Video Production | Ad Campaign | Storytelling Strategy

Holiday World & Splashin' Safari: "Worth It"

A summer campaign built on real stories from real families who discovered that the best memories aren't planned. They're earned.

The Challenge

Not Competing With Theme Parks

Holiday World isn't competing with other theme parks. It's competing with every reason a family has to stay home. The park needed a campaign that skipped the usual "rides and slides" pitch and made a parent stop scrolling and start planning.

The brief wasn't "sell tickets." It was "tell the truth about why families keep coming back."

Our Approach

It Started with Storyfinding

Before scripts or scouting, we sat down with real families who love the park. Mothers, fathers, grandmothers, first-time visitors. We asked what Holiday World means to them, then let them talk.

What we heard changed the campaign entirely.

What the Stories Revealed

Nobody talked about roller coasters first. They talked about their kids' faces. Traditions they didn't realize they'd been building. A grandmother with a bench that became "their spot." A mother whose hardest part of moving away was the distance from the park.

Five Campaign Keywords

Those moments crystallized into five campaign keywords: Magic. Heart. Home. Milestones. Family Fun.

The insight: Holiday World doesn't sell amusement. It sells a day where families get to just be together. That's a feeling, not a feature set, and the campaign had to make people feel it.

From "Memory Storage" to "Worth It"

The working title was "Memory Storage." We landed somewhere simpler: "Worth It." Two words that answer every question a parent asks before planning a trip. Worth the drive. Worth the money. Worth every second.

The Spot

"Worth It" :30 Television

The Production

Two Days. Two Worlds.

A full-scale cinematic production built for broadcast and social.

Day One: Holiday World

On location at the park. Overcast skies cleared by midday, so we reshot the morning's first three scenes in perfect light. If the light isn't right, you wait.

Day Two: Kentucky Soundstage

The Kentucky Soundstage at Goldenrod Film & Television. A custom bedroom set and a cinema robot (the crew named him Oscar) for in-vehicle and interior shots.

The Crew

A 25+ person team. Director Jason Tanner. DP David Grinnell. Producer Daniel Benedict. Full camera department, art, wardrobe, hair and makeup, gaffer, utilities, and two BTS photographers. Built to make it right, not just make it work.

The Cast

Norah Green and Paul and Naomi Angone as the on-screen family, with the Holiday World marketing team, VP Eric Snow, and Director of Marketing Ashley Blankenbaker keeping it true to the park.

The Result

A campaign rooted in real emotional truths

A television spot and a season's worth of social content, all built on stories that came from real families. When a parent watches it and feels something familiar, that's why.

Television broadcast across Holiday World's regional markets

Social media content suite for season-long deployment

Storyfinding research deliverable for ongoing brand strategy

Methodology

Why Storyfinding Matters

Storyfinding is our research process for uncovering the emotional truth behind a brand before any creative work begins. We don't assume we know why people love your brand. We go find out.

It replaces assumption with evidence.

We interviewed ten Holiday World visitors of different ages and backgrounds. The themes that emerged weren't what we expected. They were better.

It builds campaigns that resonate, not just reach.

Creative built on actual human stories doesn't ask the audience to work. They see themselves. That's an ad people feel, not just watch.

It generates strategic assets beyond the campaign.

The Storyfinding report delivered character briefs, keyword frameworks, and messaging territories that can fuel Holiday World's marketing well past a single campaign cycle.

It's backed by science.

Story-driven advertising activates up to 65% of the brain, triggers oxytocin, and is remembered 22 times longer than facts alone. We build on real narratives, not conference-room inventions.

The "Worth It" campaign didn't work because of better cameras or bigger budgets. It worked because we found the right story first.