'Childhood Rules' Campaign Positions California as the Ultimate Family Playground

Visit California’s new family travel campaign communicates the state’s abundant family experiences through lighthearted and emotional storytelling. The campaign celebrates California as the Ultimate Family Playground, with the goal of increasing visitation by families — the state’s top-spending demographic — and millennial families in particular.

The hero video asset imagines a vacation where kids create the itinerary and parents discover their inner child. The spot is set to the indie pop hit “Run The World!!!” by Dayglow. 

The spring family media flight includes $12 million dollars across national linear TV, online TV and digital partnerships with TikTok, YouTube TV, Pinterest, Hulu and more. Linear TV includes Networks A&E, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel and ESPN. The full flight also includes several new partners that have large family and youth audiences — Disney+, where Visit California will be one of the first brands to advertise, and game streaming platforms Twitch and Gameloft. 

The campaign’s digital assets will leverage the 11 locations included in Childhood Rules:

1. San Diego –Torrey Pines State Beach
2. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
3. Pismo Beach
4. San Gregorio (Redwoods)
5. Disneyland Resorts
6. San Francisco – Crissy Field Park
7. Universal Studios Hollywood
8. Occidental – Sonoma Zipline Adventures
9. SeaWorld San Diego
10. Paso Robles – Bruce Munro: Light at Sensorio- Field Of Light
11. Los Angles – LACMA ”Urban Light”

Anchoring the paid components of the campaign is a brand-new family travel content hub on VisitCalifornia.com. The hub helps consumers exposed to the campaign dive deeper into the featured destinations and other family-friendly destinations in California.

Influencers will add an important personal dimension to the campaign, showing that California is the ultimate playground real families and inspiring their niche audiences. The influencer campaign began in the 2023 Visitor’s Guide and will continue with hosted trips that will be  posted to their social channels and boosted with a modest paid investment to increase reach and visibility.

Here are the planned trips:

PJ and Thomas, @pjandthomas
Dates: March 5-10
Destinations: Los Angeles, Pismo, Universal Studios Hollywood
Spot inclusion: Universal Studios Hollywood, LACMA, horseback riding in Pismo Beach

Joy Green, @joyfullygreen
Dates: March 12-17
Destinations: San Diego, Anaheim, Disneyland
Spot inclusion: Torrey Pines, SeaWorld, Disneyland

Denise Otico, @partyof4sometimes2
Dates: March 24-29
Destinations: Paso Robles, Santa Cruz, Sonoma County
Spot inclusion: Sensorio in Paso, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

The Nkunims, @the.nkunims
Dates: March 26-30
Destinations: San Francisco, Marin County, Sacramento
Spot inclusion: Crissy Field Park at the Presidio, Muir Woods

Visit California looks forward to working with industry partners across the state to promote the Golden State as the Ultimate Family Playground through 2023 and beyond.