Campaign to feature stories and personalities of Nevada, website enhancements, mobile application and increased social media engagement
CARSON CITY — Following approval by the Nevada Commission on Tourism, TravelNevada (Nevada Division of Tourism) released plans for its Fall/Winter integrated marketing campaign.
Through a variety of enhanced public relations, social and paid media channels, Nevada is again focusing the campaign to Millennials and Young Gen X travelers who have an adventure mindset.
Since 2013, TravelNevada has been using a “Don’t Fence Me In” campaign, featuring a custom rendition of the famous cowboy song recorded by The Killers, to market tourism – Nevada’s No. 1 industry.
According to Claudia Vecchio, Director of the Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, the approach is working.
“We continue to have great success with the ‘Don’t Fence Me In’ campaign,” Vecchio said. “In fact, since launching this direction and honing our focus on Millennial targets, the return on investment for Nevada has risen from 19:1 to 33:1 for our integrated marketing efforts.”
This means that, for every dollar spent on paid tourism advertising, $33 is returned to the state through travel and tourism activities – as proven by a third-party economic impact study.
Now, with a reimagined creative approach designed to bring real Nevada characters and stories to the forefront, “Don’t Fence Me In” remains, as a soundtrack – and a cornerstone philosophy that resonates with Nevada’s key targets.
“Millennials and the travelers we’re targeting have a maverick attitude, and they want individuality to shine through in everything they do – including travel,” said Vecchio. “We don’t just want to market to them, we want to involve them in our story and encourage them to create their own adventures – their way – in Nevada.”
The campaign will feature photography and videography featuring real Nevada characters who are connected to the many interesting experiences visitors can have throughout the state. From mountain bikers to chefs, and from artists to bikers and cowboys, the campaign will show visitors that the colorful characters who inhabit the state are eager to share their Nevada stories with visitors. With a common thread of “Go home with more stories than souvenirs,” the spotlight will be on creating brag-worthy, interesting experiences that follow you home.
TravelNevada will kick off this campaign this winter, with an integrated spectrum of new and traditional tools:
- TravelNevada.com will have an enhanced, content-driven platform designed to highlight Nevada characters, authentic Nevada stories and visual portrayals that highlight Nevada’s unique attributes, including personalities and landscape – (campaign testing revealed these elements were particularly compelling to key audience targets)
- Enhanced website that provides opportunities to customize and share itineraries
- Increased integration of social media, peer reviews and user-generated content
- New TV spots, print and digital advertising featuring Nevada’s colorful characters and locations
- Paid media partnerships with Outside Magazine, Spotify, Great American Country and Orbitz, among others
- TravelNevada mobile app, featuring itinerary sharing compatibility with the website, educational information and mapping tools that function regardless of cellular coverage
- New programs for visiting media including press trips highlighting the wild, quirky events only Nevada has to offer
The paid media components of the campaign will begin running in mid-November, including regional and in-state advertising that will primarily run in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Boise, and in-state markets. Digital ads will run through February of 2016. TravelNevada is increasing its “always-on” media programs where appropriate to help build a 12-month awareness of the state. Prior campaign efforts were focused around more seasonal pushes.
Facts about tourism in Nevada:
- Tourism employs approximately 474,000 Nevadans, making up 29 percent of the workforce
- 53.4 million travelers visited Nevada last year (up 2.6 over previous year)
- In 2014, tourism spending exceeded $62B, up from $59.4B in 2014
For more information on TravelNevada, visit www.TravelNevada.com, like us on Facebook, or follow up on Twitter and Instagram.
