Narok County Government is one of the 47 devolved local governments of the Republic of Kenya. The County Government is responsible for administering the Narok region and its population of more than 1.1mpeople.

The Maasai Mara is part of Narok County and it is part of the government’s remit to promote as well as conserve the region as a tourism destination.The region’s primary attraction is the Maasai Mara National Park and the wildlife that lives there, and Narok is a leading exponent of sustainable tourism.

Narok County Government needed to promote and encourage tourism to the Maasai Mara, especially amongst an affluent ecologically-motivated audience.

Narok County Government wanted to show that by visiting the Maasai Mara, travellers are helping to provide the income that will support the Maasai people and enable wildlife conservation to flourish.

They also wanted to raise awareness of the Maasai Mara as a year-round destination  rather than just a place to visit during the annual wildebeest migration,in addition to raising awareness of the Maasai Mara as Africa’s leading nationalpark.

Finally, Narok Country Government wanted to encourage Reuters’ affluent ecologically-motivated audience to travel to the Maasai Mara for a luxury experience .

Reuters Plus created Moments of Wonder,an and elegantly crafted branded multi-channel content campaign showcasing the astounding beauty and telling the compelling stories of the people and wildlife in the Maasai Mara National Park.

By telling the story of the Maasai Mara through video and photography accompanied by short form articles would result in the biggest impact of message to the audience by providing a well-rounded view of the park as a year-round tourist destination.

We wanted to break the content into themes and draw parallels between the annual wildebeest migration and the Maasai people. The five chapters created in the content hub chart the wildebeest’s journey which we then mapped to parallel features of Maasai life, both traditional and modern.

Presenting the content in these verticals showcased the fragile on going inter-dependence that exists in the Maasai Mara from both perspectives, and to show how the relationship has changed in recent years as the local people now view wildlife conservation and the tourism generated through it as a precious source of income.

Campaign photography and videos of the National Park’s wildlife and inhabitants were coupled with the powerful and emotive stories of the experiences of the people who live and work there to produce a holistic and realistic in-depth snapshot of this unique destination to the affluent and ecologically aware target audience on reuters.com in order to inspire and encourage tourism to the Maasai Mara region.

The content hub on reuters.com featured the five chapters entitled The Beginning, The Plunge, The Arrival, The Conflict and The Celebration mapping out not only the annual migration of the wildebeest which the park is famous for but also explored the culture, livelihood and traditions of the Maasai people, their relationship with the environment with which they live in and how tourism is providing new opportunities for them. Moments of Wonder was amplified through both on platform and off platform digital ads which engaged users and drove traffic back to the hub itself where users could discover the story of the Maasai in greater detail.

The campaign budget was $630k permitting us to send a director, executive producer, producer, drone pilot and camera operator, sound recordist, photographer and two drivers to the Maasai Mara for two weeks to capture the brilliant photography and videography featured in the campaign. All content used in Moments of Wonder is original and shot on location.