Ad campaign brings Maine huge return in tourism
One of the state's most ambitious marketing campaigns produced ''phenomenal'' results, according to Gov. Angus King, luring an additional 330,000 tourists to Maine this summer and dumping nearly $7 million into the state treasury.
The $612,000 print advertising campaign, aimed at residents in the Northeast, was responsible for about 5 percent of the tourists who stayed in Maine this summer, according to an analysis by Toronto-based Longwoods International.
The state estimated those tourists spent $78 million. That money helped generate 2,550 jobs and $55 million in payroll.
''This is an incredible success story,'' said King. ''As a businessman who found himself governor, I will take an 11-to-one return any day.''
The full-color ads - some with Post-it notes attached listing Maine contact numbers - appeared in magazines such as Sports Illustrated, Outside and Getaways and newspapers such as The Boston Globe and The New York Times. The ads were intended to interest families, empty nesters and outdoor lovers with such taglines as: ''You Don't Have to Go Far to Really Get Away.''
The campaign, created by Swardlick Marketing Group of Portland, was part of a five-year plan to boost tourism in the state through increased promotion and better targeting of advertising. It also comes during an upbeat time in state tourism, spurred in part by a strong economy. For example, so far this year state revenues from lodging taxes - a good indicator of tourism activity - are up nearly 8 percent.
The apparent success this summer lays the groundwork for a stepped up campaign next year.
Thomas D. McBrierty, commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development, said he hopes to boost ad spending and expand its reach farther south and west and possibly into selected target cities such as Chicago.
Discussions have begun with King and the Legislature, he said.
The tourism advertising budget was already boosted this year to $1.7 million, up from $1.1 million for the fiscal year which ended June 30.
The results discussed Thursday are not related to a $60,000 television campaign that aired in Boston, Hartford and New York this spring. Those ads, considered a test, were directed at tourists who typically visit such places as the Adirondacks or the White Mountains of New Hampshire, according to Dann Lewis, head of the state's Office of Tourism.
The summer advertising campaign was followed by a $350,000 fall campaign to lure leaf peepers away from Maine's New England neighbors. A $260,000 winter advertising campaign is also planned.
At a press conference Thursday, King called the marketing campaign and the resulting follow-up analysis a ''watershed'' for state government.
King said government needs to ask two questions when spending taxpayer money: Does it work? and How do you know? In this case, both questions were answered, he said.
The follow-up analysis was conducted by Longwoods specifically to compare the campaign's results with the cost.
According to Bill Siegel, Longwoods' president, about 2,200 households were sent detailed surveys on the campaign in July. Of those 2,200 surveys, nearly 70 percent were returned. The responses provided information on such things as how Maine is perceived as a vacation spot and whether people planned to visit the state.
Longwoods conducted a follow-up survey by telephone in October to find out how many respondents actually visited the state. Longwoods did not count people who already planned to visit the state or those responding to other influences such as advertising by private companies, Siegel said.
Longwoods is also studying the survey results to help the state understand where visitors came from, what regions they visited and what they thought about their stay. That analysis should be released sometime in December.
Longwoods, which is being paid $350,000, will also analyze for the state a study of visitors who arrived by plane.