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Paradise Advertising outlines spring campaign for Santa Rosa County, urges leisure focus and targeted tests
Summary
Kristen Murphy of Paradise Advertising told the Tourist Development Council the agency will run targeted spring campaigns Feb. 16–June 30 focused on adventure and family travel, highlighted social and PR gains, and said paid wedding advertising is not the primary focus though weddings are included in PR and organic outreach.
Kristen Murphy, vice president of account strategy at Paradise Advertising and Marketing, presented a Q1 update to the Tourist Development Council and outlined the agency’s spring campaign approach for Santa Rosa County.
Murphy said current travel trends favor purpose‑driven and 'slow' travel and that the agency uses multiple data sources—Downs & St. Germain visitor profiles and Zartico geolocation data—to shape targeting. She told the council that 86% of overnight visitors in Q1 were from out of state and that the agency was geotargeting emergent markets such as Chicago and Indianapolis for the Northwest Florida spring campaign, which will run Feb. 16 through June 30.
On creative, Murphy said the team rotates assets to avoid ad fatigue and tailors messaging to funnel stage, using paid and organic social, experiential 'quick‑hit' lists and longer storytelling to move prospective visitors from awareness to conversion. She cited social performance gains (more than 2,500 net followers and engagement up over 150% year over year) and said PR placements—including coverage in Conde Nast Traveler—contributed an estimated $52,000,000 in ad value for Q1, a figure Murphy presented as the agency’s earned‑media calculation.
During a question‑and‑answer period, board members raised whether to prioritize paid wedding advertising. Murphy said paid wedding campaigns were not a primary paid priority given current budgets but that weddings are included in PR and organic efforts and that the agency could test wedding‑focused placements (for example on Pinterest). "We're not advertising weddings specifically," Murphy said, "Right now, our recommendation based on the budgets available is you're gonna get the best bang for your buck going after leisure travelers." Melissa, the new Spring Hill Suites representative, and Commissioner Carrie Smith raised capacity and parking concerns for large ceremonies on Navarre Beach; staff and the agency discussed alternatives such as local wedding venues including Coldwater Gardens and other North End facilities.
Murphy said the agency is also testing higher household‑income segments to see which audiences drive the most visitation and spending, and reiterated the team will report back on spring campaign performance at a future meeting.
The presentation closed with a promise to return to the board with more detailed trends and, if requested, wedding‑specific data for future planning and potential testing.
