Subway ad campaign tries to lure Toronto, Montreal commuters with a taste of N.B.
Marketing campaign attempts to draw tourists hesitant about cross-border travel
You don't expect to see Hopewell Rocks inside the Bloor-Yonge subway station in Toronto, but that's exactly what Tourism New Brunswick's new marketing campaign has made possible.
A new tourism campaign, called Get a Sense of New Brunswick, includes posters at subway stations in Toronto and Montreal, and a video featuring provincial hotspots such as the Bay of Fundy — all in an effort to attract more tourists from Ontario and Quebec.
Melanie Deveau, assistant deputy minister of parks and tourism, said the posters focus on getting daily commuters to stop their "monotonous routines" and "step back and take a breath and say, 'Wow, I could be there if I went to New Brunswick.'"
Deveau said the campaign is the result of a lot of research.
"Ontario and Quebec have always been important markets to New Brunswick," she said, noting that about 120,000 visitors already come to the province from Toronto annually.
People in Ontario and Quebec "want our Acadian culture," she said. "They want to come to the warmest saltwater beaches in Canada. They want the Bay of Fundy, that East Coast vibe."
Five years ago, Andrew Ennals, a freelance advertising copywriter, moved back home to Sackville from Toronto, where he lived for 30 years.
Ennals said the new campaign looks great and it's nice to see New Brunswick specifically targeting tourists in Toronto and Montreal. People who live in those cities tend to think of Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island as the Atlantic tourist destinations, he said.
Ennals did say, however, the placement of ads within the station is key. Putting ads on staircases or hallways is not as effective.
"The problem with putting stuff in that kind of scenario is that there's just a lot of people trying to get from one place to another. It's a big rush."
He said the more effective locations are within the subway itself.
"Or in the bus shelters. So places where you're standing around and you're waiting longer within the station."
Another problem, Ennals said, is that New Brunswick has not focused on building a reputation as a tourist destination in the same way that Nova Scotia and P.E.I. have. It has an opportunity, though, to define itself as being different from those provinces but just as great a tourist destination, he said.
"I think there's a quirkiness to New Brunswick that we could sort of push to the fore."
Ennals praised the campaign's focus on emphasizing the landscape but said it would also benefit from emphasizing other aspects, like Acadian and Indigenous cultures.
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