California Tourism Advertising Campaign Debuts at Oscars

California Tourism Advertising Campaign Debuts at Oscars

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time ever, the California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC) will debut its spring/summer national advertising campaign at the 79th Annual Academy Awards, scheduled for this Sunday, leveraging the excitement and star power associated with the Oscars in key CTTC markets.

The 30-second spot, created in cooperation with Sacramento-based MeringCarson, will air in Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City and Denver in pre-show, during and post-show coverage. This year's commercial, titled "Fast Lane," features an "A list" of celebrities, including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, First Lady Maria Shriver, Clint Eastwood, Teri Hatcher, Jeff Gordon, Wolfgang Puck, Misty May and Tony Hawk.

"The Oscars are just the beginning," Executive Director Caroline Beteta, of the CTTC, said. "We will continue the campaign roll out with high visibility, high-impact placements during top-rated programming and on national cable networks, such as TBS, USA, TNT, Bravo, F/X and Comedy Central."

Beginning next month (March 12), the CTTC plans to air "Fast Lane" during many of the country's top-rated shows, including "Dancing with the Stars," "Two and a Half Men," "CSI: Miami," "24," "Deal or No Deal," "Heroes," "Boston Legal," "American Idol," "House," "Law & Order: SVU," "Lost," "Criminal Minds," "CSI: New York," "Medium," "Ugly Betty," "Grey's Anatomy," "Men in Trees," "CSI," "Survivor: Fiji," "My Name is Earl," "The Office," "ER," "Cold Case," "Brothers & Sisters," "Desperate Housewives" and "Without a Trace." It will also be broadcasted along with a Southwest tag in partnership with Southwest Airlines, in other key CTTC markets, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, St. Louis and San Antonio.

At the close of the commercial, viewers are directed (as part of the call-to-action) to the CTTC's Web site, www.visitcalifornia.com, or to call 800-GOCALIF (800-462-2543) for more information and details about booking a Golden State vacation.

The spot, however, is just one component of the tourism entity's overall $10 million spring/summer advertising campaign, which also includes complementing print advertisements in Travel & Leisure, Food & Wine, National Geographic Traveler and Sunset's California Drives. The CTTC teams up with Warren Miller Entertainment for print pieces in Ski, as well as Best Western to promote its California CD, and WalMart and Albertson's for its California Rewards program. The Internet campaign component includes video, interactive banners, key word searches and email.

If last year's CTTC campaign is any indicator, the 2007 spring/summer national advertising campaign is guaranteed to be a success. In 2006, the campaign generated $1.96 billion in incremental travel spending, and an overall return on investment of $29 to $1, according to independent research. Strategic Marketing and Research Inc. (SMARI) analyzed survey responses from almost 5,000 households nationwide, focusing on high-income households who were the primary target of the campaign. Out of nearly 57 million households targeted, 29.5 percent traveled to California in 2006. As SMARI points out, however, much of this travel would have occurred without the advertising.

When only the households that recalled the advertising are considered, their 15.6 million trips generated more than $19.2 billion in spending and $1.2 billion in tax revenue. An even more conservative analysis compared travel levels of ad-aware and non-aware households and found a 6.1 percent higher incidence of travel to California by those exposed to California ads. This incremental difference produced 1.5 million trips that would not have occurred otherwise, with a total economic impact of $1.96 billion and $127 million in tax revenues directly attributable to the $4.4 million campaign.

The CTTC is a non-profit organization with a mission to develop and maintain marketing programs -- in partnership with the state's travel industry -- that keep California top-of-mind as a premier travel destination. California is currently the number one travel destination in the country. According to the CTTC, travel and tourism expenditures total $93.8 billion annually in California, support jobs for 929,000 Californians and generate $5.6 billion in state and local tax revenues. For more information about the CTTC and for a free California vacation packet, go to www.visitcalifornia.com.

Source: California Travel and Tourism Commission

CONTACT: Jennifer Jasper, +1-916-319-5428, or Sam Caygill,
+1-916-319-5424, both of CTTC; or Christine Pierson of Edelman PR,
+1-916-442-2331, for CTTC

Web site: http://www.visitcalifornia.com/

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