This summer, Visit Savannah is introducing a new creative campaign for its print and digital advertising. The new campaign assets feature whimsical imagery coupled with clever copy which present Savannah as a vibrant and trendy destination. It replaces a campaign that was in place for four years, and will highlight the destination to both leisure and meetings/convention travel.
 
“This new creative is designed to showcase the Savannah visitor experience in a much more evocative way than previous campaigns,” says Joseph Marinelli, president of Visit Savannah. “Whether it’s a spin on outdoor dining or a unique shopping or touring experience, we want the prospective visitor to say ‘Wow, I didn’t expect that in Savannah.’ Our goal was to showcase the quirky side of our town in a way that everyday folks will aspire to and can imagine experiencing themselves.”
 
Jeremy Harvey, Visit Savannah’s vice president of marketing & communications, was the primary liaison between Visit Savannah and Paradise. “The images are definitely page-stoppers,” he says.” “The colors are bold and eye-catching and the copy is clever and creative. But the tagline pays it all off with, “This Isn’t Ordinary. This Is Savannah.”
 
The concept for the new creative was formulated by Paradise Advertising and Marketing out of St. Petersburg, Florida. Paradise was selected after a competitive nationwide RFP process lasting several months. The Paradise team visited Savannah on multiple occasions to plan and execute the stunning new photography that serves as the campaign’s cornerstone. Showing locations familiar to Savannahians and past visitors, each photo will give the viewer a peek into what may at first seem like a beautiful travel experience, with imagery of Low Country landscapes and Savannah’s natural scenery, but on second glance captures something extraordinary happening within the scene. Click here to see a selection of the new campaign assets.
 
The “This Isn’t Ordinary. This is Savannah” campaign was selected by a task force made up of Visit Savannah staff and board members from among three campaign pitches. The direction was strongly based on the data and research that Visit Savannah compiles based on current visitation to the city and industry market trends. Based on these and other findings, the campaign will target a slightly younger and more affluent demographic than campaigns of the past.
 
Paradise’s vice president and chief creative officer Tom Merrick elaborates on the creative process: “This campaign was driven by two things: the first was the research that enabled us to really understand the target market—who they are, what they expect to find in Savannah, what they hope to find there. The second was our own experience in the destination. After spending some time there, we came to realize that Savannah is a classic Southern city with a twist. It's elegant, yes, but also unpredictable. It's as classy as it is quirky. We literally realized that Savannah is anything but ordinary. After that epiphany, the campaign quickly came to life.”