Sunshine Matters

Each year, VISIT FLORIDA conducts a survey to determine the return on investment from our domestic advertising campaign.  I am pleased to share that VISIT FLORIDA’s Spring 2013 “Must Be the Sunshine” advertising efforts generated $390 in traveler spending and $23 in new sales tax revenue for every $1 of advertising spend.  These results were unveiled during today’s Advertising & Internet Committee meeting at the annual VISIT FLORIDA Marketing Retreat.

Strategic Marketing and Research, Inc.’s study showed that the campaign creative resonated especially well with VISIT FLORIDA’s key Spring target audience of families with children under 16.  The impact of the campaign creative received “excellent” ratings from households with kids, with survey respondents saying that “after seeing these ads I am more interested in visiting” and that “Florida is a good place to have fun.”

Utilizing an increased advertising budget very strategically, the buy was focused on reaching more households in areas east of the Mississippi and in eight spot markets: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and, new this year, Dallas.  VISIT FLORIDA’s campaign resulted in significant gains, especially in New York and Chicago, where our train takeover garnered substantial attention.

The campaign used multiple media channels to reach a wider audience and create synergy through exposure with a mix of television, radio, online, print, outdoor/transit advertising and, new this year, Pandora and iHeart Radio.  VISIT FLORIDA’s strategy of utilizing multiple media proved to be a key to the success of the campaign.

Overall, the campaign generated more than 1.2 million trips that are directly attributable to the advertising, a 6.8% increase from last year.  More incremental trips, coupled with an increase in visitor spending, garnered a significant increase in tax revenues to the state as a direct result of the advertising.  This campaign generated nearly $188 million in taxes with an expenditure of just over $8 million.  As a result, the ROI and Tax ROI for the campaign also improved significantly over the previous year.