Tennessee Tourism’s Kid Reviewed Campaign Wins 2020 REGGIE Award for Creativity & Innovation

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tourism’s Kid Reviewed campaign won a national 2020 REGGIE Award in the Creativity & Innovation category, it was announced virtually on May 15. The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development and its agency of record VMLY&R developed the campaign. World Vision won the silver award and Frito Lay won the bronze in the same category. Finalists in other categories for innovative campaigns included Jeep, PepsiCo and The Hershey Company. 

In 2019, the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development partnered with nearly 30 attractions across the state to find out whether joy can be measured. The state introduced a special, wearable technology called the “Laugh Tracker.” The technology tracks laughter, heart rate and levels of excitement. The data is paired with candid reviews and surveys from kids for scientifically proven fun.

The Kid Reviewed “Laugh Tracker” campaign appeared at popular family destinations across Tennessee, including Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Discovery Park of America in Union City, Children’s Museum of Memphis, the Nashville Zoo, Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga and Hands On! Discovery Center in Gray. More than 200 children have worn the Laugh Tracker for over 450 hours at attractions across Tennessee. The device recorded more than 36,000 laughs—an average of 1.3 laughs per minute.

“Kid Reviewed” was developed based on research which shows moms handle the often-stressful task of planning family vacations, relying heavily upon online reviews when choosing where to visit, where to eat and where to stay. Recorded reviews from the experts themselves, kids, can be found on Pinterest, at www.tnvacation.com/kidreviewed and www.tnvacation.com, with each baring a special “Kid Reviewed” logo to let families know they can choose a particular attraction with confidence.

The campaign is a finalist to win a Super REGGIE, which represents the best Brand Activation Marketing of the Year. The award winner will be announced June 5.

About the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development

Tennessee is the home of the blues, bluegrass, country, gospel, soul, rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll-delivering an unparalleled experience of beauty, history and family adventure, infused with music that creates a vacation that is “The Soundtrack of America. Made in Tennessee.” In 2018, Tennessee’s tourism industry generated $22.02 billion in economic impact, more than $1.81 billion in state and local tax revenue and more than 189,757 tourism-related jobs. Explore more at tnvacation.com and join other Tennessee travelers by following “tnvacation” on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube or “Tennessee” on Snapchat.

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Media Contact:

Jill Kilgore

Public Relations Media Manager

Tennessee Department of Tourist Development

Jill.Kilgore@tn.gov

615-927-1320