It certainly wasn’t your typical destination marketing campaign, but that’s precisely why it worked. Operating as a small destination marketing organisation (DMO) on a limited budget, the winner of both our “Digital Campaign Excellence” and “Best Social Media Campaign” categories shows that, sometimes, it pays to be different and — above all — that you don’t have to be big to make a bold impact.
Digital Campaign Excellence Finalists: Visit Belfast, “12 Days of Christmas”; Visit Oslo, “Is it even a city?”; Visit Portsmouth, “Main Season Campaign”; Visit West, “Bath at Christmas.”
Best Social Media Campaign Finalists: The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC), “Home is Everywhere in Scotland”; Visit Isle of Man, “The Extraordinary Isle Awakens”; Visit Oslo, “Is it even a city?”; Visit Nottinghamshire, “Christmas in Nottingham.”
Winner: Visit Oslo, “Is it even a city?”
Challenging conventions, sparking conversations
With its “Is it even a city?” campaign, Visit Oslo — the DMO that represents Norway’s capital — intentionally sought to create something that was in complete contrast to the glossy imagery so often used in the conventional style of destination marketing. The goal of this new campaign was to promote Oslo as both a leisure and a business destination in a resource-efficient manner, all while building on the success — and the sense of humour — established by the organisation in two of its earlier campaigns, “Oslo is rubbish,” and “The Oslo Sceptics.”
As the team explained in their submission entry for this award category, “Our objective was twofold: spark curiosity and drive engagement, while generating organic reach strong enough to offset our limited paid media budget. By leveraging a singular creative execution across channels and targeting markets we knew would appreciate our dry Scandinavian humour, we maximised impact per Euro spent.”
“The campaign aligned directly with our strategic goals of increasing visibility, challenging outdated perceptions of Oslo, and building emotional connections with potential visitors. Instead of showing off, we let the city speak for itself — quietly, confidently, and with a wink. The result was a digital campaign that didn’t just talk at people, but invited them to join the conversation.”
– Visit Oslo
A subtle strategy
In keeping with their unconventional take on destination marketing, the team at Visit Oslo executed their campaign by underplaying the city’s best qualities, using the character of Halfdan — an Oslo resident — to guide viewers through the city with deadpan humour and a sense of irony. On the social media side, Visit Oslo explained the goal was to “spark shares, comments, and conversations organically across platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and especially X (formerly Twitter), where the campaign took a life of its own.”
Commenting on the impact of their work, the team explained, “The contrast between what was being said and what was shown sparked both amusement and intrigue. While the character Halfdan questioned Oslo's city status, the visuals revealed a vibrant, walkable, and stunningly beautiful capital — full of culture, architecture, food, and people. This contrast not only engaged viewers but invited them to reflect on what truly makes a city worth visiting.”
But better than this, Visit Oslo’s campaign tapped directly — yet smartly and ever so subtly — into the current trend among travellers for “hidden-gem” and crowd-free destinations. Speaking on the impetus of this campaign, the team said, “Innovation came not from flashy production but from confidence in concept. We took a risk by trusting our audience to get the joke — and by daring to do less — we achieved more. The result was an unconventional, storytelling-led campaign that challenged stereotypes, sparked conversations, and carved out a distinctive space for Oslo in the global tourism landscape.”
A bold impact
The DMO’s tactics paid off, with the video receiving 7.2 million views and more than 500,000 reactions across Visit Oslo’s own social channels, plus more than 20 million views on X. Its impact was well and truly global, catching the attention of a number of major media outlets, from Lonely Planet to the BBC to Business Insider to The Guardian. Even better, Visit Oslo reported that the overall impact of the video translated into tangible action, with air traffic insights company ForwardKeys observing a 17% increase in flight search queries to Oslo following the launch of the campaign.
As if that wasn’t enough, “Is it even a city?” also received the “Best Marketing Award” from the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) and was named as “Commercial of the Year” by hospitality body HSMAI Norway.
From campaign to a cultural moment
But according to Visit Oslo, “This wasn’t just a campaign that performed well. It became a cultural moment — proving that with the right creative idea, a small destination can make a big, global impact.” They added that this campaign “showed that creativity, honesty, and wit could win hearts and minds globally. With a single, understated video and a modest budget, we sparked conversations, laughter, and desire — all while rebranding Oslo in a way that felt true to its spirit.”
Offering their comments, one member of the judging panel said, “Sometimes the best way to get noticed is to swim in the opposite direction to everyone else. In a saturated destination market of shiny happy people living their best lives, it is refreshing to use deadpan humour and understated visuals to get people to really think about what makes a great city.”
Congratulations to Visit Oslo! If you’re eager for more excitement, tune in again soon to meet the winners of our “Sustainability Award” category.
