SPRING CAMPAIGN RESULTS
After a successful launch in 2022, Hamilton County Tourism, Inc., relaunched in 2023 a layered freshened version of the same campaign that targeted Chicago that included radio, television, social, television, streaming audio and paid search. In addition to Chicago, HCT’s campaign ran in Cincinnati and digitally statewide with the understanding that Cincinnati’s market population is one-third the size of Chicago’s but showed signs for opportunity.
With a vibrant sports economy and concerts at Ruoff Music Center driving significant room night sales on weekends, the campaign attempted to change mindsets about the destination to grow weekday travel. “Why Wait for the Weekend” communicates family-friendly, variety, outdoor recreation and fun and builds familiarity with perceptions of Hamilton County as a place for a leisure trip.
Research, conducted by Indianapolis-based SMARInsights, shows the consumer again responded positively to the campaign message that encouraged weekday visits. Geolocation insights and hotel room night sales reports also confirm that consumers responded to the campaign and some shifted their visits from weekends to Sunday-Thursday stays. According to Symphony, one of HCT’s many business intelligence platforms, Illinois represented 9.4% of all weekday visitation through July and Ohio 8.3%. Of these, 78% were overnight visitors and 64% were new visitors to the county. Weekends were still popular, with Illinois representing 11.6% of all Friday-Sunday stays and Ohio 11.1% of all visitors. The length of stay for weekday visitors is a full day longer than weekend visitors.
