When you advertise countries which are little known, it pays to give the reader a lot of specific information – as in this newspaper ad for Singapore.
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I am supposed to be the Grand Panjandrum of travel advertising, because of my campaigns for Come to Britain, Come to France, Come to the United States, and Come to Puerto Rico. I have also done advertising for various carriers, including Cunard, P&O and KLM. And for American Express, who provide the financial oil that keeps international travel going.
When you undertake to advertise a foreign country, you have to be prepared for a lot of political flak. Research told me that what American tourists most wanted to see in Britain was history and tradition – Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace, Oxford, that kind of thing. So that is what I featured in the advertisements, only to be slaughtered in the British press for projecting an image of a country living in the past. Why did I not project a progressive industrial society? Why did I not feature the nuclear power stations which the British had just invented? Because our research had shown that American tourists had no desire to see such things, that’s why.
When our campaign started, Britain was the fifth most visited European country among American tourists. Today it is first.
Not long ago, a Labour Government decreed that the ‘Come to Britain’ advertisements should feature only those areas of Britain which were economically depressed, the idea being that foreign tourists would cure unemployment. I had to point out that Birmingham, Liverpool and Wigan could not compete with Venice, Paris and Amsterdam.
When we started advertising the United States in Europe, we used research to find out what the Europeans would most like to see. The answer was Manhattan, Grand Canyon, San Francisco, Niagara Falls and cowboys. So these were the attractions we featured in the advertisements – until the US Travel Service instructed us to feature scenes of South Dakota. One of the Senators from that State was on the Senate Committee which voted the advertising budget.
When we took over the French Government’s tourism advertising in the United States, the French politician who was our client was not on speaking terms with the brilliant cabinet minister who was his boss, and we got caught in the middle.
For 24 countries, foreign tourists represent one of the three biggest sources of foreign exchange, but the majority of foreign governments fail to give their departments of tourism enough money to advertise. This is true of Germany, Italy, Holland, Spain, Belgium, Scandinavia and scores of others. The exceptions are Canada, Britain, Greece, Ireland and some of the Caribbean islands. For a few years Congress voted a niggardly appropriation for the US Travel Service, but before long even that dried up.
Sometimes you will find it advisable to change the image of the country you advertise. My beloved Puerto Rico had the most unfortunate image of all. Research revealed that Americans who had never been there believed it to be dirty, ugly and squalid. When our advertisements showed it as it really is, beautiful and romantic, the tourists arrived in droves.
When you advertise countries which are little known, it pays to give the reader a lot of specific information – as in this newspaper ad for Singapore.
Click here for hi-res image.
While most advertising for countries should be designed to plant a long-term image in the reader’s mind, there are occasions when it can be used ad hoc, to solve temporary problems. In 1974 American newspapers were full of reports of shortages of electricity in Britain, enough to discourage Americans who did not relish spending their vacation in the dark. The end of the shortage was not reported in the press, but it was announced in our advertisements, and research showed a satisfactory decrease in anxiety among prospective visitors. At another period it was learned from research that Americans were concerned about high prices in Britain. This was met by advertising the actual prices of hotels and restaurants.
One of a series for the Peruvian airline, Faucett. They pulled 20,000 requests for a brochure offered at the end of the copy.
When American tourists got worried about high prices in Britain, this newspaper ad published some actual prices.
In 1974 American tourists were discouraged from visiting Britain by newspaper reports of an acute shortage of electricity. This ad announced the end of the shortage.
When you advertise a foreign country, illustrate things that are unique to that country. This marvelous copy was written by Bob Marshall.
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Perhaps the most important factor in the success of tourism advertising is the subjects you choose to illustrate. My advice is to choose things that are unique to the country concerned. People don’t go half the way round the world to see things they can equally well see at home. If you want to persuade the Swiss to visit the United States, don’t advertise ski resorts. If you want Frenchmen, don’t advertise American food.
Some countries are afraid that foreign tourists will mess up their cultural environment. Some years ago a prayer was read from the pulpit in every church in Greece, asking the Almighty to spare the Greeks from the ‘scourge’ of foreign tourism. When I was in Crete not long ago, it was obvious that this prayer had not been answered. Bermuda, which might easily have been turned into another Miami Beach, has had the wisdom to aim its advertising at the kind of Americans they would like to have.
Research revealed that American visitors to Britain wanted to see Westminster Abbey and other historical buildings more than anything else. This powerful advertisement was written by my former partner, Clifford Field.
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The biggest obstacle to tourism in Puerto Rico was its image. Research showed that people believed it to be the dirtiest, poorest, most squalid island in the Caribbean. Nothing could have been further from the truth, and this I demonstrated in advertisements. Tourism increased by leaps and bounds.
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Most people who travel abroad have had at least a smattering of college education and are unashamed culture-vultures – especially the wives. When they go to Europe, they collect museums, cathedrals, chateaux and so on. An exception was the Texan who told me: ‘The tour operator had us spend two days in Venice. What is there to see in Venice? When you’ve seen the glass factory, there isn’t anything else.’ A friend of mine was reluctantly persuaded by his family to visit cathedrals all over Europe. A few days after his return to Minneapolis, he felt it his duty to show me his own cathedral. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘we have the damn things here too.’
People dream about visiting foreign countries. The job of your advertising is to convert their dreams into action. This can best be done by combining mouth-watering photographs with specific how-to-do-it information. You show a photograph of an ancient Oxford college, and tell the reader how much it costs to go and see it. When you are advertising little-known countries, it is particularly important to give people a lot of information. In a two-page newspaper advertisement for Singapore we told readers about what to wear, the weather they could expect, the language, the food, costs, every mortal thing.
The best photograph in the history of travel advertising evokes rural France in masterly fashion. Taken by Elliott Erwitt under the inspiration of Bill Bernbach.
To attract tourists to Jamaica, Doyle Dane Bernbach created a campaign which is a classic of travel advertising.
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For most Americans, cost is the biggest obstacle, followed, I believe, by fear. Fear that they won’t be able to communicate. Fear that they will lose their money. Fear of the foreigners; research has found that Americans believe the British to be polite, honest and aloof, and the French to be rude, immoral and dirty. Fear of the food.1 Do your best to allay these fears.
Patterns of travel are peculiarly subject to fashion. The Virgin Islands may be all the rage one year, Hawaii the next. Try to put your country on the map, with headlines like Suddenly everyone is going to Ruritania.
By writing the headline in French – with a translation underneath – I got high readership, and differentiated France from other tourist destinations.
Tourism advertising works well in magazines, but it can work even better on television. Doyle Dane Bernbach’s commercials for France were enchanting. I particularly remember one which sought to persuade American tourists to visit the French provinces. ‘When you’ve seen France, you will never go back to Paris.’
I believe that charm works well in tourism advertising. And differentiation. If you write your headlines in French, everybody will know you are advertising France.
1Two Frenchmen were driving through the Cotswolds in England. One said to the other, ‘You must admit this is a very beautiful country.’ ‘Yes,’ replied his friend, ‘it is beautiful. Thank God they can’t cook it.’
