Contact Information:
Mayor's Press Office
(312) 744-3334

Monique Bond (773) 686-3700

Meghan Risch, World Business Chicago (312) 553-4658

"GET CONNECTED IN CHICAGO" ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN UNVEILED AT O'HARE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Chicago Humor and Visuals Encourage Business Travelers to take a Second Look at Chicago

Mayor Richard M. Daley today joined local business and government leaders to unveil "Get Connected in Chicago," a visually engaging advertising campaign targeted at the more than thirty-eight million business and leisure travelers passing through O’Hare International Airport on connecting flights. This fun, high-impact campaign, at no cost to taxpayers, invites these travelers to "walk through" Chicago and get a taste of what they’re missing outside of the terminals.

On behalf of the City of Chicago, World Business Chicago initiated a partnership with the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau, Department of Aviation, and a team of international, award-winning Chicago-based advertising executives to create a witty campaign full of Chicago humor and enticing visuals reflecting Chicago’s true differentiators and advantages.

Campaign elements appear in more than 100 locations throughout O’Hare terminals and its internal transit system resulting in over 100 million impressions valued at more than $3 million in media spending over the course of one year. The creative will appear in backlit, banner, billboard, brochure and kiosk formats.

"Get Connected in Chicago" represents an unprecedented partnership among Chicago’s business, government, and non-profit sectors to promote the region’s quality air transportation, tourism, and business strengths to business travelers. The creative team of Jim Schmidt, Joe Stuart and Tom Kim developed the campaign design utilizing donated photography from several Chicago-based photographers.

"This campaign is the result of business and government working together to showcase Chicago at zero expense to the taxpayers," said Mayor Richard M. Daley. "I encourage the millions of travelers passing through O’Hare to, at some point, experience Chicago outside of the airport. I guarantee they’ll like what they see."

Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Inc., a strong proponent of Chicago’s pro-business environment, brought the campaign to life through monetary support by volunteering to pay for the campaign’s production costs.

"We’re pleased to support this innovative advertising campaign with a modest investment cost that will produce $3 Million worth of exposure and showcase the great city of Chicago and CME to travelers at O’Hare," said CME Chairman Terry Duffy. "Chicago Mercantile Exchange has been proud to call Chicago home for 105 years. We’re honored to work with World Business Chicago to promote the many advantages this city offers to the businesses that reside here."

"Get Connected in Chicago" features 12 different concepts, each representing a balanced blend of Chicago’s business, quality of life, aviation and tourism advantages.

Concept examples include:

"This campaign is a Chicago classic," said Paul O’Connor, executive director of World Business Chicago. "Creative collaboration during the year-long development process was key, especially during a time when advertising budgets remain tight or non-existent."

The campaign demonstrates the creative use of resources and space through the utilization of premier, city-owned public space within the airport to communicate Chicago’s assets to a captive audience.

"Chicago’s central location and O’Hare’s ability to transport passengers just about anywhere in the world, means more than 66 million passengers annually will see these Chicago images," said Thomas Walker, Commissioner of Aviation. "Fifty-eight percent of these passengers are business and leisure travelers hustling through terminals for connecting flights, who don’t currently experience Chicago outside of the airport terminals."

"We’re already the most popular destination in the country for business visitors, " said Jim Reilly, CEO, Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau. "But this is a tremendous opportunity to remind those who might not be staying with us on this trip to stop and experience Chicago next time they’re here."

Sample of images presented:

(Click on small image for larger view)