By Mike Gorrell
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 11/13/2009 04:46:48 PM MST
Courtesy of Utah Office of Tourism Pleased with the response to last year's introduction of...
Airfares are down, so Utah tourism officials are directing this winter's advertising campaign at out-of-state skiers and snowboarders who might be tempted to fly here after seeing an ad on a national cable television channel.
The $1 million promotion, which will hit homes across the nation Jan. 4-24, again will feature snowflake characters that seemed to make a good impression with viewers when they debuted in last year's Utah Office of Tourism campaign.
"The snowflakes were big hits in terms of awareness. We felt they helped us break out of the clutter" of the overall advertising world, said David Williams, the Tourism Office's deputy director.
"We had the great powder shots in our ads like everybody, but we were looking for something different that caught people's eyes," he added. "They did that. The awareness ratings we got on them were the highest we've had. We don't think the campaign is stale, by any means."
The Tourism Office coordinated its promotional effort with Ski Utah, marketing arm for the state's $1 billion ski industry. Ski Utah is focusing its dollars on print ads that started appearing in magazines in early October and will continue through February.
This week, both organizations began online advertising campaigns. The Tourism Office is spending $100,000 for access to paid search engines and Web sites that attract the interest of 25-to-54-year-olds, likely to be active adventurers, with an average income greater than $75,000 a year.
Audience Science, E-Miles, Expedia, Time Inc. Lifestyle Digital and Travel Ad Network were the Web sites selected for Tourism Office funding.
On Thursday, the Board of Tourism Development finalized its cable purchase, which is down from $1.3 million last year -- an example of the recession's toll on state budgets.
"In the past with TV ads, we had our national cable buy and we also focused on the Los Angeles spot market," Williams said. "With our reduced budget, we looked at different options and [decided] we get more bang for the buck with the national cable market."
That perspective was shaped largely by airfares that Ski Utah puts at 17 percent less than a year ago.
"We know there are good deals on airfare and the ski industry attracts visitors from Chicago, New York, Florida, all over the country," Williams said. "We hit so many people with cable."
So for much of January, Utah skiing ads will appear periodically on eight cable channels. Utah's exposure will be greatest on the Food Network, followed by History and A&E. Almost as much ad time will be purchased on Bravo, various ESPN channels, Fox News, MSNBC and the Travel channel.
This year's campaign again emphasizes the accessibility of Utah resorts from Salt Lake City International Airport.
And while the snowflakes pay homage to the state's trademarked "Greatest Snow on Earth," this newest promotion will play with that wording to impart the idea Utah also has the greatest resorts, dining, shopping nightlife and family fun on the planet.
Tourism officials know the importance of delivering that message well in this tough market, Williams said.
"Given what's going on with the economy, it's important to get our name and brand out there," he added. "Tourism is a big economic engine for the state, and it can help our whole state economy if we can get visitors to come here."
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