CTTC Proposed Annual Work Plans, Fiscal Year 2009/2010 
AS OF 4/10/2009 


Cooperative Promotions:
California Fun Spots
Description

In its 18th year, California Fun Spots is the longest continuous running cooperative marketing program in CTTC history. Over the years, our partners have been composed of California’s most visited and best-known family attractions. The program was built to extend the reach of individual attractions’ marketing efforts, providing exposure to wide regional, national and, where possible, international audiences. The program includes extended listings, photos and downloadable coupons on visitcalifornia.com/funspots (located in the Deals section of the Web site).




Background

Previously, the Fun Spots program was composed of a multi-layered program that promoted a microsite (cafunspots.com) for downloadable coupons and included promotional advertising on the California Official State Map (OSM). Over the years, the program was also bundled with different programs that targeted attractions, like the California Treasure Hunt effort in 2006-2007. These efforts were supported by print and online advertising as well as media support with press releases throughout the year. 

Based on an internal partner satisfaction study in 2008, CTTC simplified the Fun Spots program, making it primarily an online promotion. The 2008 Fun Spots program included downloadable coupons, photo and extended listing on visitcalifornia.com/funspots for each partner for one price ($1,500.) To drive traffic to the Fun Spots page, CTTC supported the program with a full-page insert in the 2008 Road Trips publication. 

Cumulative Web activity from April to December is as follows. CTTC was unable to accurately measure Web activity from January to March on cafunspots.com.
Added value for the program included:
  • Two e-blasts delivered in June and July to drive traffic to the landing page
    • Average open rate: 18.3%
    • Average click-thru rate: 5.1%
  • Full-page, full-color general attractions print ad was promoted in 2008 California Road Trips (Value: $33,940)
    • 1 million circulation; 500,000 distributed in the June issue of Sunset magazine
  • Full-page, full-color general attractions print ad was promoted in Better Homes & Gardens (Value: $33,940)
    • 30,000 distributed in the Phoenix, AZ, area
  • Representation at the 2008 San Francisco and 2009 New York Media Receptions
    • 98 media attendees in SF
    • 68 media attendees in NY
  • Attraction listing inclusion in the 2009 California Official State Map
  • The program was also supported by a search engine marketing (SEM) keyword buy as part of CTTC’s overall online brand effort

With 75% of partners reporting, the program has generated 87,843 coupon downloads and 60,530 redemptions.

  • Lack of Web data between January and March may explain why downloads appear much higher than redemptions
  • Downloadable coupons were also good for more than one person
An online survey of Fun Spots partners was conducted between February 23 and March 12, 2009. With 17 completed surveys, overall satisfaction was positive. Partners cited timing, better redemptions, ease of management, cost efficiencies, added exposure and coupon downloads as helping the program perform better than in the previous year. Areas for improvement included pushing key travel planning times between early spring and throughout the summer; generating communications (via e-blasts) to consumers on a quarterly basis; and creating messaging around Fun Spots that highlights the deals being offered.            


New for 09-10

The goal of the Fun Spots program in 2009-2010 is to continue to grow the number of partners that participate in Fun Spots. CTTC will also look at enhancing the user experience by redesigning the landing page. The hope is that visitors will be more likely to download and redeem coupons as well as make it easier to find the coupons they are looking for. The Fun Spots logo is also being revamped to be more Web friendly and in line with the California attitude.




Objectives/Metrics
  • Overall partner satisfaction
  • Number of partners
  • Web statistics, including # of page impressions, # of click-thrus to partner Web sites and # of downloaded coupons



BUDGET ITEMS

Contract Manager: $40,000

CTTC expects $45,000 in contributions by partners to fund this program.