Feel The Hwyl
Visit Wales | Hwyl Campaign
We created and managed a bold, emotionally resonant, multi-year campaign that would inspire visitors to choose Wales – not just as a destination, but as a feeling. The campaign needed to connect on a deeper level, capturing and conveying the pure joy that travellers uniquely experience in Wales.
That feeling? Hwyl – the untranslatable Welsh word that encapsulates passion, joy, and a spark of magic.
Campaign Management
Content Creation
Media Planning & Buying
Photography and Filming
Graphic Design
Our Approach.
Drawing on insights from our Collective partner network, we identified and refined several key audience profiles. From there, we mapped out specific locations across Wales that aligned with their travel motivations, whether that meant serene escapes or adrenaline-fuelled adventures. Each experience was selected to reflect the full spectrum of Hwyl.
To ensure our creative would land with impact, we carried out targeted audience research to refine messaging and creative direction. This led to the development of an agile, insight-led content strategy, tailored across platforms and formats to meet each audience where they were most receptive.
The Implementation.
We brought the concept of Hwyl to life by capturing authentic moments of emotional joy -from the quiet magic of a coastal sunrise to the exhilaration of outdoor pursuits in wild Welsh landscapes. Our content production spanned film and photography, with assets crafted to suit everything from large-scale Hero placements to native social media formats.
These moments formed the heart of our campaign, acting as emotional touchpoints to connect viewers with the spirit of Wales.
The campaign launched on Boxing Day 2024, rolling out across a wide-reaching, high-impact media mix that spanned every screen and space where our audiences live, work, and explore. Broadcast and digital video placements included cinema, national television, and video-on-demand platforms such as Sky and, in a first for Visit Wales – Netflix ads, placing Hwyl within one of the most influential entertainment ecosystems in the world.
Out-of-home advertising played a strategic role, with placements across key UK transport hubs, major cities, and the London Outernet, delivering bold, immersive visuals in high-footfall locations. We amplified the campaign further through high-profile global media partnerships with Disney+, Welcome to Wrexham, and Time Out, extending cultural relevance and building global resonance.
Digital activation was agile and audience-first, with targeted bursts of paid media across digital and social platforms, aligned to seasonal trends and travel behaviours. Meanwhile, a comprehensive PR campaign supported the creative, introducing the unique meaning of Hwyl to both national and international audiences – building intrigue, understanding, and emotional connection.
Flexibility was built into the campaign from day one. Its modular design allowed us to seamlessly align with wider national brand initiatives, such as integrating Hwyl into activity around the Women’s Euros, maintaining message consistency while adapting to the cultural moment.
Our Impact.
Though still ongoing, the campaign has already delivered powerful early results. Independent brand evaluation by Sky revealed strong cut-through with core audiences, a notable uplift in ad recall, and creative performance scoring significantly above industry norms.
The campaign has been warmly received across media, tourism industry leaders, and stakeholders throughout Wales – the campaign being highly commended at the city nation place awards – demonstrating the enduring power of emotion-led storytelling and reaffirming Wales’s position as a destination unlike any other.
