Overview
More than 18-months since Travel Alberta’s winter 2019/20 campaign was paused due to COVID-19 restrictions, our winter 2021/22 marketing campaign is officially live. This multi-channel campaign is designed to position Alberta as a top winter destination by showcasing best-of-Alberta moments to Ultimate Travellers across a diverse set of tactics.
This campaign takes a unique joint marketing approach that includes collaborations with Destination Canada, Alberta’s NorthStar Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs), and tourism industry partners throughout Alberta.
U.S. WINTER CAMPAIGN: Winter is Deeper
Winter is Deeper is a pilot partnership campaign with Destination Canada that has the overarching creative concept of celebrating the qualities that make winter in Canada a deeper, one-of-a-kind experience, ultimately positioning Canada as the ‘home of winter’.
Travel Alberta is working in collaboration with Destination Canada as one of three partnered Provincial Marketing Organizations (PMOs), along with Destination B.C. and Tourism Quebec, to target Destination Canada’s High Value Travellers and Travel Alberta’s Curious Adventurers in California and Texas. As an additional partnership layer, Travel Alberta will be highlighting the winter offerings of participating DMOs and tourism operators, including Tourism Calgary, Explore Edmonton, Tourism Jasper, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism, SkiBig3, Fresh Tracks Canada and Contiki.
Leveraging existing Winter Warmth assets, the campaign aims to grow awareness and interest in our province as a winter travel destination, and drive consideration and ultimately bookings for winter and ski experiences. Once consumers move through the awareness and consideration phases of the marketing funnel, they are led through the preference phase to book their trips and experiences.
In the Destination Canada-led awareness and consideration portions of the campaign, some of the notable tactics include digital audio ads on podcast platforms such as Apple and Spotify, amplification of creative on key social platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube), showcasing Canada through in-flight entertainment on United Airlines and American Airlines, and a partnership with The New York Times to position Canada as a winter “wander-land” through custom executions across desktop, mobile and print.
The Travel Alberta-led preference portion of the campaign includes Google discovery ads promoting partners’ winter offerings, on-site and off-site placements on Expedia to drive users to book their Alberta winter vacation, and paid social media ads promoting and encouraging bookings on Facebook and Instagram.
