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State Tourism Office Announces $3.4 Million Campaign, Contest [The Hartford Courant :: ](Hartford Courant (CT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) April 24--The state Office of Tourism on Thursday announced a $3.4 million marketing effort with advertisements featuring destinations from Lake Compounce to Lime Rock Park as part of Connecticut's "Still Revolutionary" campaign. Starting this month, new advertising spots will be broadcast on television, along with other public relations and social media efforts, to showcase various locations. The latest twist on the campaign, called "Revolutionary Thoughts," pairs identifiable destinations with the idea that Connecticut has a diverse set of offerings relatively close to each other. The campaign also includes a contest titled #CTGetaway Sweepstakes. State residents and tourists are encouraged to describe a "perfect pair": two Connecticut activities they think make for a good getaway. The contest runs through May 2 on Connecticut's Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest channels. "What we learned from brand research, meeting with hundreds of stakeholders, multiple focus group sessions, and testing various creative executions is that Connecticut's rich breadth and depth of experiences, within close proximity to each other, and close proximity to our travelers, is what sets us apart from our New England neighbors," Kip Bergstrom, deputy commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development, which manages Connecticut's Office of Tourism, said in a statement. Some destinations featured in the advertising spots include Lime Rock Park, New England Air Museum, Connecticut Science Center, Winvian, the Thimble Islands, Louis Lunch, Kent Falls, Mystic Seaport, Lake Compounce, Infinity Hall, Foxwoods Resort and Casino, Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo, Mystic Aquarium, Study at Yale, Mohegan Sun, Brownstone Exploration & Discovery Park, Mayflower Grace and tubing on the Farmington River. For more information, visit http://www.ctvisit.com The campaign launched the same day as the Connecticut Conference on Tourism, a day of seminars for professionals from state attractions, hotels, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, and various other businesses. More than 500 people attended, not including about 30 exhibitors. The keynote speaker was Daniel Levine, global editor of WikiTrend.org and author of ten Frommer's guidebooks to destinations around the globe. He talked about five social trends among consumers that might help Connecticut's tourism businesses. "We spend a lot of time in our businesses trying to get people interested in our products and services, but what's so amazing about trends is that trends already answer the question, 'What do your customers want?'" Levine told a crowd of people. "All you really need to do is answer those trends in a creative interesting way and people will want to use your product or service," Levine said. The five consumer trends he mentioned: Make it healthy and artisanal; show you are green; help visitors connect; go mobile, as in smart phone applications; tell it like it is. Illustrating his talk with a slide show of examples, Levine breezed through anecdotes, such as Ecuadorean bananas with QR code stickers that direct people to the country's tourism destinations, and a restaurant where goats eat from a grassy rooftop and supply the kitchen with their cheese. "Trends are about what people are thinking and feeling, and [they] are looking for the same trends to be answered in every part of their lives: the cars they drive, the clothes they wear, and the travel decisions they make," Levine said. "It's really about the lifestyle." ___ (c)2014 The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.) Visit The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.) at www.courant.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |