New Orleans Marketing and Tourism Corporation Using Scene7 eCatalog to Help Promote Leisure Travel to the Crescent City

Image-driven City Guide for New Orleans available online

NOVATO, CA — Scene7®, provider of the leading on-demand rich media platform, today announced that the New Orleans Marketing and Tourism Corporation, www.NewOrleansOnline.com, is using Scene7’s eCatalog solution to further promote New Orleans as a leisure travel destination spot by making its City Guide available online. This 116-page, image-driven brochure is full of rich visuals and text depicting the food, architecture and key elements that make the city unique. The brochure also includes incentive components and coupons to motivate travelers.

Scene7’s eCatalog solution enables visitors to NewOrleansOnline.com to browse page by page through an interactive version of the City Guide brochure, zoom in on the rich imagery and narrative, search for specific words or references, and jump to a section from the table of contents or by selecting from a drop-down menu. The online brochure also allows users to view all pages as thumbnails, mark items of interest by applying interactive sticky notes and email the e-brochure to friends, as well as immediately download valuable coupons and order a printed version.

Due to the high-quality photography and print materials put into the guide, it is expensive to produce and mail. If New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation can deliver this brochure online to some potential visitors, there is also significant cost savings that can be recognized.  Additionally, many last minute travel decisions to New Orleans do not allow sufficient time for the hard copy of the guide to make it via traditional mail service to potential visitors; therefore, having an online version that offers immediate access to information along with coupons and offers is valuable.

“In the post-Katrina world, every marketing dollar counts,” said Nathan Williams, director of Marketing for New Orleans Marketing and Tourism Corporation. “We had to look at ways to stretch and maximize our budget and investments. Scene7’s eCatalog solution not only offered a great interactive design and complete solution, it also gave us added functionality and an engaging way to promote New Orleans through an economical and fun medium.”

Scene7 offers the only end-to-end eCatalog solution to easily and cost-effectively create an enhanced Web version of existing printed marketing materials – driving multi-channel sales. Unlike other full-service online catalog providers, Scene7 customers can achieve lowest total cost of ownership by choosing Scene7’s unique self-publishing offering that allows them full control of the creation and publishing of their own content. For clients who do not wish to use internal resources to produce their own online catalog, Scene7 also offers a full-service option. Whether it is self-service or full-service, Scene7 clients benefit from the dynamic assembly of pages into a fully-configurable eCatalog, which makes updating and repurposing of pages easy to control.

“We were blown away by Scene7, especially with how quick and easy the production was,” added Williams.  “Our online City Guide will not replace the print version, however, the two are very complementary to each other, and it is essential to have both.”

New Orleans Marketing and Tourism Corporation estimates that at least 10 percent of total inquiries are using the interactive version of the City Guide versus the print.

“New Orleans’ City Guide provides an excellent example for the travel and tourism industry of the value gained from complementing printed materials with readily available interactive brochures,”  said Doug Mack, CEO of Scene7.  “Scene7’s eCatalog solution offers a unique, interactive browsing experience and is an ideal, low-cost solution for repurposing visually-rich brochures and catalogs online. It is the perfect answer for companies that want to offer a broad audience a fun way to browse information online, while optimizing their print investment with immediately available direct marketing materials.”

To explore the New Orleans City Guide online and learn more about travel to New Orleans, especially this holiday season, visit www.NewOrleansOnline.com.

About Scene7
Scene7 – provider of the leading on-demand rich media platform – enables companies to grow revenues, enhance customer experience and cut production costs. Scene7's solutions are built on an integrated technology platform for unrivaled breadth, depth, scalability and ease of use. Solutions include Dynamic Imaging, eCatalogs, Product Configurators, Targeted email & print, and Image Management. Available both as software and On-Demand, leading companies worldwide have selected Scene7, including Amazon, Harrods, Macy's, Office Depot, Levi Strauss & Co., La-Z-Boy and QVC – and partners IBM, Microsoft, Akamai and Adobe. Visit www.scene7.com.

About NewOrleansOnline.com
The New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation promotes the city as a leisure tourism destination throughout the year and places special emphasis on developing visitation during the traditionally slow travel periods of summer and the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. Annually, NOTMC’s marketing campaigns include strategic print, broadcast, and Internet advertising and public relations. For more information, please call 504-524-4784, or visit our websites –www.NewOrleansOnline.com, www.NewOrleansMuseums.com and soon, www.RadioFreeNewOrleans.com.