Maine flaunts its quirky, passionate residents in 2013 tourism ad campaign

Maine is ready to tell you just how quirky, offbeat, and down-to-earth it is. In a new marketing campaign, created to attract first-time visitors to the state, Maine is focusing on the passions of its real-life residents and hoping to inspire travelers to discover their own interests.

The Maine Office of Tourism created the 2013 tourism marketing campaign around the idea of originality in an effort to brand itself as a destination “where you can follow your inner compass and be completely yourself…an Original.”

The core of the campaign is “The Maine Thing” ads, which features real Mainers talking about their experiences and what makes them passionate about the state. The stories are specifically focused on areas and activities that appeal to tourists.

Below are two examples: One features the variety of restaurants and popular farm-to-table movement in Maine by highlighting Kathy, the author of four cookbooks and a state resident. The other highlights the arts by telling the story of Suzanne, a singer who visited Maine and never left.

Maine currently has a terrific rate of repeat visitors fueled by the number of multi-generational families that have returned to the state for years; however, this campaign is hoped to increase the percentage of first-time overnight visitors by 16.5 percent.

Maine had a strong year for tourism in 2012 with 27.9 million visitors, almost 2.2 million people more than in 2011. Tourism-related businesses generated 85, 562 jobs and $5 billion in direct expenditures.

Maine 2013 Tourism Campaign by Skift

Maine 2013 Tourism Campaign by Skift