August 21, 2007

Orlando Previews 2008 Marketing Efforts

Destination to Continue Aggressive Marketing in 2008

ORLANDO, Fla. - Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc. (Orlando CVB) executives announced today that preliminary results from the two-year, multi-million dollar advertising campaign are showing an encouraging travel outlook for 2007. "Even though the official first wave of the return on investment study will not be done until 2008, early indications are that the campaign is making a difference and bolstering consumer intent to visit Orlando," said Gary Sain, president and CEO of the Orlando CVB. "By continuing the destination's aggressive advertising efforts and placing a greater emphasis on strategic partnerships as well as the international and meetings and conventions markets, we anticipate a strong year for the destination in 2008."

The Orlando CVB commissioned Synovate, an independent global market research firm, to conduct a domestic tracking study for the new Orlando advertising campaign in order to gauge the campaign's effectiveness. Preliminary results indicate the commercials are very likeable, have high awareness and recall and have already boosted intent to travel to the Orlando area by 6 percent. The tracking study is one of three formal levels of measurement for the new advertising campaign generated by the Orlando CVB. The other two include the measurement of unique visitors and home page views on the orlandoinfo.com Web site, which are up 42 percent and 29 percent respectively since the campaign was launched in February, and the Return on Investment Study that will be completed in fall 2008 for the 2007 travel season.

"The preliminary data provides confidence in the strategic direction of our destination marketing efforts to brand Orlando and maintain our position as one of the world's great destinations," Sain said. "Orlando will continue this momentum in 2008 not only nationwide, but also throughout the UK and Canada as we kick off strong integrated efforts in each of these markets in the winter of 2007/spring of 2008. The destination will also continue aggressive efforts in other core international markets including Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Italy, France and Colombia."

Building on the CVB's significant advertising effort in 2007, Orlando spots will air nationally in 2008 on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox and 24 cable stations beginning January 14 and will reach 897 million viewers. The spots will once again appear in high-profile network and cable television programming appealing to mothers/women ages 25-54, including morning shows such as the "Today" show and "The Early Show," and during popular prime time shows including "Ugly Betty," "Grey's Anatomy," "Heroes" and "Survivor-China." In addition, television media placements include a broad mix of national cable channels such as the Travel Channel, Food Network, HGTV, the Weather Channel, Style and more. High-profile print advertising placements will include magazine inserts or stand-alone ads running in the following magazines: Better Homes & Gardens; Ebony; Essence; More; Travel & Leisure; and Woman's Day, to name a few, and in such top Hispanic magazines as Latina, People en Español, Selecciones and Vanidades producing 300 million impressions. Other elements include banner advertising and search optimization on top sites as well as public relations and promotional efforts.

The domestic advertising effort will be reinforced via new partnership programs with AAA, AARP, Travelocity and Expedia with some of the activity beginning this fall.

In the UK, new television commercials will also appear in high-profile programming appealing to households both with and without children. Networks will include: Channel 4; Five; GMTV; Sky 1, Sky 2 and Sky 3; Discovery Home & Health; Sky Sports; Animal Planet; Sci-Fi; Horror; Reality; UK Gold; UK Style; UK Food; Living and Living 2; UK People; Challenge; Paramount and Paramount 2; ITV2; and ABC. Two million free standing inserts will also be distributed on September 17, 2007 in The News of the World and The Mirror with an additional 2 million distributed through these two outlets in first quarter 2008.

For the first time television advertising will be included in the Canada campaign. To impact the winter 2008 travel season, a four-week flight of television will air this fall reaching all of Southern Ontario's 4.7 million households. Focus will be on Prime Time, Fringe & early morning programming on CTV, Global TV, CHTV and SUN TV. Also, a glossy 16-page insert will be distributed to 1.4 million households the weekend of November 3 in Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, Hamilton Spectator, Kitchener Record and London Free Press. For the following four weeks, the campaign will be sustained within the same newspapers via half page newspaper ads.

Broadcast, print and online ads will direct consumers to their respective language-specific and newly designed Orlando CVB Web sites launched in early July, or to a CVB toll-free number for vacation planning tips and information.

In addition, as Orlando is a top destination for meetings and conventions, the overall campaign includes a dedicated trade effort with significant and highly targeted print, online and direct mail programs all touting Orlando's endless possibilities for group functions of all sizes. In particular, print advertising will appear in nine trade publications and to tout corporate meetings ads will be placed in five publications including Forbes, Incentive and Pharmaceutical Executive. To capture the attention of planners, the Orlando CVB will be conducting Roadshows in Chicago, New York and Washington DC in spring 2008. Also, an increased presence at trade shows will include a new booth, expanded exposure and partnerships.