“In this city, beauty has many faces,” the beginning of the new marketing campaign from creative agency J. Walter Thompson Toronto states.
The campaign, which is for Tourism Toronto, launched on March 6th and shows some of the famous things Toronto is known for. The goal of the campaign is to attract visitors by showing all the wonderful aspects of Canada, speaking to both the iconic physical views and the open-minded views that define Toronto.
“Toronto is a truly unique city filled with spectacular views of architecture, neighborhoods, culture and the lake, and also a place where you’ll find a unique way of looking at the world,” said Andrew Weir, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Tourism Toronto.
“The Views Are Different Here” launched on March 6th and is designed to show international travelers both the excitement and diversity that have made Toronto Canada’s largest city and most-visited destination.
Leading with a central new video – all newly shot and with originally composed music – the campaign will roll out online through the spring with additional themed videos and digital ads, reaching consumers through sophisticated behavioral targeting planned by MEC Canada.
According to Weir, the other three videos will be rolled out on http://www.seetorontonow.com over the next few weeks and will focus on three specific themes: Food, Art & Culture, and the Progressive Spirits of Toronto.
“One of the things that makes us distinctly Canadian is this modern idealism and progressive inclusive approach,” Weir told DIVERGE. “It’s not just the fact that we have people that come from all over that are in all different shapes and sizes and colors, it’s the fact that we thrive because of it.”
“Toronto has grown into the strong global city that it is precisely on the strength of embracing that inclusivity,” Weir added.
The project was funded by the Greater Toronto Hotel Association’s Destination Marketing Program, which is a new campaign that is capitalizing on the steady growth of record tourism numbers for the past several years, driven by steady growth from key markets including the U.S., China, U.K., Germany, Japan and Mexico.
The video series was produced with Toronto-based post-production houses, featuring real Torontonians. The song is an original track sampling of “I Put a Spell on You” composed by Toronto’s own Mike Wise and produced by Apollo Studios also in Toronto, with vocal performance by Toronto poet and singer, Bethany Le
Weir explained that through the videos, they want to show what the city looks like and smells like by invoking food, culture, and the life in the neighborhoods of Toronto.
“We are trying to show people the duality of how the city looks, the beautiful spectacular things you can see here, the physical views but also how the city feels-the unique and distinct viewpoints with which we see the world,” he added. “The focus really is on positioning Toronto as Canada’s downtown.”
