Is it too late for the state to say ‘sure’ to an elevated tourism marketing campaign?

At first glance, the Connecticut tourism communications campaign, with a budget of $ 1.2 million, seems like a great move to support an industry devastated by COVID in the past 15 months. But is it?

Invoice field

No, not if you take a closer look at what previous tourism campaigns (during 2019 and Covid in 2020) have done for budget spending in terms of value for money. It contradicts conventional wisdom about wasteful government spending. There is an actual return that is tangible. So the budget of $ 1.2 million is blatantly low and extremely myopic.

The numbers are overwhelming. The $ 1.2 million campaign will be funded from the Connecticut Office of Tourism’s existing marketing budget. The same budget has had a yo-yo history, including just $ 1.00 a year to keep the budget line open during tough times. Last year, the state launched a tourism marketing campaign of a similar size that generated over 41.4 million TV / video views, 87 million social media impressions, and over 795,000 clicks on www.CTvisit.com. These are important key figures at face value.

Post-campaign research found that those who watched the campaign showed a 90 percent interest in visiting Connecticut over the next two years and a 122 percent increase in intention to visit over the next 12 months. According to GPS tracking, 10% of those who saw the digital videos or visited the website actually visited Connecticut tourism companies during the campaign season. These are people who actually spent their money here, not in our neighboring countries. If you do the math, the campaign paid off several times over. Imagine a Connecticut state program that generates business revenue. Given this success, why wasn’t the tourism budget increased in 2021? They would have thought they would have doubled to generate more revenue for businesses starving for income after being hammered in 2020. There’s a lack of bold thinking and acting that is Connecticut.

Tourism campaigns have a sense of overall equality that tends to be formulaic in execution. Very few are standout things like “Pure Michigan.The “Say Yes to Connecticut” campaign works strategically based on people saying “no” to so many things in the past 15 months. It does not contain any strategic insights that are groundbreaking; however, they are also intelligent. The executions are beautifully shot and creatively reproduce the individual attractions – creativity that is motivating and promising for the viewer. Nothing memorable, but expert in the ability to increase tourism / tourism spending in the state. That’s a plus.

The campaign checks all required communication boxes that determine the metrics.

• Robust social media campaigns
• New website content
• Paid search, PR and e-marketing.

The plan is solid, well thought out, and most importantly, measurable. It’s solid and certainly worth a lot more budget.

At a time when interest in travel is growing, and potentially surpassing 2019 levels, it’s time to think big in Connecticut. In keeping with the budget of previous years, there is a smell of the behavior of the “land of fixed habits”. It’s small and cautionary, not brave or determined.
2020 was a year that decimated a lot of tourism-related businesses, not to mention the arts. They are, without question, worth more than a $ 1.2 million budget. Say “yes” to investing more in the tourism industry today and in the future. The return far outweighs the risk. The numbers prove this. Think great Connecticut.

Bill Field is a principal at Activate field, a branded company

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