Montana Promotion Division

UNITED STATES & CANADIAN PUBLICITY

Publicity is one of the most believable and effective types of exposure a travel destination can receive. Travel Montana uses an aggressive plan to generate editorial exposure in national magazines, television shows, and regional and local publications.

The goals for this program include working with Montana's tourism regions, CVBs, tourism partners and the national media to keep Montana's variety of travel opportunities visible to the public through editorial coverage in the print and broadcast media; and updating Travel Montana's media services' video and slide libraries and creating an ongoing video release program to highlight Montana's annual events and visitors' attractions.

Publicity Campaigns

Publicity campaigns are coordinated efforts to promote a Montana event, attraction, or season to the national and international media. The publicity office will focus its efforts on highlighting Montana's many and varied travel opportunities. This will be done in coordination with the state's tourism regions and Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs). In addition, publicity efforts will be coordinated with the Consumer Advertising program to tie Travel Montana's publicity efforts into the market focus of its advertising campaigns.

In State Media Campaign

Travel Montana has developed a series of Public Service Announcements (PSAs) to educated Montananans on the importance of Tourism to the state's economy. The PSAs were distributed to Montana television and radio stations throughout 2002 and 2003. A new pressroom also was created in 2002 as an educational component for Travel Montana staff and Montana Tourism Industry Representatives. The quick reference is filled with interesting tourism facts and figures and a Tourism 101 Power Point Presentation.

Writer Familiarization Trips

Writer familiarization ("fam") trips are hosted trips to the State of Montana for qualified writers or broadcast media who are on assignment to gather story information. Travel Montana encourages the regional tourism organizations to participate in writer "fam" projects. Travel Montana selects appropriate publications and broadcast outlets, makes the contacts, and provides assistance in developing itineraries. The "fam" is then hosted by the regional organization.

Publicity Assistance

Once interest is generated among writers and editors, Travel Montana works with the state's travel and tourism industry to offer assistance with air fares, lodging, guides, meals, and transportation needed for the media to complete their Montana travel story development and production. The program financially assists broadcast producers and travel writers with assigned stories about Montana. Travel Montana also serves as an information resource for travel writers and others reporting on Montana by offering the media access to color slides, produced videos, and stock video footage.

Photography Services and Video Distribution

The publicity program's staff photographer is developing a thorough stock photo library and CD Rom which can be accessed by the media, regions, CVBs, chambers and state government, all for the primary purpose of promoting tourism. In addition, the photographer works with individual travel writers to produce images for their articles.

Travel Montana offers the media free video footage. The video highlights Montana's scenic beauty, cultural events and attractions, and recreational opportunities. Broadcast producers use the video for the purposes of promoting Montana as a travel destination for film, television, and web projects.

Quarterly Newsletter

Untold Story Leads from Montana is mailed quarterly to approximately 850 editors, travel writers, and broadcast producers in the U.S. and Canada. The newsletter offers brief, factual story ideas and provides quarterly reminders to the media of Montana's wide range of subjects.

Montana Travel Update

This monthly newsletter is designed to keep Travel Montana's tourism partners and our state's legislators informed on the issues, challenges, success stories, research, activities, events and developments important to the state's tourism industry.


Calendar of Events

Media calendars of events listing dates, contact people, and short descriptions of each event are distributed to writers, editors, and producers in seasonal press kits and on an as-needed basis. These calendars differ from those produced for distribution to consumers because of the media's special needs, such as longer lead time and greater descriptive detail.

Keeping in Touch

Regular mailings provide continued contact with important media, allowing them to update their background information files, spark new story ideas, and keep Travel Montana's media lists current. These mailings will include two press kits consisting of the Montana Vacation Guide, Travel Planner, and Winter Guide, along with the six-month Calendar of Events and seasonal Untold Story Leads from Montana. Two additional mailings will include the seasonal Untold Story Leads from Montana and appropriate communications or press trip invitations. Additional information will be provided as needed.

Evaluation Mechanisms

Each year, research is done to estimate the dollar value of publicity generated as a result of these programs. Each publicity item is "valued" as the cost for a similar amount of advertising space in the same medium. In calculating comparable publicity amounts, Travel Montana focuses only on publicity it has had a role in developing.