How a Disney Partnership Generated 2.3 Million Travel Engagements

At a Glance

Organizations: Visit California and Walt Disney Studios
Campaign: Freakier Friday City Swap
My Role: Global Marketing Manager and Disney relationship lead
My Responsibilities: Partnership strategy, concept development, budget allocation, platform selection, influencer approval, internal and agency direction, stakeholder approvals, and performance reporting
Paid Channels: Meta and TikTok
Results: More than 20 million impressions, more than 2 million engagements, and a double-digit overall engagement rate

The Challenge

Disney approached Visit California about supporting the release of the Freaky Friday sequel. The opportunity came with a fairly specific challenge: create something recognizable enough to support a major film launch while still giving people a compelling reason to think about California travel.

The campaign needed to serve two established brands, work across multiple partner organizations, and give creators enough room to make content that felt native to their audiences.

My Role

As Global Marketing Manager, I managed the Disney relationship and directed the campaign strategy from concept through reporting.

Disney and I jointly developed the city-swap concept. I determined the paid media investment, selected the platforms, directed the internal and agency teams, and made the final influencer recommendations with Disney’s approval.

An internal colleague supported influencer vetting and itinerary development. I oversaw that work to ensure the creators, destinations, and planned experiences supported the larger campaign strategy.

The Approach

The campaign translated the film’s central premise of seeing life through someone else’s eyes into a California city swap.

Los Angeles creator Rayna Camille and San Francisco creator Erin Fong traded cities and explored each destination through food, culture, local businesses, and community experiences. Their content connected Disney’s pop-culture moment with Visit California’s broader travel story.

Original content ran across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts, followed by three months of paid amplification across Meta and TikTok.

I guided the budget allocation and channel strategy based on the campaign objectives, the creators’ audiences, and the formats most likely to carry the concept effectively.

How the Work Came Together

The campaign required coordination across Disney, Visit California, two creators, two agency partners, destination marketing organizations, and participating businesses.

My Responsibilities

• Managed the Disney relationship and stakeholder communication

• Co-developed the city-swap concept

• Directed the overall partnership and media strategy

• Determined the paid amplification budget

• Selected Meta and TikTok as the paid platforms

• Made final influencer recommendations with Disney’s approval

• Directed internal teams and consolidated campaign feedback

• Oversaw approvals, timelines, and performance reporting

Collaborators

• A Visit California colleague supported influencer vetting and itinerary development

• MMGY managed influencer contracting and day-to-day creator logistics

• The Shipyard handled paid media implementation and campaign execution

• Rayna Camille and Erin Fong produced the creator content

• Los Angeles Tourism, San Francisco Travel, and featured businesses supported the destination experiences

Results

• More than 20 million total impressions

• More than 2 million engagements

• Double-digit overall engagement rate

• More than 6 million publicly visible views on the campaign’s leading creator video

• TikTok delivered the campaign’s strongest overall performance

The campaign paired a culturally relevant creative concept with creators who could make the idea feel native to their audiences. Paid amplification extended that work without asking the creator content to behave like a traditional advertisement.

What This Demonstrates

The campaign succeeded because the creative idea, partner priorities, influencer selection, destination experiences, and paid strategy all supported the same objective.

It demonstrates my ability to lead a complex partnership, turn a broad opportunity into a workable campaign strategy, direct multiple internal and external teams, and make the budget and channel decisions needed to carry the idea into market.

Work completed in my role as Global Marketing Manager at Visit California. Walt Disney Studios and the other partner organizations featured in this case study are not affiliated with or endorsing my independent consulting practice.