Marketing the Groundhog

Today is groundhog day, and unfortunately, the groundhog saw his shadow so we’re in for another 6 weeks of winter.

In honor of our beloved groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, the Pennsylvania Office of Tourism has created seven 30 second shorts that send a man dressed up in a baggy groundhog costume out in search of his shadow. The Inquirer ran a story today explaining the ad campaign:

It’s all part of what is known as “viral marketing,” an advertising technique that relies on people discovering a unique Internet site and telling all their friends.

“Part of our objective is to change the whole perception of Pennsylvania being a state that you know everything about, the perception that it’s old news,” said Steve Red, the chief creative officer at the Red Tettemer advertising agency in Center City.

The strategy seems to be working:

Since the first movie was posted in mid-December, the site has attracted more than a million hits, with 32,000 people spending more than three minutes watching the films.

“We’ve had 2,087 people subscribe to our newsletter, and 1,600 people send the site to a friend,” Rowley said.

Don’t worry – if you missed this morning’s ceremony, you can catch a webcast on the visitpa.com site!

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