The Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation's mandate is to collaborate with local and international partners to develop and deliver integrated, research-driven programs that reinforce the province as a premier, four-season travel destination.

So it made sense that when OTMPC was after an effective way to connect with 35- to 64-year-olds who had the disposable income, time and inclination to travel, it chose to partner with The Globe and our Marketing Solutions Group.

Click on the video below to hear Bruce Neve, President of Mediaedge:CIA, talking about the program and how his team collaborated with the Globe and Mail to reach their most desirable target group: Globe readers.



MSG's solution was Ontario: There's No Place Like This, an ongoing program that uses the pages of our newspaper and areas of globeandmail.com to illustrate the variety of travel experiences the province has to offer.

The campaign incorporates key components of OTMPC's overall strategy--discovery, inspiration, exhilaration and product--in a unique, engaging way. The programs runs online and in print, and includes advertorial features as well as display ads placed next to traditional editorial.



The central focus of Ontario: There's No Place Like This is a globeandmail.com microsite that's home to a special feature series promoting Ontario locations through the use of photography and relevant Globe and Mail articles. Visitors can link from the main site to ontariotravel.net and distinctivegetaways.ca for more detailed information about planning an Ontario getaway.

The microsite is supported by banners on globeandmail.com, and hosts two contests to further drive traffic and interest. The first, Show Your Ontario, involves the Magenta Foundation, a Canadian charitable arts publishing house.

Show Your Ontario encourages professional photographers to submit shots of this beautiful and multi-faceted province. These photos not only provide OTMPC with a library of professionally produced images, but also serve as content for a second contest, the People's Choice.

Show Your Ontario will run for the duration of the program--expected to be at least a year--and will award four seasonal early bird prizes and three grand prizes. These prizes range from publication of winning shots in The Globe and Mail to $12,000 in cash.

Meanwhile, visitors to the microsite are invited to vote for their favourite shots in the People's Choice photo contest. This contest occurs in two phases: Phase 1 was completed in the spring and Phase 2 launched Sept. 4. In each case, a randomly chosen winner is drawn from all eligible submissions and awarded a Canon digital SLR camera.

Photos for the People's Choice contest are updated weekly, and participants are encouraged to visit regularly to cast their votes. A total of 17,010 votes were received during Phase 1 of the contest. What's more, from March through July, the microsite received over 31,000 page views.