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Supervisors to spend thousands on airline magazine advertising

December 11, 2012

The San Luis Obispo County Tourism Business Improvement District is asking the board of supervisors to purchase advertising in the US Airways Magazine promoting a coastal wine tasting route.

The magazine spread will consist of a 23 page feature on the CBID’s Wine Coast Country Discovery Route and will cost $80,500, or $3,500 per page.  If approved by the supervisors on Tuesday’s consent agenda, the advertisement would run in March 2013.

CBID’s Discovery Route consists of 10 wine tasting destinations ranging from Ragged Point to Edna Valley. The route hugs the coast from Ragged Point to Oceano and does not include the Paso Robles Wine Region.

The tourism district previously placed a 24-page feature in US Airways Magazine in April 2011, and it said that the magazine publishers proposed another advertisement after the launch of the Discovery Route campaign.

US Airways serves more than 3 million passengers a month and publishes more than 325,000 monthly magazines.


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While we are trying to figure out where all our tax dollars are going how much exactly does the County pay to CSAC? This is an exclusive little club and dues are involved and all the counties belong. They have annual meetings in places like Hawaii and lists are provided for goods and services of approved vendors. Just saying that might rule out local bidding processes. California State Association of Counties. I would just like to know how much of our tax dollars are being invested in this. Is it a line item in the county budget?


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The SLO city Promotional Coordinating Committee used to take ads in Sunset magazine that included a code to enable tracking the effectiveness of the ad. If we are going to spend all this money on a spread in an airline magazine there should at the very least be a way of tracking its effectiveness. It’s not rocket science here. So are we now going to hire a consultant or an advertising firm to do the article and hire a photographer to take pictures? How much is that going to cost? Will we need a staff person to coordinate this? Unreal.


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Maybe some of that money should go into fixing the roads these tourists will be driving on. What a waste.


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Show pictures of the homeless smoking and their pets. That should attract tourists and animal lovers as well.


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Better yet, the ads should show the booking photo of ex-SLOCity first responder, John Psycho-Eyes Ryan Mason, the photo of Jory’s face after Mason’s beatdown, and a link to a CCN article regarding the mistrial outcome of Mason’s trial.


This type of an ad would be a good example of the kind of “night-life” tourists can expect in the City of San Luis Obispo, and arm them with the information they need in order to select a destination that meets their level of assumption that, after their vacation, they will return home in one piece, without multiple surgical plates and screws holding their face together.


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How about adding the beating of a defenseless homeless man by local police? Over a month ago it seems there was an opinion piece here about that, where is the follow up? Did the overpaid SLO city manager or council respond in any meaningful way? I haven’t heard a word about it. Is that what we get, silence?


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“The tourism district previously placed a 24-page feature in US Airways Magazine in April 2011, and it said that the magazine publishers proposed another advertisement after the launch of the Discovery Route campaign.” — Of course the publisher proposed another ad, the sales funnel is obviously wide open with this account.


The real question should be what was the ROI on that original ad? I would bet the county is just flushing $ into an old decrepit advertising medium, without actually measuring the return.


Put that $80k budget into targeted (and trackable) online advertisements that are placed in front of actual wine connoisseurs… not a single month-spread that is about as targeted as a sawed off shotgun.


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What a novel idea!! Make government officals show solid proof that all this taxpayers money spent actually has a positive ROI. Applies not only to county, but city and state governments.


Such a brilliant concept, that I’ll give 10:1 odds that it will never be done. Any takers?


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What was the ROI on that add? Don’t know but included was probably some free airline tickets for the BOS. What do yah wana bet that I’m right?


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Considering the history of floozy-mongering by members of the Board of Supervisors, their ROI may have been delivered by an attractive sales rep wearing a pair of knee-pads.


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The tickets are for the Mile High Club.


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Thats hard Mary…. very hard. Really suprised that CCN lets some of Your hard shots slide ! Wonder if CCN wil let this post live for a while. Have had past problems with their deleat button ?


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Frank, I thought you would be looking out for the North County residents better than this. Are you becoming a little ‘wussy’ or just under the spell of Gibson and Hill? Why should all this county money

be spent with no benefit to the PR wine region? I guess the expectation is that the PR Wine Alliance has their own advertising budget (paid in part by the taxpayers), so let them run their own airline ads, right?


What is next?, getting US Airways to offer flights to SLO?


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Shouldn’t the wine companies, hotels and restaurants be paying for this?


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Exactly. No one runs any ads for me. The wine industry is essentially a drug industry.


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Perhaps the money would be better spent on courses designed to teach morals and ethics to public officials.


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