I Heart NY, Then and Now

Before I moved to New York over two decades ago, I was a mere tourist enticed by slickly produced video vignettes showcasing the best of New York. The ads, created by the then hot Wells Rich Greene were as jazzy as Broadway, as dynamic as Niagara Falls and as proud as the Bronx Bombers. I even remember Frank Langella, then a lead on Broadway, purring in his best Transylvanian accent, “I love New York, especially in the evening.”

These ads put forth a number of compelling reasons to come to New York in an era when advertising could still cut through. There were fewer TV stations so chances were you would see the same ad with great frequency. In the case of the “I love New York” campaign, the ads became part of the American consciousness and were a feather in the chapeau of the “Scheherazade of Advertising” Mary Wells Lawrence. (I started my career at an outpost of Wells in Newport Beach, California and the pride in this campaign stretched all the way across the country.)

So it is with some interest that I read about New York’s latest effort to attract tourists to the Empire State in Media Post’s Marketing Daily. A lot has changed in the 31 years since this campaign went off the air. For example, the old campaign ran almost exclusively on TV. Here’s the media mix for the new campaign:

Launched this month, the campaign via Saatchi & Saatchi comprises ads in newspapers, billboards, direct response, magazines, guerilla marketing, viral and digital marketing, and partnerships with JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic, Travelocity and Orbitz, as well as an updated ILoveNY.com Web site, custom brochures and a getaway guide.

$17 million stretched across every media imaginable. Hmmm. Seems like a lot of ground to cover with a modest budget. According to the article, the effort has a reasonably narrow target:

The campaign is not aimed at bringing global citizens to the Big Apple, but at getting those who live within a three- to-five-hour drive to put New York State on the vacation consideration list.

Putting on my Marketing as Service hat, this campaign might rate 2.5 hearts out of 4. On the positive side, the ads are somewhat informative, promoting lesser known gems like the State’s wine region and the Albright Knox museum in Buffalo. And the ILoveNY.com website is reasonably robust providing a number of ways to help potential tourists plan their vacations. I particularly like the “configurators” that help you determine where you might want to go and identify “GetAway Packages” for the budget conscious.I Love NY.com

All that said, I feel like this campaign is missing something important. First off, with only $17 million to spend versus larger competitive budgets (PA spends $30 million and Ontario spends $60 million), they simply don’t have enough to have a meaningful impact on television. I would redirect the ad part of this campaign into areas of travel utility that could make a NY travel experience worth talking about. For example, work with Charmin to make sure there are nice public restrooms at the larger tourist destinations. Or subsidize modest amenities at each New York motel like “I Love NY” mints that can sweeten the dreams of weary budget travelers and encourage them to tell friends about their experience.

Or why not create an Empire State Travelers Club that challenges visitors to see the top 100 destinations in a 5-year period. These destinations could be voted upon online by the tourist themselves and could encourage each destination to address any shortcomings to improve their rankings. Frequent travelers would earn points that could be used for all sorts of NY-related goodies. The club could be administered by New York-based American Express and could be self-funded via a membership fee.The point is that there is a service opportunity here that is as vast as our great state and I’m quite certain the folks behind this campaign recognize that:

“This is big business,” says Thomas Ranese, CMO for ESD. “And research shows we have an opportunity for it to be much larger.”

So Mr. Ranese, feel free to give me a call. I love New York, especially when there is a hole in your marketing campaign.