Choose Chicago Launches New Community-Driven Marketing Campaign

Launching ahead of IPW 2025, the “Never Done. Never Outdone.” campaign is an invitation to experience a Chicago that is endlessly creative, relentlessly driven, and always ready to surprise you.

Choose Chicago has announced the launch of a new marketing campaign to position Chicago as a premier global destination for leisure travel, meetings, and events. The new “Never Done. Never Outdone.” campaign was informed and influenced by a year-plus-long brand strategy effort consisting of over 300 community and industry listening sessions, focus groups, sentiment surveys, social listening research, and brand showcases.

“Never Done.  Never Outdone.” honours the spirit of our city—always evolving, always pushing forward, and never satisfied with the status quo. The campaign launches during peak season, and as Chicago prepares to host the U.S. Travel Association’s IPW 2025, the largest inbound international travel trade show in the country. With $5.5 billion of future travel booked across this four-day show, this is Chicago’s moment to tell our story to the global tourism community.

“I could not be more proud to launch Choose Chicago’s new marketing campaign: “Never Done. Never Outdone”  said Kristen Reynolds, President and CEO of Choose Chicago. “This message is steeped in community and stakeholder feedback and speaks to the continued evolution of our city and our new era of visitor, business and economic domination. I’m grateful for the time and dedication that my team took to listen to our residents, local businesses, and clients, and I’m confident that the result will be a campaign that resonates with visitors and locals alike to drive economic vitality through every Chicago neighbourhood.”

“From world-class dining, to beautiful lakefront views, to vibrant neighbourhoods ready to explore, Chicago is an ideal destination for visitors from all across the world,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Choose Chicago’s new ‘Never Done. Never Outdone.’ campaign is a true testament to all our city has to offer. This new effort will support our already thriving tourism economy, all while supporting countless jobs in cultural, culinary, and hospitality industries across the State of Illinois.”

“I am proud of the work our colleagues at Choose Chicago have done in developing this new campaign,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson. “Work like this can only be born out of meaningful collaboration and engagement, and they’ve taken great care to include the perspectives of a diverse cross-section of community voices in the research that went into the campaign. I’m confident it will ultimately share an authentic depiction of our city and convey the open-minded, welcoming spirit of Chicagoans.”

“Never Done. Never Outdone.” is a campaign unlike any other Choose Chicago has launched in the past. Unlike previous campaigns, which focused primarily on attracting leisure travellers, this campaign is designed to speak to and inspire all audiences, including potential leisure visitors as well as meeting and event planners, the creative community, international sports fans, the economic development community, and most importantly, Chicago residents.

“‘Never Done. Never Done.’ reflects a mindset that’s deeply original, bold, open-minded, and grounded in community — values that are central to who we are and how we show up,” said Lisa Nucci, Chief Marketing Officer at Choose Chicago. “As a life-long Chicagoan, it has been an honour to work on this project and inspiring to see the way our partners in the tourism and hospitality industry and the civic sector have been so involved and invested from day one. Through hundreds of hours of listening sessions, preview events, and informal conversations, one thing was consistently apparent to me: Chicagoans truly love their city. That love and civic pride is really at the heart of ‘Never Done. Never Outdone.’”

Launching locally today, the “Never Done. Never Outdone.” campaign will make its international debut next week at IPW. Today’s launch includes the release of a campaign video featuring Grammy Award-winning poet and artist and local Chicagoan J. Ivy. The campaign will run in key local, regional, national, and international markets, targeting both leisure travellers and meeting and event planners. Advertising will begin locally to build campaign engagement and civic pride, then expand to other markets to help drive future leisure and business travel to Chicago.

“I can’t imagine a better note to end my tenure on than the launch of a new marketing campaign for Chicago,” said Glenn Eden, Choose Chicago’s outgoing Board Chair. “‘Never Done. Never Outdone.’ is so much more than an ad campaign; it is a testament to Chicagoans’ love for their city, to the people and communities that give our food its flavour and make our neighbourhoods come to life. I couldn’t be prouder of the work the team has put into this important initiative, and I know it will help introduce our city to millions of future visitors from around the world.”

Chicago residents can expect to see “Never Done. Never Outdone.” advertisements on city information panels and highlighted in social media activations in the coming weeks. Nationally, Choose Chicago prioritises ad placements based on historical seasonal demand from top inbound leisure markets, including Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York City. Internationally, ad placements and spend will also be primarily allocated to key leisure markets based on demand, including Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Choose Chicago will continue to engage members and community partners in the campaign efforts to infuse reasons why Chicago is “Never Done. Never Outdone.” into content and events.

Choose Chicago collaborated with a creative collection of agencies for the brand and campaign work including MMGY Global, Envisionit (digital and creative partner), Agents of Slang (creative partner), October Productions (production partner), Word and Soul (creative partner), and Chu Batsaihan (creative partner).