Visitors Bureau Hires Jennings Advertising To Create Tourism Campaign

Chapel Hill, NC (February 21, 2007) – The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau has hired Chapel Hill-based Jennings Advertising to create a brand identity and Internet campaign as part of a $200,000 marketing plan aimed at driving economic development in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough through tourism.

The goal of the campaign is to capture “the unique character of place and magic that travelers love about Orange County,“ said Executive Director Laurie Paolicelli. “Chapel Hill is known as a college area; however, the county has grown to include luxury hotels, 300 restaurants, walking and biking trails, cooking schools, a robust cultural scene, shops and nightclubs. We want to convey all that Orange County can offer visitors so that we fill hotel rooms and fuel spending in area shops and restaurants year-round.“

The brand identity will also give birth to a new Website, which will be a planning tool enabling potential and committed visitors to find out about where to stay and what to see and do. New features will include a countywide calendar, an enhanced hotel booking mechanism and testimonials from previous visitors.

To accomplish this task, Jennings will team with Raleigh-based Vision Point Marketing, an Internet-marketing firm that helps mid-size organizations implement online marketing techniques and interactive technologies such as search engine and e-mail marketing.

The selection of Jennings was made after a six-month review process that began with a board-appointed marketing committee comprised of Visitors Bureau Marketing Chairman Rick Strunk, North Carolina High School Athletic Association; Linda Convissor, University of North Carolina; Robert Ward, Orange County Economic Development; Cathleen Turner, Alliance for Historic Hillsborough; Lee Pavao, Chairman of the Visitors Bureau; and Laurie Paolicelli.

A request for proposal was sent to 21 national agencies, of which 14 submitted proposals. The committee met frequently to review proposals, references and creative examples. Of these, four agencies were chosen to make presentations.

The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau is not alone in its effort to sell a region with a unique brand identity. Austin, Texas—which garnered attention when the unofficial slogan, “Keep Austin Weird,“ became popular—is widely known as the Live Music Capital of the World. In Asheville, NC, travelers are invited to “Enrich Your Life” in a campaign that boasts of a welcoming, natural and vibrant environment.

Jennings, founded in 1979, specializes in advertising, public relations and brand development for businesses in healthcare, transportation, financial, telecom, and real estate.


Did You Know?

UNC was the first state-supported university in the U.S. and enrolls nearly 30,000 students from all North Carolina counties, all U.S. states and more than 100 foreign countries.