Interstate 81 runs through the heart of New York state, hosts a ton of traffic and connects the region’s best destinations. As the main thoroughfare from Canada to Pennsylvania, this 170-mile gateway to the U.S. draws travelers from lucrative eastern Canadian markets like Ottawa.
However, the lack of marketing cooperation among communities along the corridor left this powerful tourism potential largely untapped. The five counties along the corridor stretching from the prestigious 1000 Islands region to bustling Binghamton, New York, needed a united campaign to generate dollars for their destinations. A state grant afforded the cooperative of county tourism professionals the opportunity to attract traffic to the exits.
With paper maps in the cultural rearview, mobile navigation opens a window of direct communication with travelers. ABC went to work building 81exits.com, a definitive exit-by-exit guide to gas, food, lodging and, of course, attractions driven by geo-location technology.
With a solid site in place, ABC turned its attention to the awareness phase of the campaign. We knew that each of three major visitor centers received annual foot traffic upward of 150,000. Another two rest stops added more real estate for the point of purchase materials we would create.
ABC designed a companion print guide that presented all the 81exits.com listings in a more traditional format that allowed for ad sales, which were facilitated by our sell sheets and executed by the tourism partners. We developed all creative for a three month digital campaign that reached into all the target markets.
