Hello Humpback: A World-First AI-Based Tourism Innovation
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Client: Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism
The following program was awarded Best Creative Campaign of the Year by the Canadian Public Relations Society’s ACE Awards (Achieving Communications Excellence) in 2026.
It also won:
🥇 Gold – Best Use of Artificial Intelligence in a PR Campaign
🥇 Gold – Best Digital Communications Campaign of the Year
🥇 Gold – Best CSR or Cause-Related Campaign
Business challenge:
Newfoundland and Labrador is one of the most spectacular places in the world to witness humpback whales, welcoming the planet’s largest population of migrating humpbacks each spring and summer. With whale watching serving as a powerful tourism driver, the province had a timely opportunity to amplify its leadership as Canadians were increasingly motivated to travel within Canada. At the same time, the competitive tourism landscape was intensifying, with other destinations vying for whale-watching travellers. Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism needed to defend and grow its position as the world’s humpback whale capital, while creating a more meaningful way for visitors to connect with the destination beyond a fleeting travel moment. It was time to pose a deeper question: whale wellbeing is vital to tourism, but what if tourism could also become vital to the wellbeing of whales?
Solution:
Edery & Lord, working with Target Marketing and Communications and Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, helped launch Hello Humpback, a world-first tourism innovation that transformed whale watchers into marine research partners.
The idea was rooted in one of the most coveted visitor photos: a humpback whale’s tail, or fluke, captured just before a deep dive. Like a fingerprint, every fluke is unique. Through HelloHumpback.ca, travellers could upload a whale-tail photo, which image recognition technology matched against HappyWhale.com’s global database of verified whale IDs and sightings. A custom-built AI model then transformed decades of marine data into an emotionally engaging biography, revealing each whale’s name, migration journeys, family lineage and life story.
Each uploaded sighting also directly supported conservation research, helping scientists track humpback populations and migration patterns. Visitors could even opt in for updates whenever “their” whale was spotted again.
To bring this to the media, Edery & Lord developed a highly personable storytelling strategy. Select whales were presented as Canadian ambassadors, each with a compelling backstory, creating editorial hooks at the intersection of tourism, technology, AI, environment and conservation. A national English media relations campaign amplified the launch and positioned Newfoundland and Labrador as a premier whale-watching destination where travel could contribute to something bigger.
Results:
Hello Humpback delivered exceptional communications, business and conservation results, generating 150,000 microsite visits, 250,000 direct social engagements, 5.4 million organic video views, 23,000 new email subscribers and 105 million earned media impressions. Media coverage achieved an MRP quality score of 86.75 per cent and a cost per contact of just $0.0001.
Most importantly, referrals to tourism operators increased by 6.2 per cent. HappyWhale.com also reported a 221 per cent increase in registered humpback encounters and a 169 per cent rise in sightings, helping identify more than 60 previously undocumented whales.