Client: Block Island Ferry
Industry: Tourism

Navigating The Media

We have developed annual media campaigns for marketing Block Island Ferry locations in Connecticut and Rhode Island for over 12 years. This has included researching media costs and options for newsprint, magazines, tour guides, radio, TV, in-hotel tourism displays, outdoor, transit, etc.

We develop image ad concepts and change the advertising “look” each year, creating a bank of ads for different marketplaces, sizes, etc. A radio jingle that we developed was a finalist in the Boston Ad Club’s Hatch Award Competition for creative radio. This jingle is used in all Block Island Ferry’s radio, TV and phone line advertising. We coordinated the development of TV spots for the Connecticut and Rhode Island/Massachusetts ferry markets.

We regularly develop trade promotions with various media, purchasing additional air time with complimentary tickets and assisting in specific promotional arrangements, including promotions which involve other sponsors (such as Xtra Mart Convenience Stores, Dunkin’ Donuts and Miller Beer) and coordinating giveaway programs with participating radio stations. We have worked with the ferry to develop their web site and to secure listings and links with other tourist-oriented sites. We annually ensure listings and advertisements in national and New England tour and travel magazines and take advantage of reader service support in the form of response labels and monitor lead fulfillment.

In addition, we have provided public relations support, writing releases about the launching of new boats, dockside renovations, and public service activities. We have worked with the Providence Journal and Hartford Courant, talking with reporters writing feature articles. We have also supported lobbying efforts in Rhode Island regarding PUC issues.

Since 1989, the Block Island Ferry has added two new larger boats to its Point Judith departure location to provide increased capacity for passenger traffic. They have also added a “stand-by” boat to accommodate overflow from regularly scheduled, sold out ferry runs. Vehicle reservations during the summer must be made weeks in advance now to ensure ferry passage. In a business that is extremely weather dependent, the annual number of passengers has increased 23% from 1992-1998. Ferry passengers often sing the jingle, including adding their own verses, during the passage to Block Island.

A public relations promotion for the Providence boat involved asking people to bring canned food to the ferry dock for donation to the Rhode Island Food Bank over a 2-day weekend. On the same weekend the ferry also offered a free cruise down the Narragansett Bay to Block Island. The promotion involved two weeks of ads in the Providence Journal and two weeks of radio spots on WLKW, a popular talk radio station in the Providence area. For a boat that usually has only 5-6 passengers a day for the long ride down the bay, over 700 passengers took the free cruise on Saturday and over 800 on Sunday. The ferry also collected literally a ton of canned goods for the food bank.