CLEVELAND, Ohio – From the Muni Lot to East 4th Street to the Capitol Theatre – this dog covers a lot of ground in a day.
Destination Cleveland’s new ad, premiering Sunday afternoon during Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl, features an English bulldog taking a walkabout Cleveland. Among its several stops: Tailgating before a Browns game, downing a Polish boy along the lakefront and checking out the goings-on at the Capitol Theatre.
The 30-second bit ends with this suggestion: “Every dog has its day in Cleveland. So will you.”
The ad is part of a new $550,000 campaign to boost Cleveland’s profile with a national audience. The ad will run before, during and after today’s Puppy Bowl, which airs at 2 p.m., as well as hundreds of times in the coming weeks.
Destination Cleveland teased the campaign leading up to today’s launch, with social media posts that promoted a Super Bowl Sunday ad.
“It’s just a fun and clever way to showcase the destination through a different lens,” said Marie Scalia, chief marketing officer at Destination Cleveland.
“We wanted to lean into who we are as a brand,” she added, focusing on the city’s legendary Dawg Pound and its dog-friendly vibe. “When you show a dog in advertising, it does tend to elevate your brand.”
There are two English bulldogs featured in the commercial, said Scalia – both “professional talent.” One is Hot Legs and the other Vivi.
MMGY Global, a tourism marketing firm in Kansas City, produced the ad.
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