2023 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Like all tourist destinations, Quebec City disappeared from the international media during the pandemic. This prolonged absence affected its international visibility and attractiveness while benefiting larger Canadian cities with established reputations. The historic crisis caused a 53% loss in tourist traffic between 2019 and 2020. And though they saw an encouraging rebound among intraprovincial visitors, the work to win back international tourists remained considerable. The economic situation meant that DQC could only spend a few thousand dollars on a campaign (compared to the hundreds of thousands before the pandemic), far below the budgets of its Canadian competitors like Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. So how could they reach the whole world on a shoestring?

The agency’s goals are to achieve an ROI of $0.50 cost per contact, generate 20 media headlines (including 1 on a national channel), increase traffic to the DQC website by 20% during the period and increase searches associated with the Château Frontenac, the specific location they wanted to promote, by 20%.

Tapping into a current trend: set-jetting They uncovered an interesting fact: In the post-pandemic world, tourists have started considering the locations they see in TV series and movies as possible
holiday destinations.

Produce the first-ever tourism brochure disguised as a location pitch.

This approach offered two major opportunities: to generate strong visibility from a series’ audience and to showcase Quebec City’s most beautiful tourist attractions. But they still had to find THE series that would put Destination Québec cité on the map.

Boldness on a budget they set their sights on the hottest TV series that’s taken the world by storm: The White Lotus. With over 10 million viewers, the HBO series is known as a destination showcase. Their plan was simple: Convince the producers that the next season should take place in Quebec City. So they took the bold step of producing the first-ever tourism brochure disguised as an RFP – a PDF shared on social media that they hoped would inspire local pride and generate support for the campaign.

They also sent the document to news agencies with the goal of gaining worldwide attention thanks to great timing and an original approach. By relying on press coverage and local excitement, they hoped that the initiative would snowball and reach HBO. The pitch outlined six reasons why Quebec City would be a perfect match for The White Lotus, including the fact that it checked all the boxes from previous seasons: a charming city and posh hotel. Add in self-absorbed people and a cold winter and you’ve got a dramatic setting that feeds into the series’ narrative arc. The pitch also focused on more pragmatic points such as the advantageous exchange rate.

The results surpassed their expectations – A cost per contact of $0.0003 vs. their goal of $0.50, an impressive ROI considering this was the only marketing initiative during the period - 16 million people in North America and Europe were exposed to the brand – 102 headlines published (5 times more than targeted) – Advertising value of over $100,000 from the 13 largest media outlets (20 times more than their initial budget) Media coverage spanned three weeks and included hundreds of press reports, mentions on major television stations (CTV, TVA, Radio-Canada), a French media outlet (Konbini), radio shows (Q107 Toronto, CJAD 800, Radio-Canada) and in numerous tweets. Even Crave (the exclusive broadcaster of the series in Canada) relayed the information on the series’ homepage.

You’re probably wondering if the campaign made it to The White Lotus. It did! A member of their team even personally responded: “Always worth a shot, right? You can keep my name as a contact. We’ll let you know.” Their answer may have left us in suspense, but it did confirm one thing: Their faux tourism brochure was
a major hit.

Credits

[Company Credits]
CREATIVE AGENCY: LG2
CLIENT: Destination Québec cité

[Individual Credits - Agency - LG2]
CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER: Marc Fortin, Luc du Sault
VICE-PRESIDENT, EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Marilou Aubin
VICE-PRESIDENT, STRATEGY: Sophie-Annick Vallée
VICE-PRESIDENT, ACCOUNT SERVICES: Marie-Christine Cayer
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTION: Geneviève Langlois
CREATIVE DIRECTION: Alexandre Jourdain
COPYWRITING: Christian O’Brien
ART DIRECTION: Gabrielle Turcotte
ACCOUNT SERVICES: Claudia Trudeau
STRATEGIC PLANNING: Arnaud Mollé, Laura Danino

[Individual Credits - Client - Destination Québec cité]
DIRECTOR, DESTINATION QUÉBEC CITÉ: Robert Mercure
DIRECTOR, COMMUNICATION AND MARKETING DIVISION: Philippe Caron
DIRECTOR, INSIGHT AND DIGITAL MARKETING SECTION: Marie-Pier Larochelle
MARKETING ADVISOR, COMMUNICATION AND MARKETING DIVISION: Julie Genest