Roswell city
officials and advertising consultants kicked off a national publicity campaign
for the city at the Roswell Museum and Art Center on Wednesday, a campaign
that uses the artwork of 1950s science-fiction novels for the theme “The
Amazing Roswell Mysteries.”
In a playful
reference to the reported UFO crash landing near Roswell in 1947, the
marketing effort also features a tag line: “Visitors Welcome.”
Shirts and
posters featuring the artwork go on sale today at the Roswell Museum and Art
Center.
The kickoff
ceremony was attended by members of the hotel and restaurant industry, city
staff, news media and the Albuquerque advertising firm, Rick Johnson and
Company, which worked with a city committee to create the campaign.
The firm unveiled
the first three of several illustrations, each with a different theme, each
like the cover of a science-fiction novel.
One illustration
features a couple in space suits walking downtown. A second shows a farmer
discovering a crashed UFO in 1947. A third depicts a submerged deep-sea diver
at Bottomless Lakes State Park.
Alexis Kerschner,
public relations manager for the Rick Johnson company, described the
development of the marketing campaign. She said Reneé Roach, public relations
officer for the city and chairwoman of the Advertising Committee, came to her
with a challenge: create a marketing campaign that combined the city’s UFO
heritage with other attractions in the area. The end product, “says UFO
without saying UFO.”
She said the
illustrations would appear as print advertisements in national publications,
as posters and on billboards, cups and shirts.
More
illustrations are coming, perhaps three per year, Kerschner said, and will
promote other Roswell attractions such as arts, culture and economic
development.
“Really, the
sky’s the limit,” she added.
Mayor Sam LaGrone
encouraged the public to take part in the marketing campaign and to provide
feedback about it.
“We’re open
to new ideas,” he said.
Neil Roe, owner
of Peppers Grill and Bar, reminded the audience of the importance of the
tourism industry to Roswell.
“And it’s
good industry, and it’s good clean industry,” he added.
He said Roswell
residents should not care about whether the UFO history of Roswell is true or
not, and he talked about the high number of sales at the International UFO
Museum and Research Center, and the high lodger’s tax revenue generated by
hotels.
“It’s about
tourism and the money it generates,” he said.
Roach said the
“Amazing Roswell Mysteries” billboards will be in Moriarty and on the
Texas-New Mexico line north of El Paso. The illustrations also will be
featured on the city’s official Web site, www.roswellmysteries.com.
Visitors to that
Web site can submit questions about the city, Roach said, and will receive
promotional gifts with the new “Amazing Roswell Mysteries” theme.
Roach said she
was “ecstatic” about the new marketing campaign.
“I’ve heard
nothing but positive comments,” she said.
Businesses that
wish to sell the “Amazing Roswell Mysteries” merchandise can purchase it
wholesale from Roach, who can be contacted by telephone at 637-6293.
Jack Bhakta,
owner of the Crane Motel, approved of the new marketing effort.
“It’s
beautiful,” he said.
Lee Adams,
manager of the Fairfield Inn, called it an “awesome” branding campaign.
“I think it will bring more tourism in,” he said. “It’s very attractive, very eye-catching.”