect with targeted travel audiences, inspiring meaningful action and driving measurable economic impact for the state of Wyoming,” said Michell Howard, senior director of brand strategy for the Wyoming Office of Tourism.
The spokesperson for the Wyoming Office of Tourism added: “Based on this campaign’s success, as well as performance with other initiatives, we know that video is a critical awareness driver.”
What makes an advanced TV campaign successful?
The success of Wyoming's "Modern Explorers" campaign was validated by its reach that directly impacted visitation, according to Ashleigh Wiemer, group media director of BVK.
Jackie Dunfee, a client partner for travel for VDX.tv, said the strong outcome came as the result of a few factors—one being that the Wyoming Office of Tourism already had compelling video on hand and a strong narrative.
“Coupling that storytelling ability with interactive ad experiences, impactful delivery to the right travel audiences and a robust measurement partner like Adara made for an extremely effective campaign—effective not only for reaching the right audiences but for inspiring action and actually understanding how the ads drove economic outcomes for the state of Wyoming,” Dunfee said.
And the technology helped, too.
Through our partnership with VDX, the Modern Explorers campaign met people at the intersection of aspiration and authenticity—exactly where Wyoming shines.
Ashleigh Wiemer, BVK
“VDX’s high-impact video unit allowed us to showcase a variety of Wyoming's compelling offerings and the 'Modern Explorers' brand in an impactful, engaging way,” Wiemer said. “The 'Modern Explorers' campaign was designed to elevate Wyoming by spotlighting her people, landscapes and the deeply authentic experiences that define a visit here.”
By aligning content and intent, Wiemer said the group was able to foster an emotional response that helped to build trust and desire that converted to travel curiosity.
“Through our partnership with VDX, the Modern Explorers campaign met people at the intersection of aspiration and authenticity—exactly where Wyoming shines,” she said.
The campaign also resulted in insights for future initiatives with VDX.tv and other partners, Wiemer said.
How advanced television advertising tactics drive results
The success of Wyoming’s campaign comes as CTV emerges as a more successful marketing approach than linear television advertising.
According to Future Today, which runs free ad-supported streaming programs for children, CTV is spurring travel inspiration and decision making. On its “HappyKids” and “Fawesome” platforms, 83% of parents and 79% of kids were engaging with advertisements, Future Today said. Additionally, its ad-supported CTV streaming platforms have shown an 80% jump in incremental reach beyond linear television. And that’s just CTV on its own.
Vikrant Mathur, co-founder of Future Today, said CTV is superior to linear TV.
According to Mathur, CTV has a digital backbone that allows for more attribution and more measurable results, and it is able to reach new, high-value audiences that linear can’t access.
“Combine that with household retargeting, and you’re not just building awareness—you’re creating a full-funnel performance engine that travel brands can actually measure and optimize,” Mathur said. “CTV isn’t just another channel—it’s a smarter, scalable engine for growth in today’s travel economy.”
VDX.tv's TV Magnify technology extends its impact through household-level targeting and cross-device sequencing that improve campaign outcomes.
Wiemer said that while television hasn’t historically been a large component of its annual campaigns, video has been important, and the Wyoming campaign emphasized that importance by illustrating the effectiveness of video with household retargeting.
“The results from this campaign really helped validate the value of video beyond awareness alone, driven further with the household retargeting—deepening engagement and impact,” she said.