Prepared for
Destination Storytelling Proposal
Prepared by
A destination storytelling proposal
Every community deserves a reason to be discovered. This is a proposed destination storytelling framework designed to give communities throughout Lehigh Valley a meaningful moment to be seen while building one recognizable regional story.
Recommended roadmap: begin production in fall 2026 to launch publishing in January 2027.
Where this begins
The opportunity is clear. The exact format should be intentional. Before locking production into a single formula, we would align Discover Lehigh Valley’s goals, internal resources, talent, storytelling formats, and production responsibilities around one scalable campaign system.
One thing is settled: all 62 municipalities receive a finished video. What we would define together is everything around that — the storytelling formats, the release cadence, who carries the research and story development, and how the series is measured.
A region-wide opportunity
Discover Lehigh Valley wants to broaden the spotlight beyond its most recognized destinations and create a recurring content series that gives communities throughout Lehigh and Northampton Counties meaningful representation.
A recognizable host
Bernadette Rabel brings the local perspective, personality, credibility, and on-camera presence that helped spark the opportunity.
A recurring editorial opportunity
Rather than producing disconnected social posts, the municipality initiative has the potential to become a recognizable recurring content property throughout 2027.
A desire to make it different
The opportunity is to combine the accessibility and personality of social content with a more intentional and polished storytelling approach.
The campaign alignment phase exists to answer these deliberately, before production begins.
Proof of concept
Discover Lehigh Valley’s interest in Bernadette began with content like this. Our goal would be to preserve the personality and accessibility that make her effective on camera while adapting the storytelling and production system to Discover Lehigh Valley’s destination-marketing goals.
The host chemistry, the directing relationship, and the visual standard already exist — nothing here has to be built from scratch. Tap any poster to watch.
Bernadette Rabel
Clarks Summit Highlights
Destination storytelling
Bernadette Rabel
Most Underrated Places to Live in Lehigh Valley
Destination storytelling
Bernadette Rabel
Real Estate Listing Film
Production range
Case study · the format, already working locally
Realtour Pilot writes, films, and edits the on-camera town-story series for Lehigh Valley host Bernadette Rabel. On an account of roughly 2,600 followers, the format consistently reaches beyond its own audience — organically.
≈10,000 views
Clarks Summit lifestyle story — nearly 4× the account’s entire following, with 224 likes
View on Instagram1.5× typical reach
“Most Underrated Places to Live in the Lehigh Valley” — 3,700+ views, and viewers asked for a Part 2
View on InstagramPartners joined in
The cafés, gyms, and restaurants featured in the stories showed up in the comments — the partner engagement a DMO campaign runs on
Organic Instagram performance, verified August 2026. Links open the live posts.
The strategic fit
Discover Lehigh Valley’s public strategy calls for a strong valley-wide brand, stronger connections between urban and outdoor experiences, destination video assets, and a robust social media content strategy. Its latest annual report also shows that leaning into video and planning ahead are already generating meaningful audience growth.
This proposal turns that momentum into an ongoing editorial and production system, one capable of representing the full region consistently, not only its most recognizable destinations.
356,901
total social fans
up 18.2%
2,191,536
engagements
up 12.6%
37 million
video completions
across VisitPA co-op media
62
municipalities to represent
the vision behind this proposal
Performance figures sourced from: Discover Lehigh Valley Annual Report 2024–25 · Discover Lehigh Valley Strategic Plan 2024–2027
Discover Lehigh Valley already knows that video works. This proposal is not a change in direction. It is a repeatable creative and production system for giving every municipality a compelling moment to be seen, while building one recognizable story for the region as a whole.
A campaign designed for regional representation
Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton are essential to Lehigh Valley’s identity. This series expands the lens to the boroughs and townships that hold the region’s quieter stories: the trail towns, makers, farms, historic sites, neighborhood institutions, local restaurants, waterways, parks, and small businesses that visitors and even longtime residents may not know yet.
The challenge is not simply fitting 62 municipality names onto a content calendar. Communities across Lehigh Valley vary dramatically in size, identity, visitor offerings, geography, history, and visual opportunities. The creative opportunity is to find the strongest reason for an audience to care about each place, then connect those individual stories back to one recognizable regional identity.
Give every municipality a meaningful place within one cohesive campaign.
Build 62 polished assets that can support social, web, partner communication, and future campaign planning.
Replace one-off production with a monthly process for strategy, research, scripting, access, filming, review, and optimization.
A format with precedent
Serialized, place-by-place storytelling is having a national moment — from statewide series like North Dakota Tourism’s “Hello ND” to Good Morning America’s “50 States in 50 Weeks: America the Beautiful.” Both build a recognizable recurring property by giving one place at a time its own moment, which is exactly the structure this campaign proposes for Lehigh Valley’s 62 municipalities.
Shared as examples of the serialized format, not as a projection of results for this campaign.
The campaign platform · working direction
62 municipalities. 62 reasons to explore.
Presented as a working direction rather than a finalized public campaign name. Alternative directions that may be explored during strategy: Found in Lehigh Valley · Lehigh Valley, One Story at a Time · Beyond the Three Cities · Here in Lehigh Valley.
Content pillars
Every municipality story is developed inside one of six editorial pillars, so the series stays recognizable while each community gets an angle that genuinely fits it.
Unexpected places and experiences that create curiosity.
Makers, products, traditions, and businesses with a story rooted in Lehigh Valley.
Outdoor experiences, attractions, events, and itineraries that justify a visit.
Stories hidden inside familiar buildings, landscapes, industries, and communities.
Simple, saveable itineraries that combine multiple stops into one clear plan.
Restaurants, farms, markets, drinks, and food stories connected to place.
Municipality story map
We created a preliminary planning map for all 62 municipalities. It gives the campaign an immediate operating structure while leaving room for Discover Lehigh Valley’s expertise, tourism priorities, partner relationships, seasonality, and local knowledge to shape the final topics.
Preliminary research and creative hypotheses. Final topics require Discover Lehigh Valley input, fact-checking, partner availability, access, and approval.
62
municipalities
24
Lehigh-only
37
Northampton-only
3
cities
27
boroughs
32
townships
Bethlehem spans both counties and is counted once.
Showing 62 of 62 municipalities
Status progression: Preliminary Research → Topic Approved → Researching → Scripted → Scheduled → Filmed → In Edit → Client Review → Delivered → Published
Sample creative value
Illustrative concepts from the preliminary map, each paired with a possible story format. These exist to demonstrate how the creative process works — they are not final approved content, and every topic is subject to research, Discover Lehigh Valley input, access, and fact-checking.
Slatington Borough
Then & Now“This small Lehigh Valley town helped put a roof over America.”
Story direction
Connect the borough’s slate history with the D&L Trail, Lehigh River, and a modern local stop.
Why it works
History creates the curiosity. Outdoor access and a present-day experience create the reason to visit.
Subject to research, approval, access, and fact-checking.
Nazareth Borough
Hosted Story“Some of the world’s most recognizable guitars begin in a quiet Lehigh Valley borough.”
Story direction
Use the maker story as the opening, then expand into downtown history, local culture, and a saveable visit.
Why it works
A globally recognizable product becomes the doorway into a place viewers may not have considered exploring.
Subject to research, approval, access, and fact-checking.
Coplay Borough
Hidden Gem“These structures look like ancient ruins, but they helped build modern America.”
Story direction
Reveal the Saylor Park Cement Kilns, explain their role in local industry, and pair the history with a nearby experience.
Why it works
A visually surprising landmark creates an immediate pattern interrupt.
Subject to research, approval, access, and fact-checking.
Alburtis Borough
Then & Now“One of Lehigh Valley’s most cinematic industrial stories is hiding in a small borough.”
Story direction
Use Lock Ridge Furnace as the visual anchor, then connect the site to the borough’s identity and a nearby local stop.
Why it works
The location provides atmosphere, history, and strong B-roll without making the video feel like a classroom lesson.
Subject to research, approval, access, and fact-checking.
Hellertown Borough
Local Conversation“The rail trail brings people in. This Main Street gives them a reason to stay.”
Story direction
Bernadette sits down with a downtown business owner along the Saucon Rail Trail — how trail traffic became foot traffic, and what a visitor should not miss.
Why it works
A conversation format puts a real local voice on camera and turns a business relationship into a community story.
Subject to research, approval, access, and fact-checking.
The creative approach
A polished image is not enough. Every piece in the series is built on retention-focused storytelling principles — the discipline that earns attention, holds curiosity, delivers a satisfying payoff, and gives the viewer a next step.
A scroll-stopping start that creates curiosity in the first seconds.
Raise the stakes or open a second loop that keeps the viewer watching.
Establish the context, place, and reason the story matters.
Deliver the strongest insight, reveal, experience, or emotional reward.
Encourage saving, sharing, visiting, exploring, or learning more.
The principles above stay constant, but the series does not need to follow a single formula. These repeatable formats can rotate throughout the campaign so the series feels consistent without becoming repetitive — and the right mix is one of the decisions we’d make together during campaign alignment.
Bernadette takes viewers through one compelling story, place, or idea.
Bernadette meets a business owner, maker, historian, chef, community leader, or local personality.
A saveable itinerary connecting several experiences within a municipality or neighboring communities.
A focused reveal built around one unexpected destination, attraction, business, or experience.
Local history as the curiosity hook, connected to what visitors can experience today.
Bernadette participates in the activity herself — food, hiking, an attraction, event, maker experience, or cultural experience.
Interviews or conversations with the people who know the community best.
Why Realtour Pilot
Realtour Pilot combines professional production with the strategy and systems required to sustain an ambitious short-form campaign. Our role is not simply to arrive with cameras. We help determine what each story should say, why the audience should care, how it should be structured, what needs to be captured, and how the campaign improves over time.
Beyond the Bernadette series shown earlier — personal branding, local-business storytelling, and listing films. Tap any poster to watch. References from current content partners are available on request.
Joe Sutow
Date Night Ideas for Media, PA
Personal branding
Alex Stackhouse
Taste: Gluten-Free Around the Philly Suburbs — The Happy Mixer
Local flavor series
Alex Stackhouse
Taste: Gluten-Free Around the Philly Suburbs — Episode 2
Local flavor series
Mike Flatley
Real Estate Listing Film
Other creative work
Janice Pigga
Real Estate Listing Film
Other creative work
Behind the finish
The finished reel may only run for 30 to 60 seconds. Creating a consistent, professional result requires much more than turning on a camera.
Define what the video is trying to communicate and why the audience should care before production begins.
Professional cinema cameras, lenses, audio, stabilization, lighting where appropriate, and intentional visual composition.
Help the host deliver naturally while protecting clarity, pacing, personality, and energy.
Capture the businesses, people, environments, details, experiences, and visual transitions required to actually tell the story.
Shape everything into a concise, social-first piece through editing, pacing, color, audio, graphics, captions, finishing, revisions, and quality control.
The goal is not simply to make the content look expensive. The goal is to make it intentional, watchable, memorable, and consistent across an entire campaign.
The responsibility model
This split holds across all three partnerships. What changes between tiers is how much of the strategy, research, and story development Realtour Pilot carries — never who contacts the businesses, secures the locations, or approves the facts. That always stays with Discover Lehigh Valley and its regional relationships.
The investment
Every option is designed to produce professional short-form content representing all 62 municipalities. The difference is not whether the work is professional. The difference is how customized the production becomes, and how much of the campaign Realtour Pilot is responsible for carrying.
Option 1
A consistent 62-video series with a simplified production model.
Discover Lehigh Valley supplies production-ready concepts, talking points, locations, participants, and permissions. Realtour Pilot professionally films and edits all 62 stories through a standardized, efficient production system.
“We know what we want to say and where we want to film. We need a professional production team to execute it consistently.”
Option 2
You lead the campaign. We execute it.
Greater production flexibility for a Discover Lehigh Valley-led campaign — more individualized concepts, broader production support, up to 22 sessions, and two revision rounds.
“We have the internal resources to plan and manage the campaign. We need a great production company to execute it.”
Option 3
We build it with you, then bring it to life.
Everything in Option 2, plus Realtour Pilot helps lead the campaign itself — discovery, campaign strategy, municipality research, story development, monthly planning, optimization, reporting, and campaign management.
“We want a creative partner who can help lead the campaign with us.”
Streamlined
Discover Lehigh Valley provides the production-ready plan. We execute it through a standardized system.
Production + Editing
Discover Lehigh Valley leads the campaign. We provide greater creative and production flexibility in bringing it to life.
Full Service
We help build, manage, and execute the campaign alongside Discover Lehigh Valley.
Final scope under any option — story structure, formats, cadence, and responsibilities — is confirmed together during campaign alignment before production begins.
Option 1 · Streamlined Production Partnership
This option fits Discover Lehigh Valley if the internal team has the creative resources to plan the campaign and prepare each story, and wants a professional production team to execute it efficiently and consistently across all 62 municipalities.
“Discover Lehigh Valley supplies the stories and the production-ready plan. Realtour Pilot provides a streamlined professional filming and editing system designed to produce all 62 municipality videos efficiently and consistently.”
The streamlined investment assumes each upcoming batch arrives production-ready.
Campaign Direction
Research
Talking Points
Locations
Businesses & Participants
Permissions
Talent
Scheduling Readiness
Professional production and finishing for all 62 videos.
Up to 20 four-hour professional production sessions at $900 each, using an efficient, geographically batched production model
62 completed edits at $275 each, using a standardized social-first editing framework
Internal quality control, revision coordination, and organized batch delivery
Production is organized efficiently across up to 20 four-hour filming sessions, typically targeting three to four municipality stories per session — some sessions produce more or fewer depending on geography, travel, access, and production conditions. The contractual deliverable remains the 62 finished videos. The streamlined rate assumes that pace is achievable because each batch arrives production-ready; if the 62 stories require capacity beyond the included 20 sessions, additional four-hour sessions are available at the streamlined session value of $900 each.
Streamlined Production is designed around repeatable, standard-scope social storytelling. Concepts requiring extensive locations, participants, specialty production, or substantially increased production time may be adjusted to fit the streamlined format or quoted separately.
Realtour Pilot supplies a short creative-brief template at kickoff. A batch is production-ready when, for each story in it, we have received:
Batches are due ten business days before the first session in that batch, so locations can be grouped efficiently and the schedule can hold.
The streamlined model is designed around simple, repeatable story formats that stay visually interesting while keeping production efficient.
Bernadette delivers approved talking points while Realtour Pilot captures supporting B-roll.
One location, experience, attraction, landmark, or business forms the central story.
A short conversation with one pre-arranged participant at one primary location.
Bernadette participates in one pre-arranged experience while delivering approved talking points.
A concise host-led story supported by a focused selection of nearby B-roll.
One historical hook connected to what a visitor can experience at that location today.
One payment at campaign kickoff.
Savings: $2,000
An initial payment, then twelve monthly payments.
Savings: $1,000
A small kickoff payment, then twelve equal monthly payments.
Option 2 · Production + Editing Partnership
This option fits Discover Lehigh Valley if the internal team already has the resources to develop the strategy, research the municipalities, select the stories, write the scripts, and coordinate the locations. Realtour Pilot becomes the professional production and post-production partner — with more individualized concepts, broader production support, up to 22 sessions, and two revision rounds beyond the streamlined model.
“Discover Lehigh Valley provides the plan. Realtour Pilot brings it to life.”
Content Strategy
Research
Scripts or Talking Points
Business, Participant & Location Outreach
Talent
Production Readiness
Up to 22 four-hour production sessions at $1,100 each — including expanded pre-production, per-session call sheets, and creative camera direction
62 professionally edited videos
Final review, revision coordination, and organized delivery
Before each scheduled session, Discover Lehigh Valley provides approved scripts, confirmed locations and participants, the production schedule, required permissions, relevant contacts, and any necessary factual information.
One payment at campaign kickoff.
Savings: $2,000
An initial payment, then twelve monthly payments.
Savings: $1,000
Twelve equal monthly payments at the standard rate.
Option 3 · Full-Service Creative Partnership
Options 1 and 2 buy production. This one adds the part that takes the campaign off your team’s plate: the research, story development, monthly planning, reporting, and the system that keeps 62 stories moving across a year. Realtour Pilot leads the strategic and creative work while Discover Lehigh Valley leverages its own regional relationships to secure the people and places that bring the stories to life.
Initial discovery covering brand, audience, goals, priorities, preferences, success measures, and workflow
Content pillars, recurring series, creative direction, messaging, visual direction, audience alignment, and publishing framework
Strategy presentation, refinement, stakeholder alignment, workflow confirmation, and initial topic selection
12 monthly planning and optimization meetings at $500 each
62 researched and professionally developed story packages at $225 each — each tailored to its storytelling format
Production logistics, scheduling, geographic batching, and shot planning for up to 22 sessions
Up to 22 four-hour professional cinema-camera production sessions at $1,200 each
62 completed edits at $300 each, including finishing and included revisions
Campaign status tracking, content pipeline management, edit supervision, approval tracking, asset organization, quality control, and final delivery
A custom content management portal built for Discover Lehigh Valley — one organized place to see every municipality story, its current status, and every finished deliverable.
Portal access runs for the campaign term. Custom software development beyond the functionality listed above is not included unless separately scoped.
Every component is expandable — the full working detail behind each line is part of the proposal, not an appendix.
One payment at campaign kickoff.
Savings: $6,200
The initial payment covers strategy, discovery, campaign setup and initial creative development.
Savings: $4,400
Twelve equal monthly payments at the standard rate.
Side by side
All three partnerships deliver 62 finished videos with professional cinema production and editing. What changes is how much preparation Discover Lehigh Valley carries, how customized each story becomes, and how much of the campaign Realtour Pilot is responsible for.
DLV = Discover Lehigh Valley · RTP = Realtour Pilot · Scroll the table sideways on smaller screens.
The working system in depth
For readers who want the full operational picture: the nine-phase working system behind the full-service partnership. Each phase expands; responsibilities flex with the option chosen.
Each month, meet approximately one month ahead to discuss:
For every approved topic:
Realtour Pilot
Discover Lehigh Valley
Use performance data and client feedback to improve:
Discover Lehigh Valley owns its channels, so measurement builds on the platform analytics the team already has. Each month, Realtour Pilot reviews how every published story performed and delivers a one-page performance report ahead of the strategy call, tracking:
What we learn drives the next month’s topics, hooks, and formats — the reason the series should be sharper in month ten than in month one. We report what the platforms make available, and we never promise guaranteed views, followers, visitation, or business results.
Recommended production roadmap
If Discover Lehigh Valley plans to begin publishing the series in January 2027, we recommend beginning campaign development and production in fall 2026 to create an initial content reserve before the publishing cadence begins. A reserve avoids ongoing production pressure, leaves room for approvals and weather, gives businesses time to coordinate, and lets the campaign capitalize on seasonality instead of racing it.
Align first
Build the reserve
Publish and refine
Planning assumption
A recommended roadmap, not a commitment Discover Lehigh Valley has already made.
Recommended framework · full-service deliverables
Assumptions and scope
The contractual deliverable is 62 finished videos under every option. Production capacity is up to 20 four-hour sessions under Streamlined Production and up to 22 under the other two options. Sessions are typically planned around several concepts each, depending on travel, location access, business availability, concept complexity and production requirements.
If the 62 videos are completed in fewer sessions than the capacity allows, the campaign is considered fulfilled — unused capacity does not convert into additional unrelated filming sessions.
Streamlined Production assumes Discover Lehigh Valley delivers each upcoming batch production-ready. Missing research, talking points, locations, participants, permissions, or approvals may require rescheduling and affect the campaign calendar. If repeated additional creative development, scripting, research, or production complexity is required from Realtour Pilot, individual concepts can move to the Production + Editing scope, the required services can be added separately, or the campaign can transition to a higher partnership level.
Streamlined Production includes one reasonable consolidated revision round per video; Production + Editing and Full-Service each include two. Feedback is submitted against the current review version, and additional revision rounds are additional scope.
Reshoots are not revision rounds. Changed direction, changed facts, new messaging, preference changes after approval, participant cancellation, lost access, missing permission, or inaccurate supplied information may require additional production fees. A reshoot required solely because of a Realtour Pilot production error is handled under the final agreement, not as a client revision.
Standard campaign production travel throughout Lehigh and Northampton Counties is included within the approved production schedule. Travel outside the agreed campaign region, overnight travel, or extraordinary location-specific expenses may require additional approval and fees.
Discover Lehigh Valley will receive campaign usage rights to the completed deliverables as defined in the final agreement. All usage remains subject to separately agreed talent, participant, location, music, and other applicable third-party rights.
Discover Lehigh Valley will designate one primary project owner and provide consolidated feedback. Client delays, access delays, third-party cancellations, weather, or missing approvals may shift production and delivery dates; scheduled payments stay on their agreed cadence, and we replan the calendar together.
This webpage is a proposal and scope summary. Final services, payment schedule, usage terms, cancellation terms, and legal responsibilities will be governed by a separately executed agreement.
The next step is a campaign alignment conversation to define the story structure, storytelling formats, roles, production assumptions, timeline, stakeholders, and the first group of municipalities — together.
