Just in time for the New Year and the peak of the get-away-from-winter travel season, Visit Lauderdale is making a splash with a new ad campaign debuting in CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live With Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen,” which drew nearly 16 million viewers last year. 

The campaign is from Visit Launderdale’s ad agency Spark. 

The effort is anchored by the new tagline, “NeverLoseYourSplash.” 

The agency strived to separate Lauderdale’s pitch from the “chorus of warm-weather getaway” ads to create a story about “rediscovering joy through water.” 

Greater Fort Lauderdale isn’t just another beach, per the agency. It boasts 24 miles of shoreline and 300 miles of inland waterways (hence the sobriquet “Venice of America”). Not to mention 31 distinct cities and towns.  

The creative taps into all the joys of water, from snorkeling to gondola rides to Everglades airboat tours and sea-turtle nesting season. The campaign reminds us that joy is often spontaneous and captures moments of glee that occur with a sudden rainstorm, dancing on a dock or even just sand in your hair.  

The focus on water in the campaign is in part a response to research that found travelers recognized the region as a beach destination while awareness of its broader water-based experiences was limited. Focusing on the area’s diverse array of experiences, it also differentiates Greater Fort Lauderdale from markets further south, according to the agency. 

In addition to ads in the New Years Eve program, the campaign features an immersive billboard in Times Square that will tease the launch, with larger activations on Nasdaq’s and Midtown’s screens in March, and a takeover of the Oculus transit hub in May.  

Sample the creative here, here and here.