Nunavut hits Times Square's big screen TV

Kent Driscoll
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Nov 21/05) - If you hear the employees of Nunavut Tourism humming the Frank Sinatra classic "New York, New York," there is an easy explanation. They are in a New York state of mind.

This is one of the images New Yorkers and visitors to the Big Apple will be seeing as part of Nunavut Tourism's newest campaign. A giant iceberg in Times Square is bound to catch the attention of even the jaded New York denizens. - photo courtesy of Brian Webb

The group that markets Nunavut as a tourism destination has purchased screen time on the large video screen in Times Square, New York.

Over the course of two weeks, the 30 second commercial will play 136 times, roughly nine times a day.

"We are always looking for new ways to promote Nunavut as a destination," said Brian Webb, the acting director of marketing for Nunavut Tourism.

The ad will be playing in Times Square on the famous giant screen during the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, which coincides with the annual travel expo in the city.

Webb said 21 million people will get the chance to see the ad, and it will stand out from the other ads on the board.

It consists of eight still photos, with the Nunavut Tourism webpage as the contact information. Webb hopes that "we can show a place that is slower paced, and, because of our budget, we don't have a lot of video footage."

Webb wouldn't reveal how much the ad cost, citing a confidentiality agreement with the owners of the video billboard.

"It cost more than our print ads, but it didn't break our budget," he said.

The ad is aimed at "affluent high income earners" who wouldn't bat an eye at flying from New York to Nunavut.

"A lot of the people in Times Square are international tourists as well," he said.

The eight images that will be shown include icebergs, polar bears, a walrus and people in traditional dress.

Whether the ad translates into hits on the website is still in question. The marketing group only adds up their page hits once a month, at the end of the month.