Port District Launches ‘Big Bay’ Campaign
BY TANYA RODRIGUES
Staff Writer
The San Diego Unified Port District recently announced a new marketing campaign that will feature, as one general attraction, the various businesses located on the bayside properties the organization oversees.
The campaign, which will cost $500,000, includes one television commercial and one radio commercial, as well as ongoing print advertisements.
About $330,000 is being spent on media buys, said Lorrin Boyer, marketing director for the port, which manages the Port of San Diego, Lindbergh Field and the public tidelands along San Diego Bay.
Television and print work for “The Big Bay” campaign has already begun airing, and the radio spot is expected to launch in either late March or early April.
The campaign has been budgeted for a year, and funds were used from the Port District’s general operating budget.
According to Boyer, the port has allocated similar amounts each year to marketing. However, this year is the first to have such a unified program, she said.
The theme is “The Big Bay,” and the main image is a graphic of a ship breaking waves in a forward motion.
The campaign reflects an evolution in the way the port approaches marketing, Boyer said.
In the five years since the department was created, several smaller campaigns aimed at increasing visitor counts to bayside activities and businesses have taken place.
For 2002, the port and their on-project marketing consultants, MJE Marketing and public relations firm Katz & Associates, created a more general program intended to bring visitors year-round.
Advertising will be done in nearby driving-distance markets already a focus of tourism organizations such as the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau and the major attractions in town. The drive markets are Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Orange County, and Arizona.
Locally, the print advertising will be in general-interest newspapers such as the North County Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The port doesn’t have any specific goals or projections for how “The Big Bay” could affect businesses around the area. This year, it plans to monitor how the campaign affects business, although it could be difficult to track, Boyer said.
In a media release about the new program, ConVis chairman John Hawkins said the campaign is well suited to the current state of the tourism industry.
“People are staying closer to home these days,” said Hawkins, whose day job is president and CEO of locally based Cloud 9 Shuttle. “It’s the perfect time to launch a program that raises awareness of all the great things to do , right in our own backyard.”
The port plans to do cooperative marketing with ConVis.
