Tourism Operators Report Double-Digit Increase in Visitation

Building on the success of the previous year’s summer campaign concept, T4G Kick and Tourism New Brunswick set out to change the mindset of travellers who had traditionally bypassed the province en route to other destinations.

T4G Kick designed seven road trip experiences around target travellers’ interests to raise awareness and inspire exploration, with the goal of increasing economic growth in the province’s tourism sector.

The Challenge

New Brunswick, with all its natural beauty and unique attractions, still faced the challenge of convincing travelers in Ontario and Quebec markets to explore New Brunswick’s extraordinary charm. This had to be achieved with the same year-on-year media spend from 2015 to 2016.

The Approach

Focus group testing revealed that travellers did not believe there was enough to do in New Brunswick to warrant a vacation to the province. Explorer Quotient (EQ) research provided important insights into travel preferences. We used this information to create seven road trips designed to appeal to our target markets.

TNB’s 2015 summer campaign, East of Ordinary, became Take a Trip East of Ordinary. Road trip experiences came to life in a bilingual, integrated effort that covered the entire customer journey on channels including; TV, out of home, online, social media, content distribution, and search engine marketing.

TNB was the first to:

• Have an interactive video format on Montreal Transit Shelters
• Advertise high impact full-screen placements with a 360° experience ad on the Toronto Star iPad app

T4G Kick’s digital storytelling team and members of TNB travelled these road trips themselves, sharing their experiences live and curating content along the way to further inspire visitors.

The Result

We showed travellers that there was more than enough in New Brunswick to fill their entire vacation, and they responded:

• Branded search volume increased, telling us more and more travellers were seeking out New Brunswick
• 20% year-over-year increase in website traffic attributable to the campaign
• 110% year-over-year increase in website conversions attributable to the campaign
• Double-digit visitation increases year over year reported by attractions and operators featured in the campaign