Governor Dannel P. Malloy has revealed the new Connecticut tourism marketing campaign that has a budget of 27 million dollars over the next two years, reports the Washington Post. The marketing campaign emphasizes Connecticut’s role in the Revolutionary War and has the tagline “Still Revolutionary.” The ads will begin running during TV sweeps week to gear up for the tourist season, which historically begins on Memorial Day weekend. Since some of the budget is allocated to digital media, it’s no surprise Visit Connecticut has given their Facebook brand page a makeover with some fresh, new social media creative. Now, you can download an app that allows you to choose one of the Connecticut photos as your Timeline photo or stamp a “Still Revolutionary” logo onto your own photo to upload.
In addition to “Still Revolutionary,” Connecticut will also have some other adjectives. Right now, the Facebook Timeline cover photo features a girl being kissed by a Beluga whale with the phrase “Still mystical.”
Govenor Malloy says that revamping the tourism marketing strategy was not easy. “When I became governor, Connecticut had been thrown out of New England,” he said. He was referring to some unpaid dues to the organization Discover New England, which markets to tourists for the region. He also mentioned wanting to compete with New York–their “I heart NY” slogan has been one of the most recognizable and successful state tourism marketing campaigns of all time. Travel and tourism marketing is becoming increasingly more important to U.S. states, which are competing for tourist dollars as families plan their summer vacations.
The re-vamped website features an interactive map, the top ten sites to visit and uses the age-old tourism adage of having “something for everyone.” It will be interesting to see how Connecticut integrates history into the rest of their social and digital media strategy across all channels.
Check out some other examples of creative travel marketing campaigns.
