Australia will be the first to see the Canadian Tourism Commission’s (CTC) new global marketing platform when it kicks off Jan. 31 Down Under ahead of a broader roll-out.
Greg Klassen, CTC senior vice-president marketing strategy and communications, called the campaign an evolution of Canada’s tourism brand backed by deeper strategic insight, a focus on driving more sales and a redefining of Canadian icons such as moose and Mounties.
“This is the most strategically aligned campaign that we’ve done. There’s a strong rationale for every single piece of the campaign,” said Klassen, adding that, as in previous campaigns, the advertising highlights authentic traveller experiences.
The campaign, which takes a sizable chunk out of the CTC’s $40 million annual budget, is from DDB Canada. It has a heavy emphasis on social media (continuing its foray into digital media), includes half- and full-page print ads in magazines and newspapers, five cinema spots, a Facebook contest and a revamped website at KeepExploring.ca.
For the Aussie launch, the CTC is partnering with Tourism BC, Travel Yukon, Travel Alberta and the Calgary Stampede.
The strategy behind the campaign is based on “path-to-purchase” thinking, Klassen said. This tactic aims to take away consumers’ reasons to say no to a Canadian vacation, promote Canada over other destinations and turn previous visitors into a sales force for Canada using tools such as Explore Canada Like a Local, said Klassen.
“Travel is an intangible product that’s very expensive and has a strong emotional component to it,” said Klassen. “It’s a perfect category for people to reach out to others who have had similar experiences so they can reassure themselves that they are making a good decision about a destination.”
Klassen said research shows Canada has a strong tourism brand, but visitors still don’t know what to do with their time here. To help them think about the entire trip rather than just a visit to the Rockies or the Stampede, creative elements include a map and a timeline featuring unique things to do across the country.
“We would have a pretty good view of what a week would look like in Hawaii, but our customers tell us that they don’t have a good view of what that week would look like here. So we decided to give them a signature experience at a point in time to let them know that this is one of many things that they can do over the course of a trip to Canada.”
These “signature experiences” include short user-generated videos of amazing moments such as white water rafting on the Nahanni River. Moose and Mounties are back in the ads after previous campaigns avoided the iconic and perhaps overused symbols. This time they appear in a quirkier, more touchy-feely fashion.
In “Banff Traffic Jam” a moose ambles across the road holding up traffic, while in a print ad a woman is shown sharing a photo op with two Mounties at the Calgary Stampede.
“These are profound experiences that set the tone in a unique way and help bring people to the print and online campaigns and website and directly to our tour operators and travel trade who can then close the sale,” he said.
Tourist visits increased by 1.8% in 2010 and the CTC estimates it generated $1.9 billion in revenue in 2010. Results for 2011 are not yet finalized according to the CTC.
After the Australian launch, similar campaigns will target the U.K., Germany, India, South Korea, China and France.
Is this a significant departure from previous campaigns? Do you think it will encourage tourism? Post your thoughts in our comment section.
