Media Consulta unveils innovative communication strategy

Harald Zulauf, CEO Media Consulta

Media Consulta’s CEO Harald Zulauf introduced Malta Tourism Authority’s new integrated communication strategy to an audience of 400 tourism experts and stakeholders at the organisation’s annual conference.

This integrated approach to communicating Malta breaks new ground in the tourism trade. It starts with the view that consumers are growing tired of commercial messages, and that successful campaigns need to reach consumers holistically, not just through traditional advertising. For example, Media Consulta’s proposed actions include a pan-European roadshow to give Malta a street presence in the French-speaking markets in 2008, moving onto other markets in following years. The newest trends in tourism including low-cost airlines have been taken into account with sales-oriented measures to help promote direct booking, and the offering of incentives for cruise passengers to return to Malta for a longer stay.

Traditional advertising is also part of the mix, and a new ad campaign will kick off in September 2007. Media Consulta’s heavy bargaining power with TV channels, print titles and online media means that Malta Tourism Authority’s investment in advertising spend is effectively more than doubled thanks to advantageous rates and editorial cooperations.

“Our strategic approach is not just integrated, it is also partnership-oriented” says Harald Zulauf, CEO of Media Consulta. “We would like to build cooperations across the entire tourism sector in Malta, involving hotel owners, tour operators and other tourism stakeholders right at inception. At the end of the day, everyone should benefit from Malta gaining a higher profile.”

David Mifsud, Chief Executive Officer for the Malta Tourism Authority spoke about the potential for Malta, “With the fresh communications approach from Media Consulta, Malta’s beautiful landscapes, people and unique culture and heritage will be further projected across Europe. Malta looks forward to offering a warm welcome to all of the visitors that our shores will attract.”

Media Consulta is a fully integrated communications agency with subsidiaries specialising in advertising and media, public relations, corporate publishing, sport marketing, event management and TV production. The agency has led accounts in a variety of sectors such as tourism, institutional and brand communications, including work for the Balearic Islands, Visa and Vodafone. As an agency of both the European Commission and the German government, Media Consulta recently handled the communication activities for the EU summit in the context of the German EU Council Presidency. Media Consulta is currently preparing the communication strategy for the G8 Summit in Heiligendamm, Germany.

Media Consulta is one of the fastest growing agencies in Europe, and in the last year alone has won more than 20 national and international accounts, creating an additional 184 jobs in Europe. The network employs 765 full-time staff members in Europe and 1,435 worldwide.

Background information on Media Consulta:

Media Consulta (MC)is a leading independent PR and advertising agency in Europe and a market leader in the areas of corporate communication, youth marketing and political communication. In addition to German branch offices in Berlin and Cologne, the MC network is the only German network to maintain its own subsidiaries and partner agencies in all 27 EU member states and key business centres throughout the world. Within our integrated agency network, MC specialist agencies cover all areas of modern communication under one umbrella. This includes public relations, advertising and media, corporate publishing, interactive marketing, sports, youth and music marketing, event management and TV production.

This supplement is available at: AC07.