Campaign targeting Chicago, New York, state's east coast

Lee County is going on a marketing offensive with a heavy print, radio and broadcast schedule aimed at making sure people from Chicago to New York to Florida's east coast know about this area's virtues.

"It's part of the commitment we made to the tourist industry," said D.T. Minich, executive director of the Visitor and Convention Bureau. "We promised them that if they approved the additional two cents in bed tax we would pump a majority of that into marketing."

As part of keeping that promise, the bureau has launched an advertising campaign that ensures that if you are in the Tampa or Miami area, "you will have seen us on TV or heard us on the radio," said Victoria Simmons, with BVK, the bureau's ad agency.

The ads also are being translated into Spanish and run on many of the Hispanic networks and stations.

The advertising push is partly an "insurance policy" Minich said, to make sure the county continues to see strong visitor numbers in the face of hurricane fears.

One of the major marketing initiatives the bureau plans to launch will begin in the fall and capitalize on Lee County's beaches. Called "Gifts from the Sea," the campaign will involve three elements: beaches, shells and the art community.

A local artist will hand-paint 100 shells, which will be distributed on county beaches in September and October.

Anyone who finds one of the hand-painted shells will get a substantial gift pack and be entered into a drawing for a grand prize at the end of the two months.

This year's artist will be Sissi Janku.

"We are hoping it will draw people here from the east coast," Minich said. "The shells will also be beautiful pieces of art work that we hope to use in our Christmas greetings."

The Gifts from the Sea campaign is also the theme around which the display in the Rockfeller Center window in New York City will be built for July and August, when the bureau has acquired the display rights.

The program will also be marketed online through a Web site www.wingiftsfromthesea.com to go live soon.