News
MeringCarson Wins Competition to Provide Advertising for CTTC
Sacramento-Based MeringCarson Wins Competition to Provide Advertising for California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC)
Memorable Ads and Innovative Branding the Hallmark of MeringCarson’s Success
For Immediate Release
April 6, 2010
Sacramento, Calif. – After an extensive competition featuring some of the country’s most prominent advertising agencies, California tourism leaders have selected Sacramento-based MeringCarson as the firm best equipped to promote the Golden State’s travel appeal to the world.
Announced in the fall of 2009, the RFP for a new advertising contract with CTTC attracted 14 agencies in all. In winning the contract, MeringCarson competed against some of the top names in the advertising industry, such as Saatchi & Saatchi, BBDO, Young & Rubicam and Campbell-Ewald. (Many of which are global giants with thousands of employees and billions of dollars in annual billings.)
“MeringCarson delivered a well researched strategy and communications plan - but most importantly, brought the California brand to life with brilliant creative execution and highly innovative promotional extensions,” said Caroline Beteta, president and chief executive officer of the California Travel and Tourism Commission. “MeringCarson’s work will once again convey to millions of experience-seekers throughout the world that vacationing in California is not just an activity, but a much desired transformative experience."
The decision marks the continuation of a long-running partnership between MeringCarson and the California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC), a nonprofit marketing organization funded by the travel industry. Account executives said their new agenda calls for collaboration on a five-year strategic marketing plan for the Commission, as well as increased integration with interactive partners and exploration of new international markets.
At MeringCarson, founder and chief executive officer David Mering said his team is anxious to take their highly regarded campaign in new directions. “We are honored by the Commission’s vote of confidence in our work and we look forward to building on the creative foundation we’ve put in place,” Mering said. “With California we are selling more than a spectacular travel destination – we are selling a wholly unique experience that comes from the people and our unique approach to life. And that opens up new opportunities to find fresh approaches that make it stand out unmistakably in the crowd.”
MeringCarson has been the agency of record for the CTTC since 1997, with its last contract renewal occurring in 2004. Research shows the agency’s creative campaign leveraging California’s distinctive lifestyle has resonated strongly not only domestically but in key international markets as well. The campaign’s centerpiece is its star-studded television spots, which use clips of celebrities such as Jack Nicholson, Clint Eastwood, Rob Lowe and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to highlight California’s culture and mystique.
Research shows the campaign has notched high levels of recall and impact compared to California’s most significant competitors, Texas, Florida and New York. The CTTC also has achieved a record-setting return on investment during its partnership with MeringCarson.
As in the past, MeringCarson will be joined on the account by Carat, an Aegis Media Group company and global independent media communications network that adds national and international muscle to the Sacramento firm’s strategic, creative and media expertise.
“The entire Carat team is proud and delighted to continue our innovative work with MeringCarson on behalf of the California tourism industry,” said Martin Cass, President of Carat. “Everyone involved with California tourism is 100 percent committed to building on what we have done in the past and grasping the opportunities the new media world provide.”
The 37-member California Travel and Tourism Commission is an industry-led, public/private partnership that promotes the California brand to increase tourism and travel-related spending. Its budget comes from industry assessments that generate about $50 million annually to fund California’s global tourism marketing program. Travel and tourism are big business in California. Expenditures total almost $88 billion annually, support jobs for 881,000 Californians and generate $5.3 billion in state and local tax revenues.