He’s already on top of the world as a Marvel star and now Simu Liu is inviting visitors to his home town of Toronto by doing the EdgeWalk and visiting other popular locales.
Running until October, Destination Toronto’s “You Gotta See What We See” targets major U.S. markets like New York, New Jersey, San Francisco, San Jose, Chicago and Washington D.C. with the primary goal of building brand awareness, fueling curiosity and encouraging travel to Toronto.
In the spot, Liu visits the waterfront, the Art Gallery of Ontario – one of his favorite destinations for “quiet contemplation” – shares his love for the city’s theatre scene, throws out the first pitch at a Jays’ game and jumps aboard a helicopter. And he scales the perimeter of the CN Tower in an EdgeWalk, a tourist attraction which was also featured prominently in 2021’s “Never Have I Ever, TO” campaign by Bensimon Byrne to rally local tourism.
In addition to Liu, the video campaign features other local personalities, such as Nick Liu, critically-acclaimed chef and owner of DaiLo; Mariah Amber, live and digital host for the Toronto Raptors; Santee Siouxx, a Dakhota and Odawa content creator; and Sonia Mangat, host and reporter on CTV’s ETalk and CP24’s Breakfast Television.
https://youtu.be/S9_eGPy7UeY
This is the first U.S.-facing campaign since 2019 for Destination Toronto, an organization mandated to reflect the breadth and diversity of the city’s people, places and culture to inspire residents and visitors to meet, visit and explore.
Paula Port was named Destination Toronto’s VP of global marketing in July after more than 20 years with the organization. She tells strategy that Liu is a passionate Torontonian and that he and Destination TO’s team of “insiders” saw a great opportunity to tell the rich and diverse story of the city.
Port says the key target U.S. markets are selected based on accessibility and propensity to travel here, and are key business event opportunities for the city. The campaign leans heavily into digital and social this time around, as well as a strong paid search effort.
The “You Gotta See What We See” campaign quietly launch in mid-July as initial promotion was rolled out, but the main campaign videos were released Tuesday. It’s looking to engage visitors currently planning travel into the fall and next spring.
Bensimon Byrne handled the initial concept ideation, Scarlett Street handled production and Wavemaker handled the buy. Scarlett Street previously worked with Destination Toronto on the “Stories from The 6” content series.
Ad spend, Port says, is a bit higher than its prior U.S. engagement in 2019.
In 2019, Toronto had almost two million American travelers who brought nearly $1.36 billion in spending to the visitor economy. According to Destination Toronto insights, the city’s visitor economy is a vital economic engine, generating more than $10 billion in economic activity and supporting 70,000 jobs in 2019.
Images by Scarlett Street.
