GROUPON ROADTRIP TOURSIM
The Challenge We Took On
Groupon needed travel content that didn't feel like an ad.
Something a viewer could picture themselves doing on their own budget, built around a trip that felt spontaneous rather than sponsored. Groupon's staycation and driveable-getaways positioning depends on proving that a memorable trip doesn't require a flight or a big budget, a harder case to make through a polished, scripted campaign than through someone actually living it. The brief called for content that could carry a live promo code straight into the story, routed through Southern California's stranger, more off-the-beaten-path corners instead of its usual postcard stops. Symal cofounder Kolter Bouchard, the creator behind @koltertalks with over 1 million followers, planned and shot a week-long desert loop from March 10 to 17: Los Angeles, Joshua Tree, Amboy, Slab City, and Calexico. Much of it was shot on 35mm and medium-format film instead of a typical branded-travel look.
The Impact We Made
Symal handled trip planning, production, and creative direction end-to-end, routing a five-stop desert loop and shooting it on film alongside vertical video for a look that read as a real trip, not a travel ad. The material was cut into three deliverables: a long-form YouTube travelogue on The Bouchards' channel, a 30- second TikTok collab, and a syndicated Instagram Reel, each carrying Groupon's KOLTER promo code so the value proposition converted directly into action instead of just impressions. Kolter shot the entire trip on film, and Symal worked with Shutterfly to turn those images into a printed photobook, a tangible asset Groupon could license for use across their own marketing well beyond the campaign's video deliverables. It also opened the door to a new brand relationship of our own with Shutterfly. The YouTube travelogue and Instagram Reel reached a smaller, highly engaged niche audience. Call it proof of concept for the format rather than a viral swing, and a first look for Groupon at what a longer-form creator placement with Symal can deliver at scale.