
DRIVE VISITATION TO SAN FRANCISCO. ON A LIMITED MARKETING BUDGET.
San Francisco Travel Brand Strategy, Marketing Campaign Development & Execution
“Won’t people come here anyway?” That’s a question we often get asked when we talk about marketing San Francisco with our partners at San Francisco Travel– the official destination marketing organization for the City. Our job is to remind travelers why SF is so great, and this brand evolution and campaign followed a string of successful marketing campaigns Teak created for San Francisco.
The Marketing Challenge.
While lots of people come here, traffic is not consistent throughout the year. San Francisco Travel is also tasked with driving convention and meeting attendance, and provides assistance and support to local business. And they’re expected to do it all with a limited budget. Our insight– could we narrow our target to be more effective with every marketing dollar spent?
We dug into some research and found that 95% of people visiting San Francisco say they want to return. Yet only 75% of incoming visitors say they’ve been here before. While not a perfect statistical correlation, this was an interesting gap. What if we just focus on people that have been here before, and remind them why they loved it so much?


Never the same. Always San Francisco.
Our brand story was born out of that strategic insight. And it truly is the soul of the San Francisco brand. We are a city that is always evolving, but who’s heart remains the same.
We built our marketing and content strategy around this. We created all kinds of brand content and brand experiences. Each one exposed our audience to new travel experiences in San Francisco, while getting them to feel that “soul” that made them love SF in the first place.
Social Engagements
1.6 Million
YouTube Impressions
3.2 Million
Increase in website traffic
400%
Revenue Gain for SF Tourism
$7 Million ↥

“Teak has been instrumental in helping to refine the San Francisco Travel brand and take it to the next level. They are strategic, thoughtful, and highly creative, and have taken our limited budgets and made them work harder for us. They are an essential partner to our marketing efforts.”