The Global "Always San Francisco" Campaign Celebrates the City's Bold, Inviting, and Playful Ethos and is the Association's First to Include High-Reach TV Advertising
SAN FRANCISCO, May 30, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The San Francisco Travel Association has launched its largest-ever global marketing and advertising campaign, "Always San Francisco," to promote tourism to the city. The multi-million-dollar campaign targets leisure travelers and meeting planners in major domestic markets and key international markets. It is the destination marketing organization's first campaign to include television advertising.
Celebrating the city's bold, inviting, and playful ethos, the "Always San Francisco" campaign features iconic locations visitors already connect to San Francisco—the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, and Lombard Street—and ones that showcase the city's vibrant neighborhoods and the diversity of visitor experiences. The campaign also includes cameos by San Franciscans, such as Lady Camden of RuPaul's Drag Race fame, artist Sirron Norris, dancers from the acclaimed AXIS Dance Company, musicians Mae Powell and Michael O'Konis, Chinatown lion dancers, and chefs from Michelin-starred Angler, to represent the talent and inclusivity the city champions.
"This is the largest campaign San Francisco Travel has ever launched due to the incredible support from the City and County of San Francisco, Visit California, and other stakeholders," said San Francisco Travel President and CEO Joe D'Alessandro. "Tourism is vital to the city's economic recovery, and 'Always San Francisco' is designed to drive increased visitation by showing the authentic San Francisco experience people love and dream about."
San Francisco Travel Chief Marketing Officer Lynn Bruni-Perkins said, "The campaign evokes the emotional joy visitors find here. San Francisco will always be San Francisco. It is ever-changing, but the feeling of San Francisco remains constant. Its epic beauty, iconic landmarks, diverse people, and larger-than-life moments stay with you forever."
To match the powerful and inspiring imagery, San Francisco Travel collaborated with local and San Francisco-connected musicians to reimagine Judy Garland's beloved rendition of the classic "San Francisco" song for its campaign video.
"We chose a soundtrack that matched the campaign's energy and uplifting message and tapped into San Francisco's legendary local music scene to reimagine the song," said Bruni-Perkins. "The result is a beautiful artistic collaboration true to San Francisco's spirit."
Campaign assets will appear in high-impact media, such as linear TV (traditional TV), connected TV (CTV), and digital out-of-home (DOOH) in New York City, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Houston.
The campaign will also have a robust digital media layer through programmatic advertising, video ads, paid social media, OTA partnerships, and earned media. A consumer sweepstakes contest in the U.S. featuring five San Francisco experiences, including an "ultimate" package with exclusive access to attractions and activities, will launch in the coming months.
The domestic campaign runs from May 30 to Oct. 22. Internationally, "Always San Francisco" digital marketing campaigns will run in Australia, India, Asia Pacific, Europe, Canada, and Mexico.
The $6 million+ campaign is funded by a sub-grant from Visit California, a grant from San Francisco's Office of Economic and Workforce Development, San Francisco Travel, and industry stakeholders.
San Francisco's tourism industry has steadily recovered since the city's reopening in 2021. This year, San Francisco Travel has forecasted 23.9 million visitor arrivals and visitor spending of $8.9 billion, an increase of $1 billion compared to 2022.
To view the campaign video, visit http://www.alwaysf.com. Locals and travelers are encouraged to engage and follow along using the hashtag #AlwaysSF.
SAN FRANCISCO TRAVEL
The San Francisco Travel Association is the official destination marketing organization for the City and County of San Francisco. The city is one of the top tourism and meetings destinations in the U.S. and received 21.9 million visitors in 2022. Total tourism spending in 2022 exceeded $7.7 billion. The tourism industry is the largest generator of outside revenue into San Francisco's economy and supports over 53,000 jobs.
For information on reservations, activities and more in San Francisco, visit http://www.sftravel.com.
Follow San Francisco Travel on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/onlyinSF/), Instagram (http://www.instagram.com/onlyinsf/), and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/onlyinsf). Hashtags are #sftravel and #AlwaysSF.
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
SFO is excited to welcome travelers back to the skies with an airport experience featuring seamless access, thoughtful amenities, sustainable design and inspiring artwork and exhibits.
For up-to-the-minute departure and arrival information, airport maps and details on shopping, dining, cultural exhibitions, ground transportation and more, visit https://www.flysfo.com/. Follow us on twitter.com/flysfo and facebook.com/flysfo.
United Airlines is the preferred airline of the San Francisco Travel Association.
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Image Links and Information:
- Press releases and other media resources are available at http://www.sftravel.com/media
- The San Francisco Travel Photo Video Library is available at photos.sftravel.com
- To receive news and updates regularly in San Francisco Travel's e-newsletters, visit http://www.sftravel.com and scroll down to "Newsletter Sign-up."
Media Contact
Maddy Ryan, San Francisco Travel Association, (415) 227-2680, maddy@sftravel.com
SOURCE San Francisco Travel Association
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