Marketing Through Storytelling with Lance and Elaine Stitcher

1/26/2026

In this episode of the VRMA Arrival podcast, Lance and Elaine Stitcher of Seaside Vacation & Sales share the story behind their 2025 VRMA Excellence Awards win for Best Marketing Campaign, and why the campaign was never really about Seaside at all.

Celebrating both their company’s 10th anniversary and the 100th annual Chincoteague Pony Swim, the Seaside team challenged themselves to do something bold: create an original, feature-length documentary that honored the island’s history, culture, and people. Led by a small but highly creative in-house marketing team, the project became the centerpiece of a year-long storytelling campaign that extended far beyond the film itself, generating millions of social impressions, significant follower growth, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in directly attributable bookings.

Lance and Elaine unpack how the campaign came together, how they measured success, and why community-first storytelling consistently outperforms traditional “listing-first” marketing. They also share practical takeaways for property managers of any size—whether or not they have a milestone event or a big budget—including how to repurpose content, spotlight local characters, and let destination storytelling do the heavy lifting.