‘Wild’ Slogan Unveiled for Wildwoods

WILDWOOD – Before a seated audience in a decorated ballroom at the Wildwoods Convention Center, Darren Bult, executive creative director of FuseIdeas, took the microphone and eagerly proclaimed, “This place is amazing. There is something for everyone to do here.” 
On March 22, Bult spoke about the Wildwoods, a client he gained in August 2016 following his successful submission of a government-mandated contract bid.
On that day the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority (GWTIDA) presented its 2017 Advertising and Marketing Campaign at an annual sales and marketing presentation.  
It was a campaign that Bult and 10 to 12 members of his firm helped design and implement. 
‘17 Slogan
“As Wild as You Want to Be!” is the slogan that encompasses, according to Bult’s presentation, “an integrated advertising campaign…featuring broadcast, digital media (e.g. Wildwoods’ interactive website at www.WildwoodsNJ.com), print, out-of-home advertising (OOH), search engine marketing (SEM) and social media strategies.”
The public relations strategy will retain past successes like the popular online contest ‘Win A Family Vacation in the Wildwoods!’
In detail, Bult explained how this year’s campaign was designed to appeal to all levels of fun, and built off of popular prior campaigns which aimed to personalize what Wildwood means to visitors.
Bult said the campaign began March 13 and is expected to run until sometime in August.
A GWTIDA press release reported that the targeted demographic consists of “primarily…women ages 25-54 (family decision makers), Gen Y/Millennials ages 18-34 (the influencers) and grandparents ages 55-plus (multi-generational)”, in the Philadelphia marketing area.
One of the most pressing challenges the Wildwoods face is increased competition from other vacation locales armed with bigger advertising budgets.
Virginia’s Impact
Noting that Virginia Beach was “hammering the Philly” advertising area, Bult reported that numerous billboards had been placed along the New Jersey Turnpike and along the I-95 route into Philadelphia.
The prior years’ campaign, called ‘Can’t Stop This Feeling,’ did begin to combat the out-of-state pressure.
Top-Rated Resort
Ben Rose, marketing and public relations director for GWTIDA, told the audience that TripAdvisor had named Wildwood the number one ‘destination on the rise’ in 2016, beating out places like San Diego, Calif. and Orlando, Fla.
Income Stymies Stays
Another challenge facing the Wildwoods is that a majority of its vacationers are middle class, a socio-economic strata that did not see their wages rise significantly in regards to inflation and who have increasingly been unable to take the traditional 10 to 14-day vacations.
In speaking with the Cape May County Herald, John Siciliano, executive director/CFO for GWTIDA, confided that shorter or stuttered vacations were occurring but said, “So what? We are still getting (the vacationers).”
Numbers seemed to bear out Siciliano’s claim. A brief presentation by Wildwoods Convention Center Director of Sales and Entertainment John Lynch revealed that between April 2002 and December 2016 events at the Convention Center alone generated $15 million in dining revenue and $750 million in community economic impact.
Tourism Tax
Another measure of increased tourism is the reported revenue from Wildwood’s 2-percent tourism tax. In the course of nine years revenue has grown annually, from $3.7 million to $4.4 million, except for two years, with these downturns relating to weather events.
To date, 2015 was the best year with $4.5 million generated in taxes, but Bult and Siciliano said they expected to top those numbers.
FuseIdeas, based in Boston, Mass., has surprising New Jersey roots. Bult told the crowd that he grew up in Mount Laurel, visited Wildwood as a youth and has family in Absecon.
To contact Christopher Knoll, email cknoll@cmcherald.com.