St. Thomas Real Estate Trends

Is this advertising exciting enough to bring visitors to our lovely paradise?

Excerpt from the US Virgin Islands aily News:

ST. THOMAS - The V.I. Tourism Department showed off the territory's new brand, slogan and advertising campaign Tuesday at the USVI Hotel and Tourism Association's 16th annual Destination Symposium.

The new ads feature the slogan, "You, Unscripted." The slogan embodies the new brand, which focuses on the visitor's desire to create their own, unique vacation experience, Tourism Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty said.

The ads show people who have "lost" their everyday identities and "found" a new one through their Virgin Islands vacation. For example, one print ad shows a woman swimming in turquoise waters. It says, "lost: multi-tasker, found: mermaid." A mermaid tail has been drawn on top of the photograph to illustrate the fantasy of the vacation experience.

Sebastian Benjamin is the USVI account director at JWT, the Atlanta-based advertising agency contracted by Tourism to develop the territory's new brand and create the new ads. The agency holds a $10 million contract with the department, $1.2 million of which was used to develop the new branding for the territory. The funding for the contract comes from the Tourism Advertising Revolving Fund.

Benjamin said the idea is to appeal to travelers who want a diversity of experiences.

"It invites you to lose the label of who you are when you're back home," Benjamin said about the new campaign.

The tourism industry professionals at Tuesday's meeting were impressed with the new campaign.

"It's really fantastic what they've done," said Sharlene Brenkus, Wyndham Sugar Bay director of sales and marketing.

Her colleague Arianne Valentino, global sales director for the Wyndham Hotel Group, agreed.

"You take our everyday lives and you allow us to escape," she said. "I'm blown away."

Since the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the department has pushed the fact that the islands are under the U.S. flag with the slogan "America's Caribbean." Nicholson-Doty said the idea behind that branding strategy was to make Americans feel safe and comfortable with travel to the territory.

The fears following 9-11 have faded and to compete against other Caribbean destinations, Tourism has expanded its reach to new, international markets that do not respond to the "America's Caribbean" theme.

To develop the new platform, Tourism's marketing team talked to a wide range of people in the territory's key markets. Through interviews and focus groups, the department was able to get a better feel for what today's traveler is looking for in a Caribbean destination - an authentic experience of a destination and a trip that goes "off the beaten path."

The $6 million campaign will consist of 30-second television spots, magazine, newspaper and Internet advertising. The ads will target a range of market segments including bridal and romance, culture and heritage, sailing and yachting, meetings and incentives, divers and African-American travelers.

The national print and television ads started running Monday. Nicholson-Doty said they will do a short, six-week run now, then hold off until the fall when marketing will ramp up in preparation for the coming tourist season.

The new ads were shot on all three islands in February using local actors recruited through open casting calls. The soundtrack for the radio and television ads was recorded by the Rising Stars Steel Orchestra. 

Tourism officials said JWT worked with local vendors including caterers, casting, scouting, make-up artists, wardrobe and production services - contributing about $1 million to local economy, according to Tourism.

Samples of the print ads and a 30-second television spot can be viewed at www.usvimarketing.com.

The new brand and advertising campaign is the final piece of the department's overhaul. In December, the new logo - a multicolored moko jumbie juggling three stars - was unveiled. Benjamin said that while many Caribbean islands have moko jumbies as part of their culture, no one has used the image as a logo before.

In January, the new $250,000 website - www.visitusvi.com - was launched. Benjamin said it is receiving about 63,600 visitors a month and each person is spending about five minutes looking at the site. Visitors to the website can plan their trip, link to local businesses and view maps of the islands.

Soon, additional features will be added to the site including a full translation into Spanish, a travel agent education section and the ability for businesses to respond to requests for proposals sought by the department.