• by Nina Lentini  @Nina_Lentini, September 23, 2008

In its first time out with TV advertising, the city of Charlotte, N.C. is capitalizing on the "a lot" part of its name in new ads that feature specific attractions, as opposed to general branding. 

Headlines and motion graphics in a breaking tourism campaign for Visit Charlotte (a division of Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority) play with the different ways the eye reads dark and light type to relay two messages at once. The campaign, created by advertising agency BooneOakley, Charlotte, invites viewers to "Savor...," "Flirt...," "Roar...," and "Thrill..." to various local offerings, such as the Nascar Hall of Fame, the U.S. National Whitewater Center (world's largest artificial whitewater river), and Carowinds (the Carolinas's largest amusement park).

The advertising's graphic hook is that the words "a lot" read clearly from inside a lighter-type "Charlotte," so that the "Savor" ad, for example, reads as both "Savor a lot," and "Savor Charlotte." It is a literal expression of the city's new tag, "Charlotte's got a lot," meant to imply that Charlotte is a destination, and not just a place to change planes, says a spokesperson.

Executions include a wordless :30 TV spot, six 3:00 podcasts at charlottesgotalot.com, eight half-page print spreads, and four backlit transit posters displayed on airport escalators, shuttle buses, and phone booths. Media include broadcast and cable TV, and leisure/tourism and convention trade publications.

Geographically, the campaign targets a five-state area including North Carolina and its four neighboring states for consumer travel, and the entire nation for the convention trade. Among the leisure/tourism publications that will carry print are USA Today, Southern Living, US Airways Magazine and AAA Carolinas Go. Convention trade publications include Meetings & Conventions, Successful Meetings, Association Now, Black Meetings & Tourism and USAE.