Montréal, 21 April 2009 - Tourisme Montréal once again innovates this spring with a shift to 100% Web-based advertising to reach leisure markets and ensure enhanced influence for Montréal in travel and tourism circles. Indeed, the promotional organization which inaugurated the new Tourisme Montréal website in May 2008 recently launched an entirely Web-based promotional offensive designed to respond to changing consumer consumption trends.
Gradually introduced in recent years, the shift to Web-based advertising by our promotional organization has proven tremendously successful when one looks at results obtained to date in terms of campaign performance and increased website traffic.
The threefold aim of this new campaign, developed in cooperation with the advertising agencies Sid Lee and Cossette Media, is to enhance Montréal’s notoriety as an urban destination ideal for short-term getaways, to persuade consumers to visit Montréal by showcasing our Sweet Deal (3rd night at half price), and to assist potential visitors in planning their Montréal vacation. The Web-based format enables Tourisme Montréal to achieve each of these three goals through banners present on travel and lifestyle sites, and a Web 2.0 strategy dubbed ‘Get the local buzz from Montréal Insiders’.
The latter features five Montréal insiders whose mission it is to portray their individual passions for arts and culture, epicurean life, gay life, nightlife and girls’ getaways. This campaign is aimed specifically at leisure markets in Ontario and the United States.
“Given challenging economic conditions worldwide, we, like many other organizations, have had to revisit our budget and cut back on various expenses, including those relating to print campaigns,” stated Charles Lapointe, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tourisme Montréal. “However, our repositioning is also rooted in changing consumer trends. Indeed, travellers today are increasingly inclined to select their future travel destination on the Web as they are able to preview what they are likely to encounter upon arrival.
By relying on the latest technology and shifting to 100% Web-based advertising, Tourisme Montréal can, as opposed to more traditional style advertising, accurately assess campaign impact with target audiences and maximize investments in this regard,” Mr Lapointe went on to explain.
This new approach is designed to support the strategy instituted in recent years by our promotional organization, a strategy which targets all points of contact on the Web while remaining true to ourselves, presenting target audiences with a wealth of content tailored specifically to their interests, and providing browsers with Montréal travel experience through a tangible experience intended to set Montréal apart from rivals.
The rethinking of the Tourisme Montréal website in May 2008 and implementation in 2005 of a tool designed to provide for an exhaustive watch of all Web-based information relating to Montréal together bode well for the success of the current campaign.
In December 2008, the Tourisme Montréal website won the 2008 Boomerang Grand Prize in the interactive marketing category, as well as the Grand Prize in the promotional site category. Then on 8 April 2009, Tourisme Montréal was awarded the Créa Grand Prize in the promotional website category. Créa is a contest which endeavours to underscore and promote excellence in advertising creation in Québec.
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Source:
Pierre Bellerose
Vice President
Public Relations, Product Research and Development
Tourisme Montréal
(514) 844-2404
Backgrounder 1: Why the shift to 100% Web-based advertising?
In May 2008, Tourisme Montréal unveiled its new Web platform intended to provide a more tangible tourism experience and to enhance the positioning of Montréal as a destination based on various target markets. Designed to be user friendly, provide for interaction with various target markets (an initial Web 2.0 approach) and spur onsite consumer buying decisions, the new site enables browsers to enhance content by commenting on the information made available to them and sharing their overall impressions on their Montréal vacations.
To date, comments have proven extremely positive and the promotional organization, one of whose principal challenges for 2009 was to enhance the wealth and variety of content on their site and on other travel sites, is well poised to meet their objectives with the launch of a new, 100% Web-based advertising campaign. This bold, novel initiative was developed to respond to needs specific to the tourist constituency while allowing for budget cuts that Tourisme Montréal and other organizations had to make given prevailing economic conditions.
This shift to Web-based advertising, initiated three years ago by Tourisme Montréal for markets in North America, the United Kingdom, France and Mexico (in cooperation with Tourisme Québec for the latter two destinations) has already generated excellent results. Tourisme Montréal therefore intends to pursue its current strategy with markets in Europe and Mexico, while ensuring full deployment in North America to target markets in the United Stated and Ontario specifically.
This 100% Web-based strategy will be implemented through the use of notoriety banners posted on lifestyle and travel sites, direct response Sweet Deal promotional banners (3rd night free) and blogs (‘Get the buzz from Montréal Insiders’ campaign) on the Tourisme Montréal site, as well as through various forums, social networks and community sites. The entirety of means deployed will make it possible to provide consumers with content on a number of different websites, while attracting browsers to the Tourisme Montréal website where they will be able to plan the details of their visit to Montréal.
In the United States, over 80% of Americans use the Internet to select their future travel destinations, while at home in Canada, 70% of Canadians do likewise.* Overseas, recent studies in France indicate that 65%** of consumers glean travel information from the Internet and that 23% make exclusive use of the Internet to plan and book travel. In the United Kingdom, Internet impacts 90% of undecided individuals, while 24% book travel online***. What is more, consumers increasingly want to see and learn more about a product before deciding to purchase. The Web 2.0 format makes it possible to fulfil expectations in this regard as consumers are able to:
· consult blogs and share experiences with other travellers (60% regularly read comments by others);
· view destination video clips;
· find all requisite information quickly and book travel immediately (over 50% admit being influenced by the information found on the various websites when the time comes to choose a destination).*
Our new 100% Web-based advertising approach will enable Tourisme Montréal to maximize media investments while minimizing production budgets.
Sources
* SIMM 2007
** Forrester (Year 2008)
*** PhoCusWright 2008
Backgrounder 2: The ‘Get the local buzz from Montréal Insiders’ campaign
The object of the ‘Get the local buzz from Montréal Insiders’ campaign is to convince undecided tourists that Montréal should be their next holiday destination by offering them a taste of their Montreal vacation. Focusing on destination notoriety, the campaign seeks to provide potential visitors with the true face of Montréal: A thriving, passionate, effervescent city with a wealth of cultural and epicurean options.
The Web 2.0 thrust, aimed primarily at leisure markets in Ontario and the United States, features five Montréal insiders whose mission is to share with browsers—through a blog hosted on the Tourisme Montréal website—their passion for their individual areas of interest, each of which are powerful tourist drawing cards:
· Arts and Culture
· Epicurean Life
· Nightlife
· Girls’ Getaways
· Gay Life
In addition to their mission to feed their respective columns with three editorials a week, the insiders must also participate actively in the blogs and forums of the various lifestyle and travel sites to ensure a presence on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube.
Recruitment of the five insiders began two months ago. Selection criteria were established based on campaign objectives and candidate profiles had to be consistent with the following:
· each had to be a Montrealer;
· each had to have a thorough knowledge of Montréal, especially in their specific area of interest;
· each had to have an excellent knowledge of the Web and social networks, and be a member of one or more such networks. The Selection Committee was therefore able to ensure that candidates embraced the Web 2.0 values of transparency, humility, honesty, authenticity, innovation, listening and credibility.
· each had to be entrepreneurial by nature with demonstrated skill in creating content and generating browser interest;
· each had to demonstrate excellent English-language writing skills given that the campaign targets markets in Ontario and the US. Each also had to be a top notch communicator.
In addition, the five candidates who successfully emerged from the rigorous selection process had to be representative of the city’s underlying multicultural fabric.
Arts and Culture: Daviel Lazure Vieira
Profile: Writer, critic, columnist and editor for various newspapers and magazines, including EnRoute and Urbania. Also a contributor for CBC radio.
His vision of arts and culture… à la Montréal:
“A mix of many cultures: a strong French heritage, Anglo-Saxon roots, and influences from everywhere. We are proud of our Latin character, but very open to the world. Montréal is an experimental city. Nothing is set in stone here, everything is in constant flux. Plus, art is accessible here, it is not overwhelmed by large institutions.”
Epicurean Life: Katerine Rollet
Profile: Fifteen years as an actress.
Her vision of epicurean life… à la Montréal:
“Eating well at reasonable prices, anywhere in town. In Montréal, good food is really accessible, and the quality of our local produce is outstanding! We have the great French cooking heritage, but we have put a laid-back spin on it. Plus it’s about knowing that even at -30ºC, you can step out to your favourite local bistro and it will be full of people. That just makes you forget all about the weather.”
Gay Life: Daniel Baylis
Profile: Bachelor of Arts with a major in Human Relations. Blogger, translator, print journalist and columnist.
His vision of gay life… à la Montréal :
“It means ‘in style’. There is a certain romanticism about this city which is not found anywhere else. A crossroads between European and American influences. It is so easy to be who you want to be here, whether you are straight, gay or somewhere in between. We enjoy a general climate of acceptance.”
Nightlife: Brendan Murphy
Profile: Undergraduate degree in English literature and creative writing, finishing a graduate degree in journalism. Ten years of experience as a music columnist and reviewer in print and on the Web.
His vision of nightlife… à la Montréal:
“It is one of the best cities in the world for music. I am a social person and that is great because Montrealers love to go out and have fun. The city is relaxed, but there is a lot going on. Montréal is a big city which behaves like a small town, or maybe it’s the reverse!”
Girls’ Getaway: Tamy Emma Pepin
Profile: Undergraduate degree in cultural studies and broadcast journalism. Print journalist and television and WebTV hostess for various public affairs programs.
Her vision of girls’ getaway… à la Montréal:
“It is the people who make Montréal what it is. The experience here is all about the welcome, the diversity, the mix of cultures. Montréal is a warm city, but never overwhelming.”
To monitor the quality of the information being broadcast, ambassador content is subject to approval by the Sid Lee agency, and columns are analysed by the Communications and Advertising Department of Tourisme Montréal once they have been posted online.
