Launching a New Campaign: How the Morning Walk Team Got Kalahari’d Away
Welcome to Kalahari Resorts & Conventions.
It’s home to the #1 Best Indoor Waterpark according to the USA TODAY Readers’ Choice awards (three years in a row!). It has indoor adventure parks that are bigger than football fields and its four (soon-to-be five) locations feature an array of signature dining experiences where you can get everything from burgers and burritos to steak and spaghetti (not all at the same place, of course). It also happens to be my most frequently visited destination when I’m traveling for work.
Morning Walk has a longstanding relationship with Kalahari, the African-inspired vacation destination that began 25 years ago this year in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Over the years, the Nelson family’s business has grown quite a bit — and the work we do with them has, too.
This spring break, Morning Walk helped Kalahari launch a brand-new campaign that took months of work and many, many people coming together to make it a reality. From traditional broadcast TV spots to previously untried paid media placements (hello, Twitch!), PR activations, and a new approach to CRM, it was a lot. Here’s how we did it.
Step 1: Look to the Past
“Don’t look backward; you’re not going that way.” That phrase may hold true in many aspects of life, but I believe in the creative process, it should be nearly the opposite. Sure, we’re not trying to recreate a past campaign, and nostalgia in marketing can be a bit overdone, but how can we determine the best way to move forward if we don’t look at where we’ve already been — and how that worked for us?
I am, as our CCO Steve Simoncic calls it, a “newly minted creative director.” I joined the creative team at Morning Walk as an associate creative director a few years ago and spent the beginning of my tenure working on other brands, ranging from doors and intelligent suspension systems to breakfast meats. When I splash-landed into the Kalahari account, we were in the middle of a transition away from the Make More Memories campaign, one that helped the waterpark resort “put heads in beds.”
There are so many things about that campaign I admire. The real moments with real families that ranged from heartfelt to humorous. The blend of POV footage guests captured and higher-end shots (RED, if you're wondering) that showed the many different sides of the Kalahari experience. The sheer volume of content captured by previous CD and Happy Meal Hero, Tom Gorton, over the course of two huge shoots. I don't know how they accomplished it all. But now, it was time to pivot.
Step 2: Dig into the Present
How did we know it was time for a change? Well, we looked around. We noticed that our competitors were starting to lean into Make More Memories-style language and creative. From Wilderness Resort inviting guests to “make forever moments while you stay” to Walt Disney World Resort’s This is Magic campaign featuring real moments at the park, we knew that if we continued Make More Memories as it was, Kalahari wouldn’t stand out as well as it should.
But we also did the research. Working with partners Shapiro+Raj, the Morning Walk and Kalahari teams collaborated throughout a discovery and segmentation process that led us to uncover some truths about our target audience. We know that Kalahari’s guests really care about making memories with their families and friends. And we also know that the resorts offer beyond-expectations experiences, from waterpark attractions you can’t find anywhere else to the huge arcades and adventure parks and award-winning dining, that set us apart from the competition.
So, we didn’t necessarily need to find a new story to tell, but rather a new way to tell our story. That’s when we started Getting Kalahari’d Away.
Step 3: Strategize
If you haven’t gathered from the title of this blog post, the hyperlink in the introduction, or that end-of-step-2-cliffhanger, Kalahari’s new campaign is an invitation: Get Kalahari’d Away. But what does that mean?
Getting Kalahari'd Away is about getting away from the stress of everyday life and immersing yourself in the world of Kalahari — where there's so much to do and experience. It's also about transforming from your "real-life self” to your “vacation self,” which is different for everyone. Maybe going to Kalahari helps you recognize your inner child, have more fun, and let loose. Maybe relaxing poolside (or at the spa) helps you feel refreshed and a little indulgent, treating yourself to foods and drinks you normally wouldn't have. Or maybe it's as simple as having the time and space to reconnect with loved ones, without work, school, packed schedules, and other distractions.
Although Getting Kalahari'd Away means different things to different people, it encourages everyone to "get carried away” in a way (the best possible way) that is unique to and enabled by Kalahari — hence the portmanteau. And that, in turn, leads to lasting memories.
Of course, we didn’t Get Kalahari’d Away right away. It took lots of researching, pulling references, brainstorming, exploring unique creative expressions, drafting manifestos, writing scripts, and creating our initial client presentation. Then, it all came down to one 90-minute meeting.
Step 4: Make, Make, Make
That meeting may sound ominous (and I may have dramatically referred to it as “the biggest client presentation of my career” once or twice), but it went really well! Our clients at Kalahari were excited to see the ideas we presented *and* their favorite campaign happened to be our favorite, too.
Almost immediately, the next phase of work kicked in: execution. We teamed up with our production partners at Dreamboat and their directors KC and Kipp Norman, finessed scripts, presented directors’ treatments and animatics, debated over which lines to kill to make each spot a “real :30,” casted our characters, and did all the other preproduction things.
Then, it was off to Round Rock, Texas, where we shot five brand spots in two languages, for 10 total stories of Kalahari-inspired vacation transformations. After all the ideating and planning, it was a thrill to see our concept and characters come to life.
But the journey didn’t end with the shoot … or even the postproduction process. In fact, the journey still isn’t over. Aligned with Morning Walk’s mission of creating healthy performance branding ecosystems, our team knew it wasn’t just about the TV spots. It never is.
It’s about how Get Kalahari’d Away comes to life in so many other places where Kalahari guests — or potential guests — encounter the brand. It’s about the whole ecosystem of experiences. What does Getting Kalahari’d Away look like on property? On social? With influencers? I’ve got answers to those questions, but we’ll leave that for another day. It’s time for summer break … a perfect time to Get Kalahari’d Away.
About Megan Patsavas
Megan Patsavas is a Creative Director at Morning Walk, where she helps lead the charge on all things Kalahari. A former journalist who never lost her love of asking questions, Megan is equal parts storyteller and strategist — digging into insights and collaborating with teams to create thoughtful, client-focused solutions. Before joining Morning Walk, she worked in-house at Accenture, contributing to pursuit-based marketing campaigns that resulted in multi-million-dollar wins. She’s also brought big ideas to life for brands like Masonite, Tenneco, and Jones Dairy Farm. When she’s not at work, you’ll find her in the great outdoors — or indoors fielding feedback from Oberon, her very vocal cat who thinks he’s her Executive Creative Director.
