VISIT ANAHEIM CASTS A SET OF UNCOMMON CHARACTERS IN NEW DESTINATION BRAND CAMPAIGN

Pho Fan Girl

Destination Organization Exposes Anaheim’s Surprisingly Uncommon Places and Experiences Through a Wide Range of Character Portrayals

Visit Anaheim today introduced a new brand campaign, Uncommon Character, to illustrate the destination’s new infectious energy and innovative characters bringing change to the city’s dynamics. The campaign peels back the curtain and reveals unexpected hot spots, trendy culinary and craft beer experiences and revamped neighborhood spaces, inviting visitors to experience a new side of Anaheim.

Created by San Diego-based advertising agency, Greenhaus, the Uncommon Character campaign draws inspiration from Anaheim’s rich story-telling heritage and larger than life cast of characters rooted in the city’s DNA. To paint the picture of what is uncommon to Anaheim, Greenhaus worked with local tastemakers to craft a cast of uncommon characters for leisure consumers and the meeting/convention audience. This includes Captain Brew Beard, Pho Fan Girl, the Libation Sensation and the Crushers of Convention, to name a few. The first phase of the campaign on the leisure side focuses on key regional markets to drive visitation to Anaheim, including San Francisco, Phoenix and Seattle. The campaign will be supported by digital ads across a number of ad networks. For the meetings and convention audience, digital and print activations will go live this month across a variety of national trade outlets.

“Already one of the most well-known destinations, Uncommon Character allows us to show you a side of Anaheim that isn’t as well known,” says Charles Harris, senior vice president of marketing, Visit Anaheim. “The campaign helps us extend the conversation beyond what the area’s already known for and invites our 24 million annual visitors (and growing) to experience a new, unique tapestry of food, fun and adventure found throughout the destination.”

The first phase, launched today, targets both leisure and meeting/conventions guests coming to Anaheim to experience one of our main attractions or attend a conference or event at the Anaheim Convention Center, the largest convention center on the West Coast. Here are the first seven uncommon characters appearing in the campaign:

Leisure Vacation Characters:

• Captain Brew Beard: Take a tour through Anaheim’s emerging craft beer scene with Captain Brew Beard. The cinemograph includes Greg Nagel, Anaheim local and beer expert depicted at BARBEER, Center Street Promenade’s barbershop and beer bar.
• Libation Sensation: Discover the city’s creative culinary explosion and unique neighborhood concepts. Robert Adamson, owner of the Blind Rabbit speakeasy is highlighting one of his fiery cocktails in the cinemograph.
• Pho Fan Girl: Explore the region’s most authentic food destination and cultural gems found in Little Saigon.
• Virtual Ace: Transform into a junior jet pilot in the midst of an aerial dogfight at Flightdeck Flight Simulation Center.

Meetings/Conventions Characters:

• Meeting Mosher: Showcasing Anaheim’s nightlife and the memorable experiences meeting attendees can delight in after their program ends for the day.
• Crushers of Convention (male and female characters): Portraying the versatility of the Anaheim Convention Center campus and how meeting planners can create exceptional and unconventional programs for groups.

As Anaheim continues to grow, develop and add character to its city infrastructure with new luxury hotels, innovative businesses and theme park developments, visitors will meet new characters over the next three-to-five years that represent new destination experiences.

"Having worked with many destination marketing organizations across the state of California over the years I can say without hesitation that the team at Visit Anaheim is as forward thinking, creative and bold as any we've had the pleasure to work with,” says Rob Petrie, creative director, Greenhaus. “When they came to us they knew they were ready to stand on their own two feet and that made all the difference in carving an ownable and unique brand with them. It's been a highly collaborative relationship in the development of this new campaign. We are grateful to be a part of it."

For more information on the Uncommon Character campaign, please visit VisitAnaheim.org/ucc