VisitScotland’s new marketing campaign, fronted by a series of TV ads, has out-performed many of its forerunners.
The Surprise Yourself campaign, targeted at the UK and Ireland market, features iconic imagery such as Edinburgh Castle and Eilean Donan Castle as well as more unusual elements of Scottish life, such as Belhaven Fire Festival and a seaplane taking off in Glasgow and landing on Mull.
It was first screened throughout the UK in March and the 2,000 respondents to a brand tracking questionnaire said the new adverts were more emotionally engaging than previous VisitScotland campaigns.
Eight out of 10 viewers thought that the message from the advert was relevant to them, while four in 10 said that it told them something that they did not know about Scotland.
A quarter of the respondents said they were “highly motivated” to consider a future break in the country.
Overall, Surprise Yourself, which includes a website and – a first for a VisitScotland campaign – money-off vouchers, out-performs previous campaigns in terms of advertising awareness.
Chief executive of VisitScotland Malcolm Roughead said: “The campaign is in response to extensive consumer research which showed that, although people loved the previous ‘Senses’ advert, it didn’t make them want to book immediately.
"We know that people want to visit Scotland – this is about persuading them to book now, and these brand tracker results are a good indication that Surprise Yourself is having the desired effect."
By Linsey McNeill
