In a context where most Quebecers spent their summer vacations on nearby U.S. beaches, New Brunswick needed to give them a very good reason to drive the extra six hours to its coasts. The big idea: position the province’s warm saltwater beaches, the warmest north of Virginia, against the icy cold waters of Maine. And so the ultimate objective of this campaign was to maintain visitation levels by reinforcing destination awareness and 'warm beaches' brand association.

An integrated campaign was developed, with digital at its core. The more mass the medium, the more focused the messaging was on the 'warm water' USP. The more digital and one-to-one we got, the more the campaign showcased the depth of the New Brunswick offer, under the promise that 'warm water is just the beginning.' The campaign was simultaneously launched on TV, search engine marketing, out-of-home and magazine. An on-demand ITV component allowed viewers to find out more about the destination. Six weeks into the campaign, a radio component was launched in order to reach and convince late decision makers. All campaign elements directed users to eauchaude.ca (warmwater.ca), an experiential microsite that enabled users to discover and share unique experiences and the online trip-planning tool.

The microsite attracted over 110,000 visitors, who viewed an average of six pages and shared experiences on Facebook for an estimated free exposure to 360,000 Facebook users. Over 42,000 visitors then proceeded to the province’s official website, and over 26,000 to the online trip-planner. Lastly, over 5,000 TV viewers watched the on-demand, long-form video in less than a month. But, at the end of the day, visitation is what really matters. And overall visitation objectives were largely attained.