NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. (February 25, 2015) – Newport Beach & Company and the Newport Beach Film Festival launched their first groundbreaking international collaboration: the Picture Perfect campaign, a dynamic and robust program in the United Kingdom February 2-6, 2015. The Picture Perfect campaign is the most significant and successful international marketing program in Newport Beach & Company’s history.
“With our carefully-crafted execution of this innovative global concept,” says Gary Sherwin, president & CEO of Newport Beach & Company, “we saw an overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic response from London’s key media, tour operators, film and government representatives.”
The three-part campaign promoted leisure travel to Newport Beach, California, Newport Beach Film Festival’s notoriety to the film industry and incentivized tour operators to book holidays to the destination.
Consumer Program: The consumer-based program generated awareness and promoted leisure travel to Newport Beach, California, as the United Kingdom is one of the top inbound international travel markets for the destination. Collaborating with Newport Beach & Company’s travel and public relations agency in the United Kingdom, Black Diamond, the two organizations created an exciting mobile Newport Beach experience for Londoners. A clear-sided truck with the campaign’s brand messaging “Picture Perfect” on the exterior and a beautiful beach experience on the interior traveled the streets of London. The mobile experience included a floor-to-ceiling image of Newport Beach, real sand under acrylic glass, lounge chairs, tropical plants, lanterns, heat lamps, branded hand warmers (to add some Southern California warmth), beach cruiser bicycles and luxury resort wear-clad models to greet the public.
“We strategically chose the winter season to tell the Newport Beach story to countless consumers, travel journalists and tour operators throughout London” says Doug McClain, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Newport Beach & Company. “The appeal of year-round Mediterranean climate in our luxurious and charming coastal retreat, resonated with consumers experiencing the warm beach ambiance on the truck during their coldest time of year.”
The truck embarked on a tour of central London, from February 2 – 6, 2015, throughout densely populated areas where locals frequent and districts where travel agents and media hubs are located. Visitors who entered the truck were encouraged to take a “selfie” on lounge chairs in front of the Newport Beach coastal scene and tag #pictureperfectNB to engage the truck visitors’ social media database.
The Picture Perfect sweepstakes was also launched, offering a lucky winner a dream vacation to Newport Beach. The sweepstakes package includes two round-trip international flights, compliments of Air New Zealand. The winner also will receive a hotel stay for nine nights, an all-access VIP pass to the Newport Beach Film Festival (including walking the red carpet on opening night), airport transfers, Fashion Island shopping gift card and a dining certificate. The models on the truck used iPads to encourage visitors to enter the online competition. Movado, an additional sweepstakes partner, offered luxury watches for seven sweepstakes runner-ups and promoted the campaign at point-of-sale and in its shop windows.
To drive visitation to the truck, Newport Beach & Company conducted an in-market media blitz. In anticipation of the campaign’s launch, Black Diamond executed press releases to travel trade and consumer lifestyle outlets, garnering awareness of the program. Additionally, a hosted media breakfast designed for key travel and lifestyle journalists took place on Wednesday, February 4 with campaign and sponsor representatives. On Thursday, February 5, Gregg Schwenk, co-founder of the Newport Beach Film Festival, and Gary Sherwin, CEO of Newport Beach & Company conducted 16 radio interviews broadcasted around the country which reached an audience of over 1,885,000. Newport Beach & Company conducted media appointments to introduce the destination to top-tier media. Lastly, distribution of a custom, branded collateral piece circulated in-market to further promote the campaign.
Newport Beach Film Festival Program: The second initiative of the Picture Perfect campaign supported the Newport Beach Film Festival’s strong ties to the United Kingdom. Newport Beach Film Festival historically has premiered several notable U.K. films, and dedicates an entire evening each year to spotlight and celebrate the overseas film industry. Strategically executing the campaign during the winter and during BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards, Newport Beach Film Festival honored THE IMITATION GAME for Outstanding Contributions to Global Cinema. In partnership with The Weinstein Company and Screen International, the Newport Beach organizations hosted a glamorous Newport Beach-branded reception on the evening of Thursday, February 5, 2015 at the ME London Hotel, to present the award. The cast, including Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, film industry affiliates, top-tier media and luxury tour operators attended, securing a mix of high-profile influencers. This is the inaugural award, and this initiative will continue spotlighting and celebrating other countries in the future.
“Our outreach and partnerships in the UK have succeeded our expectations,” says Gregg Schwenk, co-founder of the Newport Beach Film Festival, “our event with Benedict Cumberbatch and Kiera Knightly was the talk of London, and we are looking forward to more exciting opportunities with our partners and luxury brands.”
Travel-Trade Program: Lastly, Newport Beach & Company executed a travel-trade program to engage travel agents and tour operators to book a Newport Beach holiday for their clients during the campaign. To add further incentive to participate, every tour operator who books a vacation to Newport Beach is entered into a sweepstakes to win a dream vacation to the destination. Black Diamond circulated a press release to alert travel trade media of the sweepstakes. For more information about the travel trade program, please visit https://www.visitnewportbeach.com/travel-trade/
“After a week of non-stop media pitches, nationwide radio interviews, a star-studded reception, and a Newport Beach truck full of sand, sun and warmth, we can honestly say Newport Beach was the toast of the town. Aligning our gem of a city with A-list stars and out-of-the-box marketing elevated the Newport Beach brand to new heights in one of our top international feeder markets” says McClain, Newport Beach & Company.
About Newport Beach & Company
Founded in January 2013, Newport Beach & Co. is a non-profit organization established to serve as the official marketing agency for the city of Newport Beach. The agency brings together all of the marketing entities connected to the Newport Beach brand, and is designed to oversee separate business units that include Visit Newport Beach, Dine Newport Beach, Celebrate Newport Beach, Enterprise Newport Beach and Newport Beach TV. Additionally, Newport Beach & Co. includes the Newport Beach Foundation focused on creative charitable endeavors that support the business community.
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About Newport Beach Film Festival
Celebrated as one of the leading film festivals in the United States, the Newport Beach Film Festival has evolved into a prestigious multicultural event, attracting over 55,000 attendees to Southern California. Committed to enlightening the public with a first-class international film program, a forum for cultural understanding and enriching educational opportunities, the Festival focuses on showcasing a fresh and diverse collection of studio and independent films from around the globe. The 16th Annual Newport Beach Film Festival will screen an international slate of over 400 independent and studio films, including feature-length narrative, documentary, short, animated and student films that will compete for a series of Jury, Festival Honors and Audience Awards. www.NewportBeachFilmFest.com