Contact: Betsy Baumgart or Sarah Lawlor
Department
of Commerce
Montana Promotion Division
(406)
841-2870
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ADVERTISING SUCCESSFULLY
INFLUENCES TV VIEWERS;
GOOD EXPERIENCE INFLUENCES THEM TO COME AGAIN
Helena, MT – March 19, 2003 Department
of Commerce Travel Montana 2002 television-advertising successfully influenced
viewers to inquire about Montana and subsequently 28 percent of them visited
Big Sky Country according to the recent Montana Warm Season Per Inquiry
Television Campaign Conversion Study. Visitors responding to the ads spent
an average of $1,620 per trip last summer and fall.
“The goal of the research was to measure the effectiveness
of our current advertising and fulfillment strategies in generating visitation,
and thus revenue, to Montana,“ said Betsy Baumgart, Administrator for the
Department of Commerce Promotion Division.
“We never want to take for granted the monies that are entrusted to us
and this type of study helps ensure that doesn’t happen.”
According to Sarah Lawlor, the Department of Commerce-Travel
Montana Consumer Marketing Manager, one of the best facts to come out of the
study was the confirmation that Montana’s total marketing package was paying
off for the state. “Not only did the
advertising cause people to inquire about Montana, the information packet we
then sent to them influenced them to stay longer and take part in more
activities. That makes a difference
when, as the data reveals, they are spending an average of $360 per day.”
NFO Plog Research surveyed 406
people via telephone who responded to Montana’s television ads during the
spring of 2002. The survey results
reinforced the Department of Commerce-Travel Montana ‘s experience that per-inquiry
television inquirers are high-value visitors.
The study also reported that 25% of the respondents came to
sightsee. Another 21% visited friends
or attended a family event. Relaxation
and “escape” totaled 14%, and recreation activities added up to 13%.
Averaging 4.5 nights per visit, these Montana visitors
typically stayed in a hotel or motel.
Campgrounds ranked as a distant second-place, and staying with friends
and relatives was third.
Of particular note, 92% of the visitors surveyed responded
that they plan to come back again. And
of the people who didn’t visit after they made their inquiry? Four out of five of them say they hope to
visit in the next two years.
The full study is available at site www.travelmontana.state.mt.us/research.
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****News Editors and Directors: This press release is
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