Colorado Tourism Office Shifts to New Marketing Strategy
Denver, Colo. - (Nov. 19, 2019) - Colorado’s “Come To Life” tourism marketing campaign enters a new dimension this week, shifting from a broad-based awareness approach to zoom in on the most likely travelers to carry increased spending to all corners of the state.
The Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) also is rolling out a sharper new message for these audience segments -- dubbed the Range Roamers, Movers & Shakers and Accomplished Adventurers. The CTO is unveiling the “Wow” campaign on national television, digital and social channels, showcasing the almost indescribable emotions so many experience from the thrills, fun, natural beauty and delights of a Colorado winter vacation. (See the 30-second “Wow” TV spot here.)
“This campaign draws its power from a brand-new core insight: While travelers express love for many destinations, they fall in love with Colorado,” said CTO Director Cathy Ritter. “This insight explains so much about why our visitors come back again and again, and why we Coloradans are so passionate about protecting Colorado ourselves. Our new ‘Wow’ campaign leverages the full emotion of this important learning.”
That key insight, along with the thinking behind the campaign’s new target audience segments, stems from the proprietary research of CTO’s new strategy agency, MMGY Global. A destination marketing agency with an international clientele, MMGY is shaping CTO’s strategy and media plan based on a combination of CTO first-party data, purchased information and insights into thousands of Colorado travelers captured by subsidiary DK Shifflet, a leading tourism research company. MMGY is servicing its work for CTO from a new office in Denver’s River North neighborhood.
The "Wow" campaign idea was the brainchild of CTO’s creative services agency, Karsh Hagan of Denver. The Karsh Hagan creative team based the concept on showcasing a collection of winter wonder moments from dog-sledding to ice caves, magical mountain towns, snow-tubing and hot springs as well as skiing and snowboarding.
Karsh Hagan and MMGY have collaborated on tailoring executions of video, digital and social to each of the new target audiences. The media strategy will focus on sharing key messages with these travelers at each stage of their trip planning journey, from awareness to booking their vacation. The campaign will entice prospective visitors to click on a winter landing page, order a Colorado vacation guide and check out winter Colo-Road Trips itineraries.
The “Wow” campaign is the latest evolution of CTO’s Snow’s Perfect StateTM winter messaging platform, introduced to national audiences last year. Guided by input from key winter industry leaders, Snow’s Perfect StateTM expresses a finding that what makes Colorado special is not just its outstanding snow, but the state it falls upon.
CTO entered into five-year contracts with MMGY Global and Karsh Hagan, as well as Miles Partnership of Golden, effective June 30, following the expiration of long-term agency contracts.
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About the Colorado Tourism Office: The Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) is a division of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade. The CTO’s mission is to generate traveler spending by promotion of Colorado as a four-season, four-corner, world-class travel destination and development of compelling, sustainable travel experiences throughout the state. In 2018, Colorado travelers spent $22.3 billion, generating $1.37 billion in local and state revenues, reducing the tax burden for every Colorado household by $659. Tourism is the state’s second largest employer, directly supporting 174,400 jobs. For more information, please visit https://industry.colorado.com.