Montana Office of Tourism

2011-12 NATIONAL BRANDING & WINTER KEY MARKET CAMPAIGN

OVERVIEW

The Montana Office of Tourism is charged with increasing travel in the shoulder seasons, particularly winter. Research shows that skiing and wildlife watching are the leading motivators for Montana’s winter travelers, and this campaign is designed to keep Montana top-of-mind with those prospective travelers. Targeting both national audiences and key feeder markets for non-resident winter visitors, the campaign will leverage the success from complementary warm season campaigns (in 2010 and 2011) to build awareness of and intent to travel to Montana in its secret season—winter.  

The 2011-12 campaign features some of Montana’s biggest fans and homegrown talents: cinematographer and world-renown ski film director Warren Miller; Olympic mogul skier Heather McPhie, and X-Games medalist/author/photographer Kevin Connolly. They are joined by others whose work and life have been shaped by Montana--photographers, naturalists, historians—to tell the story of Montana in the wintertime.

MEDIA & CREATIVE

PRINT: Featuring Montana’s spectacular, unspoiled nature in wintertime and the activities that help you experience it. Print ads include both full-page and two-page spread layouts, with a ski quote from Warren Miller, a winter-themed quote from Montana author Rick Bass, and an interview from veteran Montana journalist Scott McMillion with Kevin Connolly.


Created with flickr slideshow.

ONLINE: Rich media, expandable banner advertising provides interactive, highly engaged user experience. Banner ads feature a thirty-second teaser to a full-length video, as well as links to Montana’s social media communities, ski areas, and general winter info. Placements include vertical sites such as Ski/Skiing, targeted placement on Yahoo! Network, and local newspaper/TV news sites in all markets. Sample banner ads below; see full-length videos at www.visitmt.com/montana-stories

Sample banner, "Shaped by Winter- Ski"
Sample banner, "Shaped by Winter- Wildlife"
Sample banner, "Shaped by Geysers"  
Sample banner, "Shaped by Glaciers"

RADIO (Key Markets Only): Featuring ski film icon Warren Miller, who spends his winters in Montana. Two (:60) spots in which an unscripted Warren Miller extols the unmatched beauty and simplicity of a Montana winter-- and how that makes for some incredible powdery pursuits.

Radio spot (:60), Warren Miller’s Montana-Winter


Radio spot (:60), Warren Miller’s Montana-Ski

OUT-OF-HOME (Key Markets Only): bus wraps, interior bus signage, train wraps, interior train signage, rail station platform signage, billboards, Minneapolis Skyway System, and taxi toppers.


Created with flickr slideshow.

MARKETS
National audiences with emphasis on Chicago, Seattle, and Minneapolis

MEDIA BUDGET
$1,725,000

TIMING
October 2011 - February 2012

FOR MORE INFO
Katy Peterson, Consumer Marketing Manager, Montana Office of Tourism
kapeterson@mt.gov or 406-841-2896