September 25, 2006
In this issue:
TOP STORIES
Fall Marketing Campaign In
Full Swing
About $1 million has been
directed towards television, print and online advertising to promote fall
travel this year. Travelers will recognize the Life's So Good music, which
has been enhanced to evoke a more relaxed mood. Other campaign elements
include a promotion with AAALiving.com
that will entice consumers to sign up for the weekly fall color report
emails and to win a $500 gas card. Outdoor advertising in the Grand Rapids
market will encourage travelers to "See the color beyond the
lake." All advertising is currently running, with print inserts that
started in August and television spots that began after Labor Day. See
the campaign creative and read the campaign summary online.
The phone has been ringing steadily with calls from reporters at papers
ranging from the Wall Street Journal to the Wisconsin State Journal
looking for comment on fall travel. Other public relations activities to
compliment the fall advertising campaign include a fall electronic media
kit with releases on the best food at autumn festivals, gas-free ways to
see fall color and travel itineraries that "chase" the fall
color season from north to south. Finally, a Spanish language translation
of several of the fall releases was developed and released.
Wisconsin Welcome Centers worked with the Communications team to
develop a promotion to feature fall golf. Each center has set up
mini-putting greens and is distributing free copies of the book Wisconsin
Golf Getaways by Jeff Mayers and Jerry Poling. A drawing to win two
drivers rounds out the promotion.
Online marketing strategies include fresh fall content posted on
travelwisconsin.com, including a section on top
scenic drives selected by writers for Wisconsin Trails
magazine. The electronic Fall Color Report kicked off the season in early
September. The first email prompted 6,000 click-throughs to travelwisconsin.com.
Revamped Fall Sampler
Highlights a Tasty Wisconsin
If you missed the 2006 edition
of the Fall Sampler, you can see it right now electronically.
The revised guide is still the same size and length but new content focuses on "savoring" Wisconsin's autumn harvests. Three
freelance writers were selected to write about six destinations, focusing
on the area's harvest activities, fall color drives and great restaurants
and food. In August, the guide appeared in newspapers missed by regular
print advertising in the cities of Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Iowa City,
Dubuque, Davenport and Des Moines, IA; Duluth and, Rochester, MN; Lansing,
MI; and, Rockford, IL. Another 10,000 were distributed at the Wisconsin
State Fair.
On the Road Again …Chicago
Media Marketplace
On the heels of last February's
successful New York City media event, comes another opportunity to meet
top travel writers and editors, this time in Chicago. The Department is
currently in the planning stage to host a media marketplace on Nov. 16 at
the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel on Chicago's Magnificent Mile. It's
expected to have a similar, but expanded, format so twice as many industry
partners can participate in the event. More information and details about
how to get involved will be available soon.
To Summit All Up…
The Wisconsin delegation, 19
strong from the state's travel industry, marched on Capitol Hill last week
to lobby Congress on several important travel industry issues. The first
annual Travel Leadership Summit attracted 250 delegates from 30 states who
advocated for reasonable immigration reform, improved visa policies, the
Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and a national tourism marketing
campaign.
The Wisconsin team met face to face with both Wisconsin Senators and
four Congressmen and then huddled with senior staff for two other federal
legislators from the Badger State.
A Travel Industry Association (TIA) news conference Wednesday morning
unveiled a new initiative called the Discover America Partnership. The
purpose of the Partnership is to use travel to America as a diplomatic
tool to reverse this country's image problems abroad. Read all about the
Partnership at www.poweroftravel.org
or give Jim Holperin a call at 608-266-2345, if you are anxious to know
about the summit.
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TRAVEL NEWS BRIEFS
Public Hearing Scheduled for
Attraction Highway Signs
If you are interested in the
program that posts tourism attractions on blue highway signs, the Dept. of
Transportation has scheduled a public hearing to discuss the draft form of
the program's administrative rules. The hearing will be held on Nov. 14 at
10:30 am at the Hill Farms DOT Office Building in Madison. If you cannot
attend, you are encouraged to provide written comments to John Noll, Dept.
of Transportation, PO Box 7986, Room 501, Madison, WI 53707-7986.
To view the rule draft and submit written comments via email, use
this link. Comments must be submitted by the close of business on Nov.
14. View
directions to the Hill Farms DOT Office Building.
Crisis Communications
Workshops Scheduled
The Communications Team has
contracted with the Institute For Crisis Management in Louisville, KY to
develop a crisis communications management plan and complimentary
workshops for Wisconsin's tourism industry. A vulnerability study was
completed last month and we thank the industry partners who participated
in those interviews. Results of the assessment will be the basis for
mini-workshops scheduled this fall. Dates are Oct. 31 in Madison, Nov.
1 in Appleton, and Nov. 2 in Wausau at the WACVB Fall Tourism Convention. To register for the workshop, please email Jerry Huffman at jhuffman@travelwisconsin.com.
Two Statewide Tourism
Conventions Just Weeks Away
Wisconsin's travel and
hospitality industry has their pick of conferences and trade shows this
fall.
Wisconsin Lodging
Conference & Trade Show
The Wisconsin Innkeepers Association (WIA) invites you to their annual
conference on Oct. 30-31 at Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva. Highlights
of the event include a trade show and a variety of educational sessions
that cover current industry trends. Register
here.
WACVB Fall Tourism
Convention
After the lodging conference, head straight
to Wausau for the
WACVB Fall
Tourism Convention Nov. 2-3 at The Plaza Hotel & Suites.
Thursday's keynote, Roger Brooks, will speak on top tourism
trends. Sessions during the two-day event feature crisis communication
planning, finding grant resources and effective grant writing, online
marketing, and a session on highway signage presented by the Dept. of
Transportation. Other events include a marketplace Thursday night and the
Trailblazer Awards Ceremony at Friday's morning breakfast. Register
here.
Partner with the Department at
Consumer Shows in 2007
Our 2007 consumer show
itinerary is now available and tourism industry partners can once again
sign up to exhibit at the Department's booth at sixteen shows in a variety
of cities. These shows provide the hospitality industry with a low-cost
opportunity to place travel materials in front of thousands of customers
in key markets without having to make the financial and logistical
investment of attending the entire show on their own. Partnering
organizations pay $100 per day*, provide staffing for the booth and pay
for shipping of their materials. The Department pays for the exhibit
space, supporting show costs, and provides staff at all shows to oversee
booth operation. Limited opportunities will be available on a first-come,
first-served basis, so inquire soon to ensure your choice of shows and
dates. See
the show listing. Contact David Spiegelberg at 262-279-6856
for more details and specific partnering rules.
*Note: Summer events (EAA Air Venture, Ducks Unlimited, and State
Fair) are open to the industry for participation at no cost.
Co-op Email Program: New
Enhancements, Same Great Price
The Department has introduced a
series of advancements in the co-op e-mail program, and a higher price is
not one of them. The new enhancements allow users to manage their account
more effectively, develop and save their ads for future deployment, and
track the status of an email once it is sent. In addition, reports are
available immediately, providing advertisers with feedback sooner.
The co-op e-mail program allows advertisers to create ads for their
event or package and submit them online for inclusion in monthly email
newsletters distributed by the Department of Tourism. The cost of running
those ads is $250. Program
information is available online.
New Advertising Opportunity to
Reach Milwaukee Market
Milwaukee's NBC affiliate, WTMJ-TV, recently launched a daily magazine-style talk show
that invites advertisers to sponsor entire segments in the show. It's
called The Morning Blend and it's a great way to showcase your business,
service or organization. Advertiser segments will be mixed among entertainers, chefs, health care providers, community leaders and
information on important community events. Your sponsored segment from The
Morning Blend also appears online for one month and on Time Warner Digital
Cable's "Wisconsin On Demand." The Wisconsin Department of
Tourism may be able to provide related video footage from its video
library to enhance your segment. Please contact Keith Donavan in the
TODAY'S TMJ4 Sales Department for more information at 414-967-5329.
Your Getaway Package Nets You
Free Radio Time
The New Magic 104-WBJZ
(Oshkosh/Appleton/Fond du Lac) and AM1600-WRPN (Ripon/Oshkosh/ Fond du
Lac) would like to give away Wisconsin Weekend Getaway Packages this fall
and winter. The partnership is an inexpensive opportunity to get your
destination or property airtime in this market. If you have a package to
offer, contact Bill Denkert, Sales Manager at Radio One Communications, at
920-748-5111 or sales@wrpnam.com to
discuss.
2006 JEM Grant Wrap-Up
More than $1.35 million dollars
was awarded to 52 non-profit organizations around the state in fiscal 2006
to promote everything from the grand opening of the Madison Museum of
Contemporary Art to motorcycle touring on tribal lands. Wisconsin's local
economies are expected to benefit from more than $30 million in traveler
spending. Read
the full news release. View
a map that shows all of the grants awarded.
Upcoming Meetings
Meetings & Conventions Committee: Friday,
Sept. 29 at Noon. Tourism Offices.
Governor's Council on Tourism: Thursday,
Nov. 16 at 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. Madison offices.
Statewide Travel Green Wisconsin Certification Meetings:
Top
Fall Color Stories are Hot
Hot Hot
You can't pick up a
paper, watch a newscast, or surf an online outlet without reading about
the leaves changing color and the travel that it generates. Here are some of the highlights from the powerful media
relations component of the Department's fall campaign
The phone has been ringing daily with calls from reporters writing fall
color features. Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Chicago
Tribune, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin State Journal
and Wausau Daily Herald are just a few of the papers giving
ample column inches to fall color stories.
On the broadcast front, WBAY-TV in Green Bay did a story on the turning
leaves and interviewed Welcome Center Manager Lorrie Wickman, who is one
of the Department's fall color spotters. A similar interview aired in the
La Crosse and Eau Claire markets with Linda Adler, Executive Director of
Chippewa Valley CVB, as the spokesperson. Deputy Secretary Sheree Dallas
Branch guested on WISN in Milwaukee also talking about fall color and
events. More interviews are expected in the coming weeks in Madison and
Rockford.
Star Tribune says, "Do
it now: Get the new Wisconsin biking guide"
A September 17th article in the
Twin Cities' largest paper urged residents to pick up the popular biking
guide.
Eagle River Feature in
National Magazine
Trailer Boats magazine
ran a five-page spread plus sidebar titled "Northwoods Nirvana"
in their September 2006 issue. The article was penned by none other than
Boelter+Lincoln's own Andy Larsen. Read
it here.
Peter Greenberg Talks Up
Wisconsin Wineries
The ubiquitous Peter
Greenberg has created mini-travel videos for AOL Travel online. One of his
latest educates travelers on the "unexpected" wine countries and
includes a very nice plug for Wisconsin wineries. View
his video.
Awards, Rankings, and Honors …
Sundara Spa in Wisconsin
Dells has collected a number of awards and honors of late including
#3 "Favorite Spa Escape in
America" by Good Morning America in partnership with Travel +
Leisure Magazine; "Favorite Honeymoon Location and Best Bridal
Party Location" by the readers of Wisconsin Bride magazine;
and, Top 10 "Most Romantic Spas in the World" by the readers of Luxury
SpaFinder magazine.
The Bayfield Apple Festival was one of ten events selected by
the members of the Society of American Travel Writers for their list of
top fall festivals in North America.
Some of the top adventure athletes around the country reported to
Outside magazine where they live and why. The result: Madison was
selected as one of the top 20 communities where locals work, train, and
play hard. See
the article online.
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Advertising Opportunities
-
Milwaukee's NBC affiliate,
WTMJ-TV, recently launched a daily magazine-style talk show
that invites advertisers to sponsor entire segments in the show. It's
called The Morning Blend and it's a great way to showcase your business,
service or organization. Advertiser segments will be mixed among
entertainers, chefs, health care providers, community leaders and
information on important community events. Your sponsored segment from The
Morning Blend also appears online for one month and on Time Warner Digital
Cable's "Wisconsin On Demand." The Wisconsin Department of
Tourism may be able to provide related video footage from its video
library to enhance your segment. Please contact Keith Donavan in the
TODAY'S TMJ4 Sales Department for more information at 414-967-5329.
- The New Magic 104-WBJZ (Oshkosh/Appleton/Fond du Lac) and
AM1600-WRPN (Ripon/Oshkosh/ Fond du Lac) would like to give away
Wisconsin Weekend Getaway Packages this fall and winter. The
partnership is an inexpensive opportunity to get your destination or
property airtime in this market. If you have a package to offer,
contact Bill Denkert, Sales Manager at Radio One Communications, at
920-748-5111 or sales@wrpnam.com to discuss.
National Magazines Seeking Family Travel Information
-
Barbara Huber, assistant editor, Nick
Jr. Family magazine is on the lookout for unique family-friendly
special events, fairs, festivals, and general happenings taking place
around the country for the magazine’s “Now Playing” monthly
event listing. She is also interested in age-appropriate events and
exhibits at museums, aquariums, botanical gardens, and zoos, the
quirkier the better. It is IMPERATIVE that the listings be
age-appropriate and family friendly to be considered. Please send
events taking place from December 2006 onward to nowplaying@nick.com.
-
Freelance writer Lisa Oppenheimer is working on a monthly
travel theme for Nick Jr. magazine. She's looking for a list of the
biggest news in family travel for 2007 such as hotel openings, events, and
attractions that would be of interest to parents in 2007. Send information
by e-mail to LisaEO@aol.com.
-
Christine Loomis is looking for hotel and resort packages for the
February and March issues of Family Fun magazine. As always, these
must be real packages, not just rates, and meet the following criteria: 1)
applicable for a family of four; 2) under $200 per room per night; 3) no
multiple night requirements; 4) contains value added elements such as
tickets to local attractions and complimentary meals. The cost of the room
and added elements if purchased separately must add up to more than the
cost of the package so the editors can see the real savings. Send your
ideas to her at cloom@comcast.net.
- Might as well put Christine Loomis on your media lists, because she
also seeks info on new museum exhibits, tours, workshops/activities for
the February and March issues of Family Fun. Activities/exhibits
must be applicable to families with children ages 3 to 12, and must be
moderately priced. No festivals or one-day events; no events that are only
in the first week of the month. Her email again is cloom@comcast.net.
Writers Seeking Adventure Travel Leads
-
Mitch Kaplan has been named winter sports correspondent for
Suite101.com. He welcomes information about any and all winter
recreation-oriented travel worldwide. See
his work online and send your story pitches to him at kaplanword@att.net.
-
Lois Friedland is the new travel writer for About.com's adventure
travel Web site. See what kind of stories they need by visiting www.adventuretravel.about.com.
Send your adventure travel pitches to LFskitravel@earthlink.net
or adventuretravel.guide@about.com.
- Bob Howells is taking over responsibility for two travel sections in National
Geographic Adventure magazine. For the "Next Weekend"
section, he seeks two to four day adventure opportunities that are within
a four to five hour drive of a major metropolitan area. Getaways can be
outfitted trips, lodging-based and offered at different levels of
challenge and price. His "Where Next" feature includes domestic
and international destinations and trips, guided and DIY. Coverage is a
blend of life-list type destinations, emerging destinations, and news of
interest to adventure travelers, with a strong emphasis on quirky and
unusual items. Email him at bob@howells.com.
Get Out the Soap and Sponge - It's Time to "Scrub" Your
Direct Mail List
Has your organization ever come up with a great direct mail offer, only
to see half of the mailing returned as "undeliverable?"
If so, you might want to consider a technique called
"scrubbing" your mailing database before you do your next
promotional mailing. List scrubbing will save your marketing department
(and mail room) headaches, and exponentially increase the effectiveness of
your communications.
List scrubbing is a procedure that merges and purges your existing
address list, weeding out duplicate and incomplete contact information,
comprehensively updating your files to keep them fresh and accurate.
Unfortunately, list scrubbing is hard to do in-house, notes Mary Jo
Preston, a media planner/buyer with Boelter + Lincoln Marketing
Communications.
"You need to do this through a direct mail list company" says
Preston. "They have access to programs such as the NCOA (National
Change of Address) software that cross check your list with the U.S.
Postal Services system. There is a fee, but you get the most accurate
information possible - with changed addresses, forwarding addresses and
more."
Unfortunately for would-be do-it-yourselfers, the NCOA program is only
available to licensed direct mail companies that buy it through the Post
Office; non-registered organizations cannot buy it directly. In most
cases, direct mail list companies scrub monthly, so you can be confident
that your mailing is going out to the most updated and accurate list
possible.
Many businesses these days are skipping the "snail mail" and
opting to e-mail information and promotional offers to their customers and
prospective customers. E-lists can be a little trickier for scrubbing, but
the same general rules of thumb apply.
"I see e-lists as part of a long-term strategy," says Lisa
Huebner, media director at Boelter + Lincoln. "In this case, you need
to create your own database and use online marketing to expand it. The key
is to make it worthwhile for customers to sign up to get more information
on your business. As your database expands, it can be segmented to market
specific products or services. "
Huebner doesn't recommend buying "cold" e-mail lists like you
would direct mail lists because of the limitations of the Can-Spam Act and
other highly sensitive anti-spam policies. "If a customer has not
specifically agreed to receive your email," she notes, "there is
a very good chance it will bounce back to you or get caught in their spam
filter."
A good way to start building an e-mail database is by using e-mail
advertising to interest-specific opt-in lists maintained by newspaper Web
sites such as jsonline.com or chicagotribune.com. These
"ad-mails" are sent to customers who have registered with the
sites and specifically asked to get offers and information from
advertisers on specific topics, such as travel. Because these ad-mails are
coming from trusted sources (the newspapers), they historically get high
open and click-through rates. Best of all, the recipients who respond back
to you can now legally become part of your e-mailing database.
For more information on list scrubbing and other topics related to
direct marketing, contact Direct Marketing Association at www.the-dma.org.
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What Do Women Want?
This question evokes the screen image of ad executive Mel Gibson (in
the movie with the same name), struggling with pantyhose, nail polish and
leg wax after his new female boss asked him to answer this question. In
the fantasy world of Hollywood movies, Gibson was able to read the minds
of women, thus winning over his boss and the pocketbooks of women.
In real life, marketing isn't quite that easy. But here's what we do
know. Women are the Chief Purchasing Officer in their households and that
purchasing power extends to travel where they are considered the
gatekeepers for all vacation activities on behalf of their families.
At a Marketing Committee meeting held earlier this year, Lisa
Bookwalter, Travel Director for Meredith Travel Marketing, presented
research to shed more light on the female leisure travel market, their
influence, decision-making process, and the growing opportunities they
present to marketers.
Women are making the vacation decisions
Nearly all women (95%) are involved in vacation decision-making and 1
in 3 are the primary person responsible for determining vacation plans.
Around half of the women surveyed research the details, suggest ideas, and
book the trip entirely themselves.
Where do they go for their planning and research? Referrals from
friends, co-workers, neighbors and family are the most powerful
influences. Women like to browse magazines for ideas, but turn to the
Internet for actual planning using sites such as Yahoo, Google, Expedia
and Travelocity, as well as individual airline, hotel and car rental
sites. Sixty-six percent turned to city, county and state tourism
websites in the planning stage. About half also booked their airfare,
hotel and car rental online.
Women are looking for relaxation and pampering
In order to understand how to craft a message to women, it's important
to understand why they travel. When asked what they wanted to do on their
vacation, relax was at the top of the list for both women and men. Women
want to be pampered by healing and restorative services, so it's no
surprise that spas are the hottest trend going right now. They continue to
crop up in resorts and hotels everywhere at an amazing rate. Besides
relaxation, women also want to experience something new on their getaway
such as local cuisine and culture.
Other top travel trends
One in five women leave the men at home and opt for a getaway with just
the girls according to the survey. The top reason? Over half were looking
for a break from the daily grind. Another trend emerging is women taking
trips that include special events such as a wedding or vow renewal
ceremony or a family reunion that involves several generations of family.
Cruise travel is also increasing in popularity and 1 in 3 women said
they are "likely to cruise within the next 12 months." While
cruise travel is not entirely likely in Wisconsin, the state's industry
can take a cue from the strategies that have proved successful
for the cruise industry, such as the value of all-inclusive travel
arrangements, activities, sightseeing, food, and other amenities that
travelers appreciate.
These are just a few highlights from the meeting. If you would like
more information about the Meredith Travel Marketing research, contact
Sarah Klavas at 608-266-3750 or sklavas@travelwisconsin.com.
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