International company Media Consulta has won the tender, issued by the Malta Tourism Authority, for an international branding of Malta. The EUR7 million-a-year tender is for three years and is extendable to a fourth.
The Contracts Committee awarded the tender two weeks ago and, following the statutory 10 days for any appeals, the contract is ready for signing.
A one-night visit to Berlin provided an introduction to the company and some explanations of the way in which Malta will be marketed. This information will also be given at the MTA annual conference being held at the Dolmen next Tuesday.
Media Consulta
Media Consulta was set up in 1993. Today it employs 196 people in Germany, 770 in Europe and 1,440 people worldwide; it has a turnover of EUR45 million in Germany, EUR85 million in Europe and EUR140 million worldwide,
It states it is a full-service agency with media centres and an agency network in all 27 EU States (including Malta), as well as the accession countries and the major business centres in all the continents.
Its main sections are:
Advertising:
• Advertising strategy: developing the campaign design
• Creation: copy writing design and complete creation of ads
• TV spots: from storyboard to complete production
• Sales promotion
• Media planning
Examples: The For Diversity, Against Discrimination (European Commission), Feel Free to Say No (for European Commission), European Year of Education through Sport, 30 Years of German Cancer Aid, Lidl, Dunlop, Generali, Lufthansa, Central Marketing Association of the German Agricultural industry).
Public Relations:
• Communication strategies
• Production of PRE publications
• Organisation of PR activities and events
• TV and radio broadcast PR, Feature articles drafting and placement
• Success and Impact Control
Examples: Most of the campaigns mentioned above, as well as Vodafone (launch of new product Radio DJ including high-profile testimonials like Michael Schumacher, Felipe Massa, Thomas Stein, and Joel Berger).
Events:
• Major events
• Trade fairs/exhibitions
• Conferences, conventions and seminars
• Truck tours and travelling exhibitions
• TV galas and prominent live events
Examples: SAT 1 New Year’s Eve Gala, Berlin Love-Parade, Youth Event at Green Week, event strategy for DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, holding of press conferences with Michael Schumacher, Boris Becker, Claudia Schiffer, Anna Kournikova on behalf of the Balearic government at international trade fairs in London and Berlin.
Corporate Publishing:
• Image publications
• Periodicals
• Typesetting and lithography
• Production management and distribution
• Internet service
Examples: DG Development, DG Agriculture, Federal Chancellorship, Federal Ministry for Finance, German presidency of the EU and German President.
Interactive:
• Screen design and Internet programming
• CD Rom publishing
• Online PR
• Special applications
• Audio and video productions
Examples: www.feel-free.info, www.stop-discrimination.info, www.lidlfussballcup.de, www.tatsaschen-ueber-deutschland.de, www.eyes-2004.info
TV production:
• Advertising
• PR and information films
• Television
• Documentaries
• Post-production
• Dubbing and sound design
• TV galas and shows
Examples: DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities; CMA/QS, EADS Information film, Feel Free to Say No, TV formats for Science Years.
Sports marketing:
• Sponsoring
• Sports Publishing
• Event Marketing
• Public Relations and promotions
• TV production
Examples: Vodafone, Lidl, integrated information campaign about public transport services in North-Rhine Westphalia during World Cup 2006, Federal Centre for Health Education.
Music and Entertainment:
• Youth events
• Planning organisation and realisation of youth campaigns
• Music and entertainment concepts for producers of branded goods,
• Public relations and promotion for major labels,
• Music Videos
Examples: TV shows with MTV Europe, MTV Select – Year of Chemistry/Year of Technology, Vodafone, Youth Event Hall in Green Week, Campaign song and video clip with Before Four
Malta’s campaign
When it launched the tender offer, MTA clarified its communication goals as being:
• To increase awareness of Malta as a quality destination and attract a more premium visitor
• To alter perception of Malta from a solely sun and beach destination to a more diverse destination that enriches a visitors’ life
• This must be done within the framework of the Malta brand vision – Enriching your life, which is underscored by three core values:
* Heritage
* Hospitality
* Diversity
• To attain significant increases in consideration for ‘willingness to visit Malta’
• Increase visitor numbers per year: longer trips are still the rule but shorter trips are on the rise. Eighty-two per cent of trips last more than four nights and 18 per cent are up to three nights but short breaks have seen a 10 per cent growth in 2006 compared to a five per cent growth for the four nights plus trips
• Booking methods are changing rapidly: Travellers booking holidays abroad still depend on travel agents (54 per cent) but a fast growing portion now book their flights and hotels on the Internet.
Malta
• Malta’s visitor arrivals have increased over last year’s but we can surely do more.
• The Malta visitor patterns are concentrated in two ways: two thirds of its visitors come from five core markets and arrivals are still heavily weighted towards the summer months
•The target: Get those who do come to spend more and exploit segment opportunities to broaden the shoulder months
• Market research has shown that arguments which bring people to Malta include: its inspiring history and culture (Malta is a blend of different cultures, with interesting architecture and villages, and a recent British influence) and its central Mediterranean location (all the positive attributes of a Mediterranean location, less ‘foreign’ than some others especially for UK visitors, and not a mass destination like Mallorca). But arguments against people coming to Malta include: basic lack of knowledge about Malta (many times Malta is just not on the radar) and based on this limited knowledge the general impression is that it is too small for a varied holiday and too rocky with very few beaches
• Malta’s direct rivals are: Balearic islands, Canary Islands, Crete Cyprus, Egypt, Italy, Portugal, Tunisia, Turkey. But Malta’s advantages are: It is English-speaking, its intimate size means many attractions are very close to each other, and it offers a direct tourist experience that is integrated with local life.
• Competitor advertising is virtually interchangeable, emphasising blue sea, blue skies, beaches and cultural attractions. Any creative solution must incorporate elements that are unmistakeably Maltese.
Communication strategy
• Getting messages across is difficult: so package Malta as a dream with an integrated approach
• The consumer receives a wide variety of offers: so cultivate a wide range of flanking partnerships
• Malta’s image is somewhat nondescript, so in an age of celebrity, use prominent testimonials – Huw Edwards, Michael Parkinson, Kai Pflaume, Jorg Pilawa, Gerry Scotti, Michelle Hunziker, Riccardo Muti
• There is a very strong element of seasonality: so promote events that make the shoulder months more attractive: create two major events – an IT world event in spring and a major cultural event in autumn.
Advertising
• Use the Maltese Cross as the key visual
• Buying power: Media Consulta’s weight means highly advantageous rates across Europe
• Pan-European TV: Six weeks on Sky News which reaches the upper income frequent travellers; four weeks on Eurosport, and four weeks on MTV together with advertising on newspapers, magazines, the underground, buses, and other street presence in key markets eg London, Berlin, Stuttgart and Cologne, weather sponsoring on German TV.