What is CRUSH FRIDAY?

Highland County's Crush Friday Image

Have you recently heard people using the term "Crush Friday" and you think "What exactly does that mean?" Well, we're going to take a few minutes to explain!

In November 2017, the Virginia Tourism Corporation announced their big marketing campaign for 2018 - CRUSH FRIDAY.

Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC), along with industry partners including Highland County, is launching a year-long campaign aimed at getting Millennials and “work martyrs,” to take time for vacation, rest, and relaxation. The goal of this statewide campaign is to convince hard-working Millennials to dip their toe in the vacation pool in a way that’s low cost and low risk, but hugely rewarding. “If we can get Millennials to take just one day off and spend it in Virginia, then maybe, just maybe, we can ease their fears, shift their mindset, and save vacation for posterity,” says VTC.

The CRUSH FRIDAY campaign elevates VTC’s Virginia is for Lovers sub-brands, such as “Virginia is for Mountain Lovers” or “Virginia is for Music Lovers,” to remind workers there are way better things to do with their Friday than meetings, spreadsheets, and microwaved lunches. They can spend it experiencing Highland County’s local foods industry, scenic beauty, a cozy cabin, hiking trails, and motorcycle and bike loops.

The campaign challenges misconceptions about vacation, demonstrates the breadth of amazing experiences Virginia offers, and issues a clarion call for Millennials to take a well-deserved day off—and crush it.

In addition, Highland County as well as other Virginia localities are encouraging travelers not only to CRUSH FRIDAY, but to crush the whole weekend by taking a three-day vacation to rejuvenate their spirit.

As a CRUSH FRIDAY grant recipient, Highland County received $10,000 to use throughout 2018 for tourism marketing. With these funds, we plan to market Highland County in print publications, such as The Recorder, Cooperative Living, C-Ville, and Style Weekly. Q101 listeners will also hear advertisements about Highland County on Mondays and Tuesday from May through November encouraging them to CRUSH FRIDAY in Highland County and stay the whole weekend.

General Statewide Image created by VTC

These marketing efforts will put Highland County in front of audiences in Washington D.C., Charlottesville, Richmond, Roanoke, and all areas in between – a span of over 300 miles. Highland County’s CRUSH FRIDAY marketing plan is designed to target Millennials while also introducing Highland County to higher-income households as well as those who tend to take more than two trips per year and even those who are likely to purchase a second home.

Digitally, we will continue to push information out through our website, which will now include a special page devoted to information about Crushing Friday in Highland County - www.highlandcounty.org/crushfriday. This page includes information about our Barn Quilt trail, biking routes, scenic drives, our sugar camps, downtown shopping, motorcycle loops, and opportunities to learn about Highland County and civil war history at the Highland County Museum.

We have developed a strategic social media schedule that will be pushing out information on events, such as the Spring Truck &Tractor Pull, the Farmers’ Market, Artists’ Weekend, the Monterey Lions Club Street Dance, the Mountain Mama Road Bike Challenge, the Highland County Fair, our Highland Star Party, Hands & Harvest, and Wintertide. Our social media efforts will include boosted posts as well as paid ads.

We are also looking for suggested three-day itineraries. The Chamber plans to develop a few around current events in the county; however we also welcome businesses, groups, and organizations to develop itineraries and submit them to us at marketing@highlandcounty.org. We currently have one itinerary for the Spring Truck & Tractor Pull weekend on the CRUSH FRIDAY webpage. Anyone interested in putting together their own itinerary can follow that format. Once you have completed the itinerary, submit it to us, and we will plug the information into our template.

WE ENCOURAGE ANYONE WHO IS THINKING OF DEVELOPING AN ITINERARY TO COMMUNICATE YOUR IDEAS WITH US FIRST BEFORE MOVING FORWARD WITH DEVELOPMENT.

General Statewide Image created by VTC

As part of our grant application, Highland County had to develop an idea for an event that would promote a local attraction as well as promote CRUSH FRIDAY. The event we created is called “Crush N’ Munch,” a local foods walk that will be held on Friday, July 13 coinciding with the Monterey Lions Club Street Dance, which will take place on the evening of Saturday, July 14. Anyone interested in being a part of Crush N’ Munch or anyone interested in hosting an activity that weekend can email marketing@highlandcounty.org.

What can you do to help with our efforts? Keep us informed of EVERYTHING you are doing! We will try to promote as much as possible and work together to promote your business or events.

What to keep in mind when planning your event or attraction. We are encouraging anyone who wants to participate in Crush Friday to plan an attraction around one of Highland County’s already popular events. We don’t necessarily want to create a new event, but rather, build on our current ones. However, multiple organizations can work together to create a general itinerary that can be utilized by our visitors at any time throughout the year, such as an outdoors weekend or a healing arts weekend. Additionally, any general itineraries created as part of Crush Friday can also be utilized again in the future.

We also want to recognize our CRUSH FRIDAY partners who are helping us push the word out through their digital marketing channels – Dare to Dream Therapeutic Horsemanship Center, Fair Lawn Farm, The Recorder, the Highland County Fair Association, and The Highland Center.

For more information about CRUSH FRIDAY, email marketing@highlandcounty.org or call (540) 468-2550.

x