Killers music backs $1.3 million ski Tahoe ad campaign

The Associated Press

A sunset overview of the south shore of Lake Tahoe.

The Nevada Tourism Commission this week launched a $1.3 million winter advertising campaign heavy on promoting the Lake Tahoe area as a skiing destination.

Commission administrators say the 1,675 ad plays on a mix of 14 network and cable television stations in two markets — Los Angeles and San Francisco — would be seen nearly 95 million times over the course of the campaign.

The ads, using the “Don’t Fence Me In” soundtrack recorded by the Las Vegas rock band the Killers, directs viewers to the state’s TravelNevada.com website.

The campaign comes on the heels of a $1.3 million spring and summer campaign that ran from the middle of April to the end of June in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix. In a report, the agency said the 2013 spring-summer campaign resulted in visitors spending more per dollar invested in advertising than the previous year.

Department researchers said the marketing campaign boosted direct visitor spending to $263 for every dollar spent in advertising compared with $228 in the previous fiscal year.

Surveys indicated 80 percent of viewers liked the ad compared with 65 percent from the summer of 2012 and that the ads produced an intent to visit the state of 48 percent compared with 29 percent in 2012.

Commissioner Ryan Sheltra said he was pleased that the uptempo rendition of the classic cowboy song was well received and he asked whether that song and its message overshadowed the state’s “Nevada: A World Within, A State Apart” brand tagline.

Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, who chairs the commission, said while “Don’t Fence Me In” resonates as a tourism message, the brand tagline is designed to be applied to other state departments, including economic development.

Commissioners also approved $428,812 in tourism grants to 79 organizations statewide, mostly to assist in marketing programs for rural destinations. Four Southern Nevada organizations were among those receiving grants, including the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce, which got two grants totaling $3,900.

The Laughlin Tourism Commission received $8,000 to promote a concert series and the Outside Las Vegas Foundation got $7,500 to publish regional trail maps that will include trails in rural Clark County, Boulder City, Laughlin, Mesquite and Las Vegas.

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