Creative Campaigns for a Creative City

The Story

Since its founding, Paducah, KY, has boasted a reputation as a Creative City. Positioned as a hub within America’s inland waterways, Paducah has welcomed many cultures and ideas to the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers. From Lewis & Clark to Louis Armstrong, it’s as if the energy of Paducah’s artists, entrepreneurs and innovators has stitched itself into the very fabric of the city.

The Challenge

In 2023, the Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau approached McDaniels Marketing to relay the creative experiences awaiting in the city, not just for leisure travelers, but for group tours, meetings and conventions too.

The Solution

With attractions such as the National Quilt Museum, the “Wall to Wall” Murals and numerous historical sites radiating from an equally historic downtown, Paducah is overflowing with remarkable experiences waiting to be uncovered. The McD team began with photo and storytelling video shoots — including three photo shoots with professional models — that would serve as the basis for visual work moving forward. Working with CVB staff, the McD team wrote the Creative City Companion, a visitor guide that rounds up the best of historical sites, arts and culture, shopping, dining, drinks, and the outdoors. The Creative City Companion leveraged interviews with key destination partners— including a curator at the National Quilt Museum, owners of taverns and B&Bs, and even a retired NFL player — while incorporating photography captured specifically for the guide. The Creative City Companion was also promoted with a dedicated rack card distributed to businesses in the Paducah area.

The McD team also produced two mini magazines promoting the arts and outdoors, each using the CVB’s existing branding alongside brand-new photography and illustrations. Additionally, a printed, illustrated map was created featuring colorful, stylized illustrations of Paducah landmarks. A media kit folder with graduated inserts enclosed was created to encapsulate the essence of Paducah while conveying the unique history of the region, allowing media, meeting planners and groups to showcase the allure of the destination. The McD team also emphasized the city’s African American heritage with two videos promoting the Hotel Metropolitan and former NFL player George Wilson and producing expanded web content. Additionally, McD Digital performed SEO work for the CVB’s website, including writing four blogs. Digital advertising campaigns on Google and Meta targeting people passing through on their way to or from warmer destinations (i.e., snowbirds).

For group tour organizers, McD wrote an eight-page brochure promoting Paducah as a destination for large groups and motorcoaches, highlighting some of the city’s best attractions along with an in-depth list of group-friendly dining, meeting and gathering venues, and lodging. An additional group tour toolkit was developed to promote Paducah’s history, affordability and convenience along with special lodging, shopping, dining, selfie spots and attractions specific to group tour attendees. Four dedicated group tour itineraries were developed to provide a framework for groups exploring the city, along with a customizable template that the CVB could use to build its own itineraries. Finally, six print and digital ads were placed in Bus Tours Magazine, expanding Paducah’s reach to an even wider audience.

Paducah isn’t just a great place to visit — with numerous state-of-the-art venues ranging from modern facilities to repurposed, historic venues, the city has carved a niche for itself as a premier meetings destination. For the meetings and conventions sector, the McD team created a comprehensive media plan that included both print and digital components, such as print ads and a 10-month social media campaign on Meta and LinkedIn. Additionally, a 12-page brochure promoted Paducah’s meeting spaces, as well as dining and lodging options, capable of accommodating large groups and top attractions to visit between meeting sessions. The brochure was supplemented by a die-cut rack card focusing solely on meeting spaces, while the content on the CVB website’s Meetings & Conventions page was greatly expanded to match the detailed content in the brochure. The McD team also produced a walkthrough video of the Paducah-McCracken County Convention & Expo Center — the city’s largest meeting facility — and shot photographs of other meeting facilities around town to be used in both print and digital deliverables.