Discover Moab and Camp Stories review 2025 media wins and lay out 2026 earned‑media plan

Camp Stories, the public‑relations firm that began representing Discover Moab in July, reviewed a year of earned‑media placements and outlined a 2026 strategy centered on tailored pitching, selective media hosting and activations.

Campbell, co‑lead of Camp Stories, told the workshop that the firm focuses on character‑driven, 'first‑person' stories and works across multiple lead times. "Long lead is typically 6 to 8 months in advance," Campbell said, noting that longer features and print narratives require different planning than quick news hooks. Courtney Halsam, Camp Stories' brand strategy lead, described activations and media events as tools to create news hooks that can be tailored to specific markets.

Why it matters: Discover Moab and the tourism office rely on editorial coverage to reach targeted audiences without direct advertising buys. Melissa, an account supervisor at Camp Stories, said earned coverage complements advertising by providing an editorial voice that can be more persuasive to potential visitors.

Coverage and tactics: The firm described work at the International Media Marketplace (IMM) in New York — roughly 48 speed‑pitch meetings — and individualized outreach to outlets including Field Magazine, Outside and the BBC. Campbell cited an accessibility feature about guides that began with an interview with Faith Dickey of Elevate Outdoors and expanded into broader coverage; Camp Stories used that example to show how a single human story can be adapted for multiple outlets.

The firm also described a 'what's new' story sheet compiled from outreach to more than 200 local businesses (lodging, dining, outfitters and retail) to surface timely hooks, and said fam (familiarization) trips are customized to the journalist's interests to secure first‑person features.

Results: Camp Stories summarized 2025 placements and the results of several activations. For the festive‑tree holiday activation, the team said the associated satellite media tour and broadcast placements produced a calculated "164,000,000 potential audience" through combined broadcast and digital impressions. Camp Stories also reported dozens of feature placements in 2025 that it directly pitched and helped place.

Coordination and targets: The firm stressed selectivity when hosting media and said it focuses on outlets and journalists that can tell Moab's story well rather than broad, untargeted distribution. Camp Stories also described working with advertising partners (referred to in the workshop as Madden) to align PR testing and advertising spend in target markets.

Quotes and next steps: "We hand‑select media and outlets first that we think are going to move the needle for Moab," Campbell said. The firm will share the slide deck and the 'what's new' document with Discover Moab staff and the board and plans to continue pitching long‑lead features, ebike coverage tied to the March 1 timing, food‑and‑beverage stories and astrotourism and dark‑skies reporting.

The tourism office said it will bring activation proposals and an editorial calendar to the board for review before execution.