Photos courtesy of The Shires of Southwestern Vermont DMO and Matte Olive
Vermont Busienss Magazine The Shires of Southwestern Vermont Destination Marketing Organization (DMO), an affiliate of the Southwestern Vermont Chamber and in partnership with Matte Olive and Hearst StoryStudio, is celebrating the successful completion of a major destination marketing campaign designed to attract new, diverse, first-time visitors to Southern Vermont through inclusive storytelling, targeted promotion, and data-informed strategy.
The campaign was made possible through a State of Vermont tourism marketing grant focused on helping destinations reach new audiences through integrated, research-driven promotion.
For The Shires, the grant created an opportunity to do more than run ads. It allowed the organization and its partners to build a modern, multi-part campaign rooted in authentic place-based storytelling, stronger representation, visual creativity, audience insight, and measurable performance. At its core, the effort was designed to invite more people to see The Shires not simply as a scenic Vermont getaway, but as a region defined by community, cultural richness, natural beauty, and possibility.
The Shires’ campaign worked with Matte Olive, a creative marketing firm based in Vermont and Florida, to help build the creative and strategic foundation for the broader initiative. That work included producing a hero video, a six-part social series, a nine-part vlog series, more than 40 additional reels, and hundreds of new campaign images designed to present The Shires in a more authentic, inclusive, and emotionally resonant way. Across social media, that content generated approximately 178,500 views and 8,800 engagements, expanding awareness of the region while creating a valuable library of visual assets for future destination marketing efforts.
Just as importantly, the campaign was informed by intentional listening and research. As part of the process, The Shires convened a local diversity focus group of BIPOC adults and community voices to better understand how the region is experienced, what makes people feel welcome, and how Southwestern Vermont can more authentically present itself to new audiences. Several clear themes emerged from the discussion. Participants consistently pointed to friendliness, acknowledgment, volunteering, community events, food, nature, and the area’s slower, more grounded pace of life as some of the region’s greatest strengths. They also encouraged the campaign team to avoid overly polished marketing and instead highlight real moments of belonging, honest charm, local ambassadors, authentic diversity, and the cultural depth that already exists across the region.
In addition to creative production and community input, the campaign also incorporated Placer.ai location intelligence technology to better understand visitation patterns and real-world foot traffic. This allowed The Shires to pair traditional digital marketing results with stronger destination insights, helping the organization assess not only who engaged with the campaign online, but how storytelling and promotion can support actual visitation and regional economic activity over time.
With that creative and strategic foundation in place, The Shires expanded the campaign through a targeted paid media partnership with Hearst StoryStudio, bringing the region’s story to priority metropolitan audiences in New York and Massachusetts. The campaign targeted audiences in Albany, Troy, Springfield, and Boston, with a demographic emphasis on BIPOC day-trippers and short-stay travelers ages 18 to 45 with interests in food, outdoor recreation, and cultural experiences.
The Hearst campaign, built around the story “Finally Make that Vermont Trip Real. Here’s What to Do in The Shires,” significantly exceeded its objectives. Originally guaranteed to deliver 1,500 engagements and 1,000,000 impressions, the campaign ultimately generated 11,260 engagements/reads and 1,119,688 impressions.
These results were particularly notable given the quality of attention generated. Readers were not only clicking into the content, but spending meaningful time with it. The campaign’s average session duration of nearly four minutes suggests strong interest and deep engagement with The Shires story, imagery, and featured experiences.
Geographically, the Hearst campaign delivered 537,353 impressions in New York and 482,334 impressions in Massachusetts. While New York saw slightly more impressions, Massachusetts generated more clicks, suggesting especially strong action and resonance in that market. The strongest outbound link clicks from the Hearst story further underscored traveler intent. Top-performing links included Explore The Shires (The Shires homepage), The Chocolatorium, The Dorset Inn, South Shire, and Four Chimneys Inn. For the DMO, these clicks represented meaningful visitor consideration and conversion around trip planning and lodging.
“This campaign validated something we have believed for a long time — that The Shires can compete for modern travelers when we tell our story in a way that is emotionally true, visually compelling, and strategically targeted,” said Matt Harrington, CEO of the Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce. “We were not just advertising places to go. We were inviting people into a fuller picture of Southwestern Vermont — one grounded in authenticity, cultural richness, belonging, and memorable experience.”
Harrington added, “What made this campaign different was that it did not begin with assumptions — it began with listening, strategy, and story. Through Matte Olive’s creative work, our local focus group insights, and data tools like Placer.ai, we were able to build a campaign that was not only visually strong, but grounded in authenticity and a deeper understanding of how new audiences want to experience a place like The Shires. What makes this effort especially meaningful is that it helped us reach beyond our traditional audience and introduce The Shires to travelers who may not have previously seen Southern Vermont as a place for them. The future of destination marketing is not just visibility — it is relevance, resonance, and representation.”
Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing Commissioner Heather Pelham remarked, “Vermont’s tourism future depends on our ability to connect with emerging audiences in thoughtful, strategic, and inclusive ways. The work done in The Shires demonstrates how community input, authentic storytelling, strong creative partnerships, and smart audience targeting can help our destinations connect with new travelers in meaningful ways.”
The campaign’s success will also be shared statewide this year at the 41st Annual Vermont Tourism Summit held on April 28 & 29, 2026, at the Killington Grand Resort Hotel & Conference Center in Killington, Vermont. The Shires DMO and Matte Olive will present a session titled “Creating New Worlds for New Audiences” and will highlight the campaign’s strategy, research, creative framework, partnership model, and performance results as a case study for how Vermont destinations can evolve their marketing to better engage the next generation of visitors.
Participants in a local diversity focus group.
For more information on the campaign visit: https://matteolive.com/campaign-download-reconnect-in-the-shires/
About The Shires of Southwestern Vermont DMO
The Shires of Southwestern Vermont Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) is a regional tourism and marketing entity affiliated with the Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce. Its mission is to harness the combined assets, energy, and identity of the North and South Shires of Bennington County to support the region’s cultural, scenic, agricultural, historic, recreational, and entrepreneurial strengths.
The DMO serves as a convener and promoter for regional tourism efforts, helping develop The Shires brand, support collaborative marketing initiatives, pursue tourism-related grants, advocate for destination investment, and strengthen cross-sector partnerships across Southwestern Vermont.
Originally formed under Vermont’s Regional Marketing Organization framework, The Shires brand emerged through a county-wide branding process in 2007 and has since grown into a shared regional identity supported through coordinated marketing, byway promotion, storytelling, public relations, and destination development. Today, many of these efforts are stewarded in close partnership with the Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce.
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Photos courtesy of The Shires of Southwestern Vermont DMO and Matte Olive
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Matt Harrington | Chief Executive Officer