On May Day, people in Canada, the UK and Japan woke up to an unusual campaign — big brother America was frantically trying to grab their attention. The message flashing on television screens, giant billboards and digital media was basically what a top dog tourist destination the US was, and that there was more to it than Times Square and Disney Land.

In its 239-year history, this has been the very first time that America is selling itself to the world. Imagine, the Brand USA campaign will now have to compete against pitches such as Incredible India, Malaysia Truly Asia, and so on, for the world tourist's attention.

There's a reason for all this hand-waving. More than 60 million international travellers might have visited the US in 2011. But then between 2000 and 2010, the share of international arrivals in the US fell from 17 per cent to 12.4 per cent.

The first three months of the campaign will deliver more than one billion impressions in Japan, the UK and Canada, says David Eastman, North American CEO and Worldwide Digital Director, JWT, one of the agencies behind the Brand USA pitch. Eventually, the campaign will be unveiled in India too, he says. Excerpts from an e-mail interview:

One would have thought that America — the land of dreams — wouldn't really need to sell itself to tourists. Why have the numbers dropped?

When doing research into our target markets around the world, we learned a couple of important things. First, we found that whether they'd been to America or not, people felt they already knew “all there was to know” about us. Many felt almost overly familiar with our country. However, when digging deeper, we found their knowledge of the US to be fairly superficial — mostly limited to the obvious tourist attractions: Times Square, the Golden Gate Bridge, Hollywood.

The second important finding was that due to our strict immigration policies over the last 10 years, many felt that we didn't actually want them to visit. So first and foremost, the advertising needed to convey a genuine sense of welcoming. We wanted to remind the world that all are welcome here and that at our core, we are a warm, multicultural and accepting country.

Our hope is that through this effort, travellers will begin to “re-think” America, or start to see us again with an updated perspective.

How much is being spent on this marketing campaign? How long will it run for, and where all?

The first wave of advertising launched in-market on May 1st in the UK, Japan and Canada, with a media budget of $12.3 million for the first three months.

We are currently finalising the timing for each of the subsequent waves to ensure we are maximising the campaign's impact in our target markets, which include Brazil and South Korea, to be followed soon after by other markets under consideration, which include China, India, Germany, Mexico and Australia.

How were the target countries identified? And when will the India leg happen?

Our decision was based on where we believe our advertising campaign will achieve the greatest return on investment. To determine this, we took a number of variables into consideration; these included the number of visitors from each country, the total revenue value of tourism from that country, ease of entry and cost of buying media in that country.

We hope to roll out in India by mid to late summer, with a campaign that will include exposure via television, digital (display, search and social), high-impact out-of-home and print.

How did JWT win the pitch? How many agencies were in the running?

JWT won the business partnering with WPP sister agencies including Mediacom and The Brand Union in a pitch against two undisclosed global agencies. JWT was selected for its global network, strategic insight and a genuine, shared passion for the Brand USA mission. A focal point of JWT's presentation was a ‘Dear America' research exercise in which JWT asked travellers from around the world to write a pretend postcard to America, telling us what they loved most about visiting the country. This exercise yielded invaluable insights into the motives people have for visiting the US and gave us our strategic direction.

How are you going to pitch the campaign?

We want to remind tourists that we are a land of possibilities, both personal and experiential, and do it in a way that felt earnest and welcoming to all ... We decided to speak in the one language that is universal — music, as it has the power to inspire, motivate, and unite. And America is known for its legendary contributions to the world of music — blues, jazz, rock, country, hip hop … so we worked with Rosanne Cash, daughter of American music legend Johnny Cash, to compose an original song for the US, drawing on the passion she has for this land that she loves so deeply.

What's the ratio of conventional to digital going to be in the campaign?

Brand USA will employ a fully integrated marketing strategy designed by JWT, using a mix of 60-, 20- and 15-second television spots, as well as digital, billboard and print advertisements along with a large online presence and social media strategy to reach potential visitors. A large emphasis will be placed on digital, particularly when it comes to social media.

What are the talking points of the digital campaign?

The Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages will showcase country-specific promotions and engagements and the newly re-launched Web site DiscoverAmerica.com will act as a visitors' information portal for trip planning. An interactive online game bridging the digital and the real world is also in development, which will allow foreigners to win trips to America.

America might be pitching itself to more tourists — but how is it going to erase the image of an unwelcoming big brother?

We are working closely with the State Department to shorten the wait time in processing of visas so that those who do decide to come are not unnecessarily hampered by an overly cumbersome visa process.

Will the Brand USA campaign extend to other areas other than tourism? South Korea, for instance, brands itself as a nation, so does China ... or will it be purely tourism?

This is first and foremost a tourism campaign, but any time we put communications materials out into the world from “the USA”, we are in essence sending people a message about our country as a brand.

The campaign will continue to grow and evolve over the years, but our goal is nothing short of rekindling the world's love affair with the United States of America, and welcoming the world to visit.

In your view which are the countries that run very successful tourism promotion campaigns?

New Zealand, Great Britain, Turkey, Australia and Canada all do an excellent job.

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