gci media releases

Tourism P.E.I. Promotes Stress-Free Vacations

April 13, 2009 | gci news

Fearsome Swedish tour guides and whirlwind museum tours are among the vacation horror stories at the centre of a new Tourism PEI effort from Grey Canada.

Using the tagline “Take a vacation you won’t need a vacation from,” the campaign includes two TV spots that feature “holidays from hell.” They end with shots of sunny Prince Edward Island beaches and supers driving viewers to GentleIsland.com. Each ad runs in 15- and 30-second formats.

The idea is that people returning from a vacation on P.E.I. return refreshed, positive and free of the stress associated with traditional vacation destinations. It’s also meant to present P.E.I. as a stand-alone destination as opposed to just another Atlantic province, said Gerald Schoenhoff, vice-president and associate creative director at Grey.

In 2006, Grey Canada created a new brand positioning for P.E.I.— “the gentle island of rejuvenation”—and each year runs new campaigns centred on that theme.

Although more than half of the province’s visitors came from Nova Soctia and New Brunswick in 2007, only a third of last year’s media budget was spent in the Maritimes, as East Coasters are already familiar with P.E.I.’s offerings.

Grey president Ann Nurock said this year’s media buy continues that trend, with print ads appearing in U.S. publications such as Conde Nast Traveller and Harper’s.

“We’re going pretty broad,” Nurock said. “There are certain [markets] that P.E.I. is really known for that we’re going after,” specifically golf travellers, she added.

The Canadian market is not being ignored, however. Robert Ferguson, acting director of marketing for Tourism P.E.I., commissioned Montreal agency The Montreal Office to create original French-language ads after research showed growth potential in that market.

However, the biggest change to this year’s campaign is a 20% shift in spending towards digital and social media following last year’s foray into blogger outreach, handled by PR agency of record GCI Group.

The online phase of the campaign debuts in May with the launch of an online “portal” most likely located at the existing GentleIsland.com site. It will serve as a hub for visitors’ stories and pictures, a Twitter feed and as the centre of GCI’s outreach to travel blogs and discussion boards.