The Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board’s latest marketing push comes with a price tag of more than $10 million and aims to bolster the city’s efforts to fill local hotel beds and meeting spaces.

The second rendition of the agency’s “Now Playing” ad campaign launched last month in eight countries, highlighting popular offerings in arts, culture, nightlife, shopping, sports and entertainment.

“L.A. is at a center stage of major events over the course of the next several years, from the World Cup to the Super Bowl (in 2027), and then to the Olympics … and we wanted to create an invitation as much of a call to action to center stage in Los Angeles,” said Bill Karz, senior vice president of brand and digital marketing for the board. “‘Now Playing’ became this message that is ownable to the destination, but also a way for us to create an action-oriented campaign to get people to come and visit.”

Campaign has local vibes

The campaign consists of six 15-second spots, a joint effort by LA Tourism’s in-house marketing team and Imaginary Forces, a Sawtelle-based design studio and creative agency. The videos playing in the U.S., U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada and France feature “Wanna Be in L.A.,” a song by Eagles of Death Metal, while South Korean market ads showcase “Get a Guitar,” a song by K-pop boy band Riize. 

The spots will be part of a media buy that encompasses television, out-of-home, video-on-demand, cable, social, native/display, online video, in-flight video, search and podcast ads.

The marketing package also includes installation of L.A.-themed murals in Brisbane, Australia and London by local tattoo and graphics artist Mister Cartoon, and Steven Harrington’s animations on 3D billboards at New York’s Time Square and Penn Station and in Melbourne, Australia.

The initial campaign launched in September 2022, and has since generated more than $2 billion in incremental direct spending in Los Angeles, according to LA Tourism. It was developed as a response to “a shift in consumer sentiment” where “people no longer wanted to look back at the pandemic, they wanted to look forward, and there was this sense of playfulness and a desire to just get out and have fun again,” said Adam Burke, LA Tourism’s president and chief executive.

“The reason we chose ‘Now Playing’ as the campaign theme is because it really speaks to all of our product pillars,” Burke said. “When you hear ‘Now Playing’ you think of Hollywood, you think of film and television, but ‘Now Playing’ can also apply to our nation’s leading 11 professional sports teams (based in L.A). ‘Now Playing’ can also be arts and culture, whether it’s major art exhibitions, performances at the LA Phil, or at the Hollywood Bowl. And also just the emotional appeal of this feeling of you want to come to L.A. … and play; you want to explore; and you want to do things to help really reinvigorate you.” 

Bureau is selecting markets carefully

Media buying for South Korea was entrusted to Seoul-based Innocean Worldwide, which has its North American headquarters in Huntington Beach, while Allied Global Marketing, in New York, designed the strategy for other regions. The agency, like LA Tourism, has offices in the U.K. and Australia, which tipped the scales in their favor during the request for proposal process. 

“Having those touch points globally allows us to really ensure that our campaign is in the eyes of the viewers in all of the key markets,” Karz said. “We’re looking at what is the key messaging for each of the international markets, and what’s the right time to advertise in those markets, because we want to make sure we hit the visitor at the right time: while they’re planning and dreaming about the destination and then eventually when they’re ready to book. We want to make sure that our campaign reaches 70% of our target audience a minimum of three times.”

About 70% of the campaign media budget was allocated to domestic markets, which is “a priority,” according to Karz. And while the target audience is tourists looking for their next vacation spot, the marketing reach usually spills over to corporate and group bookings for meetings and events. 

“Not every leisure traveler is an event planner, but every event planner is a leisure traveler,” Burke said.

“A customer on the meeting side recently saw one of our consumer ads and was really excited to see it, so I know that the consumer advertising plays a role in driving meetings business,” Karz added. 

The $10 million-plus campaign was partially funded with $7.5 million from a U.S. Economic Development Administration sub-grant from Visit California, a nonprofit organization that promotes California as a tourist destination.

“They’re amazing partners and we wouldn’t be able to do this without them,” Burke said.