Award winning campaign.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: Brief Article

The Greater Sudbury Regional Development Corp. has taken home top honours in a national marketing award for the Dinosaurs 2000 campaign.

The development corporation partnered last year with Science North and four local hotels - Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel, Holiday Inn, Travelodge and Travelway Inn - to pool their resources and better package the attractions and area lodgings to visitors.

The collaborative marketing initiative, specifically the accompanying visitors guide, attracted the attention of the Economic Development Association of Canada, the award's sponsors.

Working with a $250,000 budget, including $50,000 from Science North and their hospitality partners, the campaign's tourism publication garnered first place against submissions from every major Canadian city.

Launched by Science North last March, Dinosaurs 2000 was a collection of life-sized, animatronic dinosaurs - including a six-metre tall Tyrannosaurus - coupled with a giant screen Imax presentation, simulator rides, and various hands-on exhibits aimed at promoting Canada's contribution to dinosaur research.

Rob Skelly, tourism manager for the development corporation, says the visitors guide was developed to be a fulfilment piece to inquiries generated through the advertising in various tourism marketing publications, as well as from a radio and television blitz which ran from mid-February to late August last year.

"'The publication was just one element of a broader campaign that focused on this image of the dinosaur eye," says Skelly. "It was a very complete program in terms of media coverage and this publication was the piece we sent out for people wanting more information. It also had good descriptions of other area attractions, events from March to October, very good detailed maps, areas of interest, restaurants and accommodations."

Marketing consultants 50 Carleton &amp...