A spirited try, but...

In Travel Manitoba's draft 2011 marketing plan that industry partners recently reviewed, the campaign's new slogan was revealed -- "It's Manitoba Time."

Tourists spend about $1.2 billion a year in Manitoba. That's close to three per cent of Manitoba's GDP and is more than mining.

But whereas people might readily acknowledge this province has an important mining sector, many Manitobans probably think tourism is something that happens somewhere else and this is a tourist-free zone.

That's just the start of how challenging an exercise it can be to market the tourism potential of Manitoba.

Then you have the fact Canada as a country is slipping in the international tourism rankings. The national tourism marketing agency is drastically reducing its spending in the U.S. and Manitoba's tourism marketing budget lags neighbouring jurisdictions badly. Saskatchewan's is many times bigger than Manitoba's.

But irrespective of the significant hurdles, you could say that's why Manitoba's tourism industry needs to be marketed now more than ever. American travellers now need a passport to return to the U.S. and the formerly cheap Canadian dollar is worth more than the greenback, making the prospect of U.S. visitors coming to Canada that much dimmer.

But it's a challenge Travel Manitoba is mandated to face and it does so bravely. It has a new CEO, Colin Ferguson, who recently replaced longtime CEO Hubert Mesman, and a brand- new chairman, Bob Sparrow, owner of the Norwood Hotel and Inn at the Forks.

The provincial Crown corporation took some flak last summer for awarding its "high-volume" creative marketing campaign to the Vancouver office of the global advertising giant DDB Worldwide after two local firms handled the account the previous four years.

DDB is the one that came up with "It's Manitoba Time."

Branding professionals in Manitoba were careful not to be too critical, but none seem very impressed.

"In our business, campaign themes or tag lines or slogans are the hardest thing to come up with, and when you get a good one, everyone knows it. It's like a home run," said Peter George, CEO of Winnipeg's McKim Cringan George.

"Sometimes tag lines don't have that memorable zing that you want it to have. As a tag line on its own ("It's Manitoba Time") is not particularly memorable or resonant."

But George said it's not fair to judge a slogan outside the context of the creative backdrop that goes with it.

That's exactly what Linda Whitfield, Travel Manitoba's vice-president for advertising and communications, said in defending the choice.

When it was suggested that it's hard not to think of the old beer slogan, "It's Miller Time," Whitfield replied: "I don't think you'll think that when you see the creative (backdrop)."

She said the campaign, which has not yet been released, will send the message that Manitoba is a very welcoming, relaxed place. The campaign will target the regional market, the rubber-tire traffic that accounts for the vast majority of tourism spending here.

"The campaign is much more than just those three words," Whitfield said. "What will be conveyed in the images and any other copy around it will be uniquely Manitoban and will speak to those attractions that are uniquely Manitoba."

That's a challenge in and of itself.

Whitfield said the key differentiators are our accessible wilderness -- you can get to the lake in an hour -- and the fact that Winnipeg is a regional cultural centre.

Saskatchewan's slogan is "Land of the Living Skies," B.C.'s is "Supernatural B.C." and P.E.I. calls itself "Gentle Island."

On the other hand, Manitoba's newest tag line does not really say much about the place.

"One of the tough things is that we don't have all that much that is unique compared to the areas around us," George said.

Jason Abbott, vice-president of business development at Winnipeg's Cocoon Branding, said: "I'm not too sure how calling it "It's Manitoba Time" really differentiates Manitoba in the tourism landscape or as a tourism destination.

"It will be really interesting to see how they execute the tag line."

It will also be interesting to see how Travel Manitoba spends an additional $5 million in federal funding over the next three years.

Among other things, its stated objective is to grow the industry by attracting more visitors from external markets and by encouraging residents to vacation in Manitoba.

But when it comes to slogans, one Winnipeg branding expert, who was upset that Travel Manitoba chose a firm in B.C., said: "Maybe it's a good thing they did go out of province for the tag line."

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 13, 2011 B5