Another hit year for the #Stellenblog campaign
by on 28.04.2016
Following the success of the industry-leading #Stellenblog campaign in 2014 and 2015, this autumn the town once again saw bloggers from around the world exploring Stellenbosch and sharing their stories with hundreds of thousands of readers from around the world.
A joint campaign conceptualised by Destinate and launched by Stellenbosch 360 and Stellenbosch Wine Routes in 2014, #Stellenblog forms part of the acclaimed destination marketing campaign, Stellenbosch Experience, designed to grow Stellenbosch’s market share of domestic and international visitors.
In 2015, the second iteration of the #Stellenblog influencer campaign generated impressive results with 68 005 612 Opportunities to See (OTS) and an advertising value equivalent (AVE) of more than R22 million.
This year, the first week of the campaign had already generated over 5000 Tweets, with 54,3M Opportunities to See (OTS), reaching over 4,7M individual users.
The team of bloggers who ventured into the winelands for this year's campaign was hand-selected by Destinate and campaign partner, iAmbassador, the world's most representative blogger network, and included some of the best-known travel, lifestyle and food bloggers in the world and South Africa.
Hailing from Germany, the USA, the UK and South Africa, 2016’s #Stellenblog storytellers once again have a truly global audience.
Destinate is proud to work with bloggers and influencers the likes of this year's group:
Local Host:
Natalie Roos
Cape Town-based food and travel blogger and digital Destineer. Natalie is a #Stellenblog veteran, having hosted our last two groups of bloggers.
South African Bloggers:
1. Meruschka Govender - Mzansigirl (SA)
Jozi-based Meruschka is an African travel activist and much-loved blogger.
2. Twiggy Moli - Sleepless in Soweto (SA)
Twiggy is one half of the lifestyle blog Sleepless in Soweto - a women’s lifestyle blog devoted to inspiring an exuberant and creative life.
International Bloggers
1. Kiersten Rich - The Blonde Abroad (USA)
Kiersten describes herself as bikini obsessed. She also happens to be an award winning female travel & lifestyle blogger focusing on food, fashion and photography.
2. Luiz Hara - The London Foodie (UK)
Luiz is an Italian-Japanese Brazilian chef who made London home over 20 years ago. Passionate about good food, wine and travel, Luiz has been writing as The London Foodie since 2009.
3. Rob Lloyd - Stop Having A Boring Life (Canada)
Rob lives his mantra; “Stop having a boring life!”. He’s travel blogger who gave up everything to travel full time and find his favourite place in the world, which currently, is Little Corn Island in Nicaragua.
4. Marvin Schönberg - Niedblog (GERMANY)
Niedblog is one of Germany’s top travel blog for couples.
This team of digital storytellers has a combined reach of well over 980 000 readers, across a variety of channels and social media platforms. We expect to see an even bigger number of engaged global followers in this year’s stats.
Judging by the images shared on social media during the campaign, the stories we look forward to are sure to entice readers from around the globe to look a little deeper at what Stellenbosch has to offer.
So far, we've seen a veriety of visually beautiful and in-depth posts being published across our team's blogs, with more to come over the next few months:
Many people know that South Africa produces some incredible wines but fewer know about Stellenbosch and how it’s a beautiful place to visit with lots to do besides indulge in said wines. That said, to visit Stellenbosch and not sample as much of the splendid local wines as possible would be a real shame.
Stop Having A Boring Life: 10 Pictures that will make you want to visit Stellenbosch
Even if you don’t even particularly like wine (what is wrong with you?), you’re bound to fall for Stellenbosch. It’s got Cape Dutch architecture, views that will literally take your breath away, some of the top restaurants in the country, accommodation options that range from guest houses to luxury boutique hotels and activities that range from golf to mountain biking.
Tails Of A Mermaid: 10 Reasons you should put Stellenbosch on your bucket list
In the next couple of blog posts I will be sharing some travel tips, the best places to fill your tummy and rest your bones while in Stellenbosch. If you followed my adventures on social media last week, especially on Snapchat, and you are dying to ask me anything about the trip please feel free to leave me comments and I will be sure to answer them in blog posts to come!
Sleepless in Soweto: Sleepless in Stellenbosch
Living the European dream . . . in Africa? With its sidewalks dotted with people lounging at cafés and meandering through the endless boutiques and art galleries, Stellenbosch looks like a quaint European city.
The Blonde Abroad: Staying at Mejaka House in Stellenbosch
Keep an eye on the #Stellenblog hashtag across social media to see more Stellenbosch stories as they are published.
