Agency/media operation
MediaVest Worldwide (Canada)
Client
Dominican Republic Tourism
Brand
Dominican Republic: Land of Sensations
Budget
Less than $500,000
(media and production)
Media used
Television
Timing
Oct. 28, 2002 – Dec. 22, 2002
Media team
Sandra Reiss, media manager, MediaVest Worldwide (Canada)
The background
The goal of the campaign was to ensure that the Dominican Republic had top-of-mind awareness as a vacation option during key holiday decision periods (Christmas and winter) thereby driving visitors. In particular, the campaign needed to break through the vacation-destination advertising onslaught during the fall 2002 period. We also had to emphasize the key points of difference between the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean destinations.
The Caribbean is well-known for warm temperatures and tropical beaches; however, to engage demanding and safety-conscious holiday visitors post 9/11, it was crucial to convey the abundance of other enticements the destination has to offer.
Historically the Dominican Republic did not have a presence on television, relying instead on travel-trade media and consumer-magazine support. The challenge with the new media vehicle mix was the difficulty in demonstrating the wide variety of attractions and leisure activities available for the adventure enthusiast using a budget of less than $500,000 for both media and production.
Communication goals
The campaign had to provide national English coverage with an added multicultural component in southern Ontario.
Unique consumer insight
Celebrity endorsements in the form of TV content would break through and reinforce the safety of the destination post 9/11.
The plan
To create multiple messaging opportunities by partnering with key broadcasters to integrate Dominican Republic content into programming. A promotional layer would help gauge effectiveness of the effort.
Contact innovation
The media partners were CTV and multicultural regional broadcasters OMNI 1 and OMNI 2.
Working with creative agency Grupo Tender (Spain), spots focusing on the ‘Land of Sensations’ theme were produced featuring Canadian personalities such as Mike Bullard. In those spots, the celebrities visited the Dominican Republic to demonstrate the array of opportunities for travellers. The spots, in turn, were linked to a contest offering the winner a trip for two to the Dominican.
As well, a ‘Dominican Week’ mini campaign was developed specifically for CTV’s Mike Bullard Show. The campaign included three weeks of pre-promotion airing four different location shots. Viewers were also invited to visit the CTV Web site and correctly answer a trivia question to win a trip for two to the Dominican Republic.
Promo spots airing on both CTV and The Comedy Network featured numerous attractions and activities typical of the Dominican Republic. To further enhance ‘Dominican Week,’ Bullard’s tour guide was flown in for guest appearances and the contest winners were announced at the end of the week.
Meanwhile, OMNI 1 and OMNI 2 modified the promotional footage with language soundtracks to support six ethnic sub-groups identified as having high potential to travel to the destination.
Well-known on-screen personality Lucy Zilio hosted station breaks featuring one-minute interstitials showing her visiting historical locations, learning cigar rolling, picking up local dance moves and mingling with the island locals.
Viewers were also invited to call in during a two-week contest period. After correctly answering a trivia question, each caller qualified to enter to win one of four trips to the Dominican Republic.
Additional content in the form of teasers and an interview with a Sunquest partner representative aired during the week prior to the interstitials. The final week of the five-week effort announced the contest winners. All told, a total of 41 different interstitials were produced and aired to show the multitude of ‘sensations.’
The results
The contests resulted in over 60,000 entries from interested prospects creating a database for future communication. El Caribe newspaper reported that Dominican Republic tourist arrivals in January increased 35.9% versus a year previous, suggesting that the effort broke through the barrage of vacation advertising and established the Dominican Republic as a desired destination.
The judges rave…
‘By producing TV ads in line with the target groups and choosing the right medium, this plan solved half the problem. Now the client has to do the second half: deliver the product as it was sold to the consumer!’
‘Bypasses the conventional 30-second ad format so the brand becomes part of the programming in an entertaining fashion.’
