• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, August 11, 2014

MBuy, the media planning and buying unit of Mediaocean has been appointed by the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Bureau (L.A. Tourism) as its international media solutions partner.

The client said MBuy was selected based on its travel & tourism experience, media expertise, and technology offerings. As part of the appointment, MBuy will work on the assignment with L.A. Tourism’s creative and strategy agency of record HEILBrice.

Los Angeles continues to experience significant growth in tourism, with a record 42.2 million people visiting Los Angeles in 2013, generating over $18.4 billion in direct visitor spending. The city experienced substantial growth from international markets including Australia, Canada, and China. MBuy’s partnership with L.A. Tourism will initially focus on attracting tourists from those three markets.

Spending by the clients in those markets wasn’t immediately available. In the U.S. last year LA Tourism spent close to $500,000 on ads according to Kantar Media.

 “Los Angeles is perfectly positioned to build on its current performance for even greater success, and we believe MBuy is the right partner to help us get there,” said LA Tourism CMO Don Skeoch. “ They stay on the leading edge of buying strategy and innovation and have a proven track record of driving results for destinations.” 

Jeff Morris, President of HEILBrice said that “adding the innovative brain-power of the MBuy team - and leveraging its media planning and buying in these essential markets is going to be a major enhancement to our efforts overseas.”