WINDSOR LOCKS — The Connecticut Airport Authority got a briefing Monday on the new marketing campaign for Bradley International Airport — a blunter, catchier, more technologically up-to-date version than in past years.
The campaign — which urges travelers to “love the journey” — involves digital, radio, television, and print advertising, including digital billboards, and many ads aimed at passengers on Metro-North trains to and from New York City.
“What we’re really selling is convenience,” CAA Executive Director Kevin Dillon told the board members. “We’re trying to show people the distinction between this airport and the other competing airports.”
The campaign targets business and leisure travelers in Fairfield, New Haven, and New London counties, Springfield, and Albany, “where people are deciding among nearby airports,” said Dan Odonnell of the Odonnell Co., which is managing the campaign.
The main graphics are titled “Waitless,” “Carryon with what matters,” “Easy come, easy go,” and “Lose the wait.” The message is shorter than in past campaigns and more to the point, Odonnell told the board.
The campaign touts Bradley as convenient, with less traffic, shorter ticket and security lines, and more parking, saying that Bradley is “faster, easier home to gate.”
Half the marketing budget is designated for radio ads, Odonnell said, though he didn’t provide a budget figure.
“We want to make sure each person that hears the spot hears it at least five times,” Odonnell said.
Ten percent of the budget will go to ads on Metro-North, with 25 percent to digital advertising, and the rest for TV and print.
Bradley staff handles social media, Sharon Traficante, CAA director of administration, said. That includes responding to posts on Twitter and Facebook and promoting events on Facebook.
Odonnell will help the staff “go to the next level,” she said.
Odonnell said the website has gotten more visits this year. He added, “We know that there’s one ingredient consistent with every really successful campaign, and it’s a ton of hard work.”
Easing security lines
In other news, the CAA is considering moves to free up U.S. Transportation Security Administration staff so additional security lanes can be opened.
“Airports across the country are starting to experience long lines,” Dillon said, due to an increase in passengers and changes in TSA protocols that are slowing down processing.
Like airports across the country, Dillon said, Bradley is considering hiring service contractors to provide non-certified TSA services — such as loading checked baggage into the explosive-detection machines and advising passengers on how to separate out their belongings before going through the checkpoint.
“We have budgeted up to $150,000 to undertake that for the peak periods during the summer season,” Dillon said. “Hopefully they can open up an additional security lane here.”
“Anything we can do to enhance their capabilities we should do,” CAA Chairwoman Mary Ellen Jones said.
