In Ad Age: lūquire and Visit North Carolina Invite Floridians to ‘Ski Florida’

By lūquire

TL;DR

The Ski Florida campaign for Visit North Carolina was featured in Ad Age and LBBOnline. It gained attention for its tongue-in-cheek approach to Floridians’ expectations of winter travel, inventing a fictional brand to drive local buzz and redirect travelers north for real winter fun.

An inside look at the Après Ski pop-up with Kylee Sprengel, Account Director.

The Strategy

Visit North Carolina invented a fictional travel brand — Ski Florida — to lure Floridians north for winter, countering post-Hurricane Helene misconceptions that the mountains were closed for business and driving increased awareness of winter travel offerings.

The Execution

We leaned into a combination of paid and experiential tactics to support rollout including:

Paid Social: Static assets incorporating a compilation of sun-drenched visuals across Meta platforms
High-impact Display and DOOH: Digital billboards and displays designed to meet Floridians where they are.
Après Ski Activation: An apres ski-themed pop-up bar in St. Petersburg designed to introduce locals, including influencers and media, to the winter experiences that await in North Carolina.

Why It Works

Subversive tone and fictional brand identity, framing winter travel as less of a default decision and more of an inside joke Floridians are in on.
Leans into absurdity and misdirection, using sun-soaked visuals and a deadpan brand name to stop the scroll before redirecting curiosity north.
Accompanying strategy capitalizes on a genuine Southerner insight — the desire to chase seasons they don’t experience at home — bridging stunt appeal with real travel intent.