This document is intended to help improve communication amongst Destination Canada team members, partners and suppliers.
Destination Canada—as well as the marketing industry at large—often use marketing terms that have multiple definitions and mean different things to different people. A lack of clarity for terminology can cause communication inefficiencies and confusion.
The following list is a Destination Canada marketing lexicon of priority terms. The terms have been defined and include examples to clarify the terms from Destination Canada's perspective and intended use.
A - D
- "The heavy up campaign included advertising to promote ski vacations in Canada, driving traffic to the core-market site."
- "We use automated media buying to help reach our priority audience."
- "The heavy up campaign will help us identify look-alike audiences that closely match the consumers engaging with our content."
- "We are using last year’s performance as a benchmark for this year’s activity."
- "In Destination Canada’s co-op marketing agreement with Canadian Holidays, Destination Canada gave Canadian Holidays $200K for TV ads, which Canadian Holidays produced and planned themselves."
People who have, or will, purchase a travel product or service from a retailer.
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The campaign reached more than 500,000 British consumers, resulting in 15,000 leads for our partners.
" - "
WestJet has agreed to give Destination Canada access to its consumer database, which can be used for lookalike audience modelling.
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“Customer” is often interchanged with “consumer.” But “customer” should only be used to refer to a partner who has signed a legal agreement with Destination Canada (i.e., the “Guardian”).
- "The article was written and published as part of the content marketing program to reach and engage high-value, U.S.-based, ski enthusiasts."
- "We engaged in content marketing by taking a video we paid a supplier to create and posting it on our own site and channels."
- "When A/B testing our sign-up form, the short version had a 34% increase in conversion versus the long version."
- "The cookie allows us to retarget engaged users with relevant online advertisements, even after they leave the campaign hub."
The organizations that Destination Canada supports and partners with to promote Canada as a desirable tourist destination.
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Canadian provincial marketing organizations (PMOs) and destination marketing organizations (DMOs) are Destination Canada customers.
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“Customer” is used as a business-to-business term within Destination Canada. We don’t use “customer” interchangeably with “consumer,” which is used to describe individuals and potential buyers of a travel product.
- "Display ads, Facebook-sponsored posts and Google AdWords are all examples of digital advertising."
- "The campaign plan includes a $50,000 budget to be used for digital advertising to increase awareness of the campaign among the target audience."
E - H
Destination Canada-related media activity and publicity driven by content publishers and/or consumers that does not include an exchange of money.
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Earned media includes the mentions, shares, re-posts and word-of-mouth promotion that consumers and organizations do on Destination Canada’s behalf.
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Sometimes referred to as “free media” or “word of mouth,” “earned media” cannot be bought or owned; it can only be gained organically.
- "YouTube video engagement includes likes, dislikes and comments."
- "The heavy up campaign period includes social ads and native content ads that will direct users to the campaign hub."
- "Our objective is to attain a campaign R.O.I. of 15:1."
I - L
The network of tourism organizations in Canada involved in promoting Canada as a desirable tourism destination.
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Destination Canada partners with industry to make Canada a premier global travel destination.
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“Industry” is a similar term to “Team Canada.” The difference is that “industry” refers to tourism organizations in Canada, whereas “Team Canada” includes organizations outside of the tourism sector and outside Canada.
- "A key initiative for the coming year is to clearly define our audience groups and firmly establish them at the centre of our planning process."
A marketing arrangement in which Destination Canada leads and manages programs with some financial and/or resource support from partners.
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Air Canada signed a joint marketing agreement to partner with Destination Canada on the 2016 U.S. Ski Program.
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The primary difference between “joint marketing” and “co-op marketing” is that Destination Canada is the primary leader and manager of the program.
- "Cost-per-lead is one of the KPIs measuring campaign effectiveness."
An identifiable consumer that exhibits behaviours and/or attitudes signalling an interest in potentially purchasing Canadian travel products or services.
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Acquiring campaign leads costs $5 per lead.
"
Leads are qualified in different ways (i.e., watched a video, signing up via email) depending on the program/team. We describe leads on a spectrum of interest, depending upon how we qualify them. This is why we often refer to them as “qualified leads” or “pre-qualified leads.” Destination Canada passes on leads to its partners. Different teams have their own kinds, and measurement, of leads (i.e., for Business Events Canada, a lead is a Request for Proposal).
M - P
A Crown Corporation’s mandate states the organization’s reason for existence, as determined by its government and electorate. Specifically, it outlines what Destination Canada is legally obliged to do.
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Destination Canada’s legislated mandate is to create and sustain a vibrant and profitable Canadian tourism industry; market Canada as a desirable tourism destination; and support relationships between the public and private tourism sectors within the country.
"
- "We need to have an accurate understanding of the marketing attribution all the way along the consumer journey."
- "We’ve developed a number of different media assets, including a campaign video."
- "Destination Canada’s media agency, OMD, helps ensure that media space purchased appeals to consumers and appears in the right place at the right time for the best possible price."
- "There is a lot of attention in the media currently about Canadian polar bear tours."
A collaboration between Destination Canada and a media publisher to develop and/or promote specific content. Media partnerships should be mutually beneficial; we can determine value through gained publicity, credibility and/or other tangible benefits.
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A media partnership between Destination Canada and The Guardian has significant benefits for both organizations.
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Media partnerships do not include an exchange of funds for content publishing and distribution. If there’s an exchange of funds, it is a form of advertising or paid media.
The interaction between Destination Canada and reporters, journalists and editors in the print (newspaper and magazine), electronic (radio, television stations) and online (bloggers, digital) media for the purpose of communicating Destination Canada’s newsworthy messages, stories and information, and for managing issues and crisis communications.
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The key to a successful communications strategy is the combination of strong public relations with strong media relations.
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“Media relations” is not the same as “public relations,” which is a strategic communications process for building mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their stakeholders—customers, prospects, competitors, community members and employees.
A statement that communicates how the organization will reach its vision.
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Destination Canada’s mission is to harness Canada’s collective voice to grow export revenues.
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A “mission” ideally expresses what the organization does, whom it does it for and how it does what it does.
The identification of proportional credit that contributing organizations (i.e., Destination Canada, partners, media suppliers) have on influencing consumers to make a purchase decision.
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"Organizational attribution” allows us to understand and quantify the impact that Destination Canada has on the bottom line of the Canadian tourism sector.
"
Content that is created and promoted by your organization on channels you manage.
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Destination Canada writes and commissions owned editorial articles to promote great Canadian travel experiences through the Keep Exploring site and social channels.
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Destination Canada has full editorial control over its owned editorial content, but does not have final approval for content written and published on 3rd party publications.
- "Banner ads, social ads, re-targeting ads, paid influencers and paid content promotion are all forms of paid media."
An organization that has agreed to work with Destination Canada to reach shared objectives.
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The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Tourism Saskatchewan, the Guardian, and TUI Deutschland are all Destination Canada partners.
" - "
The content is designed to engage our target audience, but will be published by our Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) partners.
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The scope of partnership can range from activities such as amplifying content or attending a trade show to co-investing in a market with Destination Canada. Commonly referred to as industry partners. Prospective partners are organizations that might enter into a partner agreement or are exploring opportunities to work with Destination Canada.
- "Each campaign banner ad contained a pixel that allowed us to measure ad impressions and conversion performance."
- "All of the banner ad pixels fired as expected."
A defined grouping of consumers who share a common set of travel values, as defined by Destination Canada’s social values-based market research, the Explorer Quotient (EQ).
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Free Spirits, Cultural Explorers and Authentic Experiencers are all EQ profiles.
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The term “EQ profiles” and “EQ types” can be used interchangeably. Suppliers and partners may refer to profiles in a broader sense (i.e., groupings based on demographics, life stage, interests), which Destination Canada would define as a “segment.”
A coordinated and sustained set of marketing and/or operational activities that work together to help achieve defined objectives.
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We’ve developed a strategy for our ‘always-on program.’
" - "
Maureen runs the Destination Canada Partnership Program.
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Multiple programs may co-exist as part of a holistic organizational marketing plan.
Q - U
A digital advertising tactic using cookies to identify and reach consumers through advertising after their initial visit to a website.
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We will use retargeting to serve banner ads to users who visit Destination Canada’s landing page without completing a conversion goal.
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“Remarketing” is Google’s proprietary term used for the practice of “retargeting.” Both terms can be used interchangeably, although we prefer the term “retargeting.”
A defined grouping of consumers based on shared demographics, life stage or interests.
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Destination Canada is focused primarily on the Millennials segment for the ‘Connecting America’ campaign.
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“Segments” refer to general target audience research and personas not associated with Destination Canada’s Explorer Quotient profiles.
The deliberate and reasoned course(s) of action an organization, team or individual is taking to reach a stated goal, guided by the comprehensive understanding of an objective or challenge.
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One of Destination Canada’s strategies is to focus on global markets where Canada’s tourism brand leads and yields the highest return on investment.
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Tactics cascade from strategies; strategies cascade from goals/objectives.
- "'Learners’ is an EQ summary group made up of the Cultural Explorers, Authentic Experiencers, Personal History Explorers, and Cultural History Buffs EQ profiles."
A Procurement-approved, external organization or individual paid to provide products and/or services to help Destination Canada and its partners achieve their business goals.
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Modern Craft is one of our suppliers, providing us with consulting services to inform our strategy and operational processes.
" - "
We rely on a network of vendors, such as agencies, freelancers and technology companies to deliver on our vision.
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An individual contractor or freelancer is also a “supplier.”
Specific plans that consist of resources, channels and actions aligning with the identified strategy that help achieve objectives.
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One of the most effective tactics from the heavy up campaign was retargeting advertising.
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Tactics cascade from strategies; strategies cascade from goals/objectives.
- "We added conversion tags to the form completion page to help identify users who completed the conversion goal."
- "Our target for the heavy up campaign is 50,000 leads by October 2016."
The network of organizations in Canada and abroad promoting Canada as a desirable tourist destination.
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Tourism Hamilton, Air Canada and Marriott Hotels are all part of Team Canada.
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Team Canada consists of tourism-focused organizations—such as destinations, airlines and in-market organizations—as well as non-tourism organizations, such as clothing lines and even entities such as the Lobster Fisheries of Atlantic Canada. A contract with Destination Canada is not required to be part of Team Canada. ‘Industry Partners’ is the term used for the organizations who make up ‘Team Canada’.
- "We reviewed the analytics and did user testing to help inform updates to the site that improved the user experience."
V - Z
A statement made about the desired future outcomes towards which objectives, strategies and tactics are focused on achieving.
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Destination Canada’s vision is to be a catalyst of long-term success and prosperity for the thousands of small- and medium-sized businesses that make up Canada’s tourism community.
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Normally, there is not a measurement component to “vision statements”; the purpose is instead to provide a general direction for the company.
- "The campaign strategy is to target previous visitors and remind them about the new, unexplored experiences they can have in Canada."
- "The German brand site received 15,000 new visitors over the course of the heavy up period."
A visitor is a traveller taking a trip outside his/her usual environment, for less than a year, for any purpose (business, leisure or other personal purpose) other than to be employed.
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In 2015, Canada welcomed 231 thousand overnight visitors from the UK, whose main trip purpose was for holiday, pleasure or recreation, and which represented 34% of overnight visits that year.
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This is the official World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) definition.