CASE STUDY / EF HELLO DC
72 ambassadors. 31 countries. Four days. How we made ‘explore the world’ something you could hold in your hands.
Washington DC welcomes over 20 million visitors annually, most funneling through the same two-mile stretch of the National Mall. During EF’s peak travel week, we had a rare opportunity: thousands of our travelers, our competitors’ travelers, and the general public all in one place. The question became how to connect with all of them at once, in a way that felt like EF.
THE APPROACH
People over billboards
For this event, I decided to bet on people. We flew in 72 EF Ambassadors from 31 countries and outfitted them head-to-toe in EF’s signature pink. If our brand promise is “explore the world,” then I thought we should bring the world to DC.
We created the EF Passport as the centerpiece, a physical artifact that turned a marketing activation into a collectible experience. Every EF Ambassador and EF staff member carried a stamp from their home country or state. People could collect stamps, hear stories, and enter to win a trip to any EF language school worldwide. The whole thing ran on human energy and genuine curiosity.
THE PROCESS
Trust the weird idea
This event came together because I trusted a vision that wasn’t mine. Tanya Budler, who had deep experience with EF ambassadors through her work in EF High School Exchange Year, saw that these young people weren’t just representatives of the brand, they were the brand in motion. She understood how to channel their energy into something magnetic.
My role was to clear the path, secure the resources, and embrace something that felt a little weird on paper. The ambassadors played soccer with kids on the Mall, organized flash mob dances, cheered on school bands, and never stopped moving. I gave the team room and support to be bold, and they made the city feel like a celebration.
72
EF Ambassadors
31
Countries
6
EF Businesses
THE WORK
Stamps became trophies
The creative artifacts for the event were simple on purpose. The EF passport, designed to mirror a real passport, featured stamps representing every country and US state our EF Ambassadors called home. It doubled as a product guide, with pages dedicated to EF Educational Tours, EF Explore America, EF Go Ahead Tours, EF Ultimate Break, EF Language Schools, and EF High School Exchange Year.
Pink branded t-shirts, hats, and bracelets turned our team into a walking invitation. We stationed groups across the National Mall and DC airports, creating dozens of touchpoints throughout the city. The bracelets became trading currency. The stamps became trophies. By day two, strangers were chasing us down on sidewalks, in metro stations, and outside museums just to fill their passports.
The Team // Tanya Budler, KC Lee, Adam Bickelman, Jamie Kendricken, Allie Dolido, James Flahive, Brooke Parker, Linda Brouwers, Melisse Lombard, Rob Rigo, Aaron Stark, Nolan Foster, Jim Williams, Amy Van Aarle
THE SHIFT
EF became magnetic
The impact showed up in moments we never planned for. Security guards at the Smithsonian yelled out to us mid-shift, asking for stamps. A mother cried while talking to an ambassador about her son’s dreams to travel. Competitors’ tour groups asked where they could get EF bracelets. A chaperone from another company told his students to look at the pink people and consider EF next time.
We honestly couldn’t make it across the Mall without being stopped every ten steps. EF became the group everyone wanted to hang out with.
9,000
Passports distributed to visitors to Washington, DC
30,000+
Passport stamps given one at a time by EF Ambassadors
18,500
EF bracelets distributed to visitors to Washington, DC
20,000+
In-person impressions