Experience Columbus Launches New Ad Campaign Built on the Platform of ‘Thriving’
Travel & Tourism
As the summer travel months approach, Experience Columbus is launching a new leisure advertising campaign built on the platform of “thriving.” The campaign is designed to differentiate Columbus and increase awareness about the city as a premier travel destination, turn day trips into overnight trips and boost website traffic, e-newsletter signups and requests for more information.
Experience Columbus worked with BVK, whose creative approach was based on the principle that if an advertising campaign touches on an emotion, it helps people relate to the product on a more personal level. The key is to identify the destination’s core value and match it with the visitors’ mindset.
The creative is designed to lead with emotion through bold imagery and headlines. The ads consist of a main image that grabs attention with its energy and thriving essence and a filmstrip of images that show a variety of experiences for visitors.
For Columbus, that value is “thriving,” which was determined through extensive research and existing data from Longwoods International, Tourism Economics and GfK. Additionally, “thriving” is an enduring value and can be applied across multiple audiences, such as those for meetings and conventions and economic development.
The creative concepts were tested in 23 one-on-one, in-depth interviews in Detroit and Cleveland to gauge how “thriving” resonates. The concepts were positively received as consumers could see thriving in the sample creative and felt emotionally engaged. Additionally, the ads created a differentiation and distinctive persona for Columbus. Most importantly, the testing found that the campaign increased interest and intent to visit Columbus.
The campaign will run May through December 2018 in tiered target markets and include traditional and digital radio, digital billboards, magazine ads, digital video and online ads.
