St. Maarten Tourism Unveils New Branding Campaign
St. Maarten is focusing on the variety of experiences that vacationers enjoy with a new branding campaign that captures the “feeling of the experience” that visitors elicit during their stay on the island. When announcing the new branding campaign for the destination, St. Maarten Commissioner of Tourism Frans Richardson explained that the concept behind the branding can be summed up with one statement: “It’s all in our name.” Working with the spelling of “St. Maarten,” the just-launched campaign will capture audiences across North America with positive adjectives purposefully misspelled with “capital double ‘A’s” followed immediately by the words “St. Maarten.”
The campaign identity, created by advertising agency Tambourine, will be visible in all logos, videos, print and outdoor advertising, specialty marketing items, brochures and stationary as well as an image gallery which features all new photography from an extensive on-island photo shoot recently completed by Tambourine. Adjectives will constantly be changing depending on the focus of specific ads. For instance, when promoting St. Maarten as a wedding and honeymoon destination, an ad may read: “PAASSIONATE ST. MAARTEN.” When conveying St. Maarten as an active vacation playground, an audience could see: “PLAAYFUL ST. MAARTEN.”
A just-launched public relations campaign to promote winter specials for vacationers is using “SENSAATIONAL ST. MAARTEN” to capture the deals that are now available. Other words designed for the campaign include: MAAGICAL, GLAAMOROUS, CHAARMING, and ENCHAANTING.
“We are very proud of our diversity with a wide range of attractions and activities, a variety of accommodations, more than 300 quality restaurants and our central location which enables vacationers to enjoy day trips to other islands,” said Richardson. “This campaign allows us to tap into and highlight all the things that make St. Maarten an ideal vacation destination through words and phrases that truly represent how a traveler feels while on-island.”
The branding campaign is part of an overall new marketing strategy being launched under the direction of Richardson, which coincides with the hiring of KTCpr, headed up by long-time Caribbean marketing and public relations specialist Richard S. Kahn. The new branding will encompass advertising, public relations, marketing and sales as well as a new website.
“Our mission was to take St. Maarten in a new direction and illustrate how the island ‘feels’ rather than literally documenting the infrastructure of the island,” said Rafael Cardozo, president of Tambourine. “The concept is innovative and playful; the message is strong and memorable. In addition to the logos, the photo collection tells a story of the vacation experiences captured through movement, mood and expression. Most importantly the campaign is a true representation of the beauty and excitement of the destination.”
