The number of Americans researching and booking their travel via the Internet increases every year. That’s why full-service marketing communications firm MGH, Owing Mills, Md., launched MoreFunHere.com, for the Ocean City, Md., Convention and Visitors Bureau and Department of Tourism as an extension of the beach town’s television advertising campaign.
MoreFunHere.com serves tourists’ core information needs, including lodging and restaurant options, event listings and a full directory of the town’s attractions. To add to the stickiness of the site, MGH created an interactive “Whack-a-Crab” game, a puzzle and coloring book pages that can be printed from PDF files to help get visitors in the mood for a trip to the beach. Video files of the TV ads are also available for viewing on the site.
The website’s design features icons of a minimalist white stick man engaging in fun Ocean City activities, such as boating, eating crabs and shopping on an equally simple blue background. This matches the look of the television ads, which show the stick man morphing into the dozens of fun things to do in Ocean City. The final tagline on all of these spots asks viewers to visit MoreFunHere.com for more information.
“The importance of using the same messaging in both offline and online media has never been more important for marketers,” said John Patterson, creative director at MGH. “The ‘More Fun Here’ message has been successfully delivered through television advertising, and the simplicity of MoreFunHere.com’s design makes it easier than ever for a first-time visitor or even a 100-time visitor to find the information he or she needs to plan the best Ocean City vacation.”
Patterson pointed out that since the idea for the More Fun Here character came from the television spot, it was important to keep the animated character “in character” for the microsite,
“He was essentially a two-dimensional painted icon–the kind you would see on a road sign–who comes to life. So we spent a lot of time discussing how to portray him in only two dimensions, but still allow him to do a lot of fun things. In other words, he needed to stay flat–without being ‘flat,’ said Patterson.
“We also worked a lot with the character’s body language, choosing quick, fun movements that made him more likable. In addition, we voiced the character in a somewhat abstract way to match his somewhat abstract appearance.”
MoreFunHere.com is a flash-based site, and its links lead to content housed at OCOcean.com, which continues to serve as the town’s main tourism website.
Michelle Satter To Be Honored At Sundance Film Festival Gala
The nonprofit Sundance Institute today announced details for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s gala fundraiser, Celebrating Sundance Institute, which will take place on Friday, January 24, 2025 at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley in Utah. The event will be an evening in celebration of Michelle Satter, founding sr. director of artist programs at Sundance Institute, for her longstanding commitment to nurturing artists and cultivating independent film through the Sundance Labs, where visionary artists convene to develop groundbreaking projects through an in-depth creative process, for the past four decades. The annual Vanguard Awards will be presented during the evening to Sean Wang, writer and director of Dìdi, and Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, co-directors of Sugarcane, who premiered their films at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
The annual gala enables the nonprofit to raise funds to support independent artists year-round through labs, grants, and public programming that nurture artists from all over the world. The 2025 event is made possible with the generous support of Google TV. The Festival will take place from January 23–February 2, 2025, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, with a selection of titles available online from January 30–February 2, 2025 for audiences across the country to discover bold independent storytelling.
“For over four decades Michelle has been devoted to truly championing independent storytellers,” said Amanda Kelso, acting CEO of Sundance Institute. “She has encouraged artists to own their voice, learn their craft, become fierce leaders, and develop their resilience in our changing ecosystem. Her life-long commitment to supporting artists, especially in underrepresented... Read More