Cape Town appoints Ogilvy to manage tourism marketing campaign

Cape Town Tourism announced today that it has appointed Ogilvy as its advertising agency for the remainder of the organization’s financial year.

In response to a request for proposals for the development and execution of a global marketing campaign for Cape Town to help grow demand for the city in key global and domestic markets, ten agencies submitted credentials. From those three agencies were short-listed.

The short-listed agencies were interviewed and evaluated on their capability to execute a city marketing campaign in various markets and were assessed with regard to their understanding of destination marketing and the nuances of working in a multi-stakeholder environment.

“From inception, the quality of the responses was exceptional; testimony to the talent of Cape Town’s creative industry. The review panel was faced with some difficult choices. The three short-listed candidates had demonstrable creative acumen, as well as local destination marketing expertise. All three, similarly, had networks which could be harnessed to add value and execute campaigns in a diverse market portfolio. We are extremely appreciative of the efforts put in by all agencies and in particular the professional approach and dedication displayed by the short-listed candidates,” said Mariette Du Toit-Helmbold, CEO of Cape Town Tourism.

Ogilvy has been appointed, and work will commence on the campaign with immediate effect. The campaign is to be launched locally at Cape Town Tourism’s Annual General Meeting on October 17 and globally in November at the World Travel Market in London.

The campaign forms part of a comprehensive plan to help grow the demand for Cape Town as a visitor destination, reflecting a more balanced positioning that builds upon Cape Town’s strong leisure tourism offering, but balanced with, and complementary to, the city’s strong urban and business offering (click here for an overview of the plan).