Campaign history
Since 1984, the image of the Marca España tourism brand has been associated with the famous Sol de Miró, the Spanish tourism logo that has since been used in the advertising campaigns organised by Turespaña. This logo was created in 1983 by Joan Miró, who offered it free of charge to the Spanish government for the promotion of Spain abroad. It continues to serve as a global benchmark, having been imitated by a variety of countries. Between this logo being adopted and the launch of the current “Spain is part of you” campaign in 2017, nine advertising campaigns were launched communicating a modernised image of Spain to turn it into a leading tourist destination.
Until the end of the 1960s, advertising was aimed mainly at cultural tourism, visitors from upper classes, rather than a specific seasonal or geographical location. These were the years of “Spain is different”, a slogan that has become legendary in the history of advertising in our country. Subsequently, and until practically the end of the 70s, advertising focussed in particular on sun, sand and partying, pursuing a more recreational and popular form of tourism.
Spain. Everything under the sun (1984-1990)
In 1984, the advertising campaign was launched with the slogan “Everything under the sun”, possibly one of the most brilliant, long-lasting (it was used for nine years) and effective in recent Spanish advertising. The campaign focusses mainly on sun, sea and sand tourism, developed under the “Everything New Under the Sun” slogan, marking a shift towards a more diversified and higher quality promotion of the destination.
Passion for life (1991-1994)
In 1991, the new “Passion for life” slogan evoked an increasingly active and lively tourism, reflecting our passionate character that encourages those who visit us to enjoy their holidays. Spain was shown as a destination that responded to the visitor's pursuit of different experiences and emotions.
Spain By (1995-1997)
Campaign in which some of the most renowned photographers in the international market interpret their vision of Spain. Images by Herb Ritts, Elliot Erwitt and Annie Leibovitz show a different and impressive country with style. Towards the end of this campaign, under the same slogan, less personal images were used although they had a very careful aesthetic, which more clearly reflected the diversity of the destination's attractions.
Bravo Spain (1998-2001)
In 1998, a new communication campaign was created with a resounding and memorable slogan - “Bravo Spain” - which is easy to pronounce and the same in all languages. It conveyed an image of Spain as a modern country, boasting quality and diversity, which sought to attract alternative visitors to those looking for sun, sea and sand options, attracting tourism with greater spending capacity.
Spain marks (2002-2003)
A groundbreaking advertising campaign, which bases its creative axis on considering Spain as a tourist destination with its own personality, a way of understanding life that does not leave visitors indifferent, who will remember their experience for the rest of their lives. This original campaign, with a little douse of irony and packed with aesthetic beauty, featured black and white images that contrasted with the slogan superimposed in red.
Smile! You are in Spain (2004-2009)
A campaign that highlights the emotional and friendly component of visiting Spain, the fun and relaxed nature of the experience, whose images stand out with the trace of a smile. This emphasised the way of life and lifestyle in Spain, relaying value of Spanish culture and customising the diversity of its attractions. From a creative perspective, it was a conservative campaign that captured casual moments enjoyed by foreign tourists on their visit to Spain.
Spain. 25 years beyond the sun (2008)
In 2008, Turespaña commemorated 25 years of the Spanish tourism logo, created by Joan Miró, with a dedicated campaign that ran for three months alongside the general campaign. The aim of this advertising campaign was to enhance our image as a first-class tourist destination. It offered a “journey through time” in which tourists from 25 years ago enjoyed modern day Spain and its main attractions: sun, sea and sand, gastronomy, culture, contemporary architecture and shopping.
I need Spain (2010-2016)
A study on the positioning of the Marca España tourism brand performed in 2009 revealed that Spain remained in a solid position as a tourist destination throughout Europe, although it was always excessively associated with sun, sea and sand tourism. At the same time, this study confirmed Spain's weak position in emerging markets, in particular in Asia.
This resulted in the adoption of a new strategy structured around two objectives: the repositioning of Spain as a brand in European markets, to increase awareness of the diversity of Spanish tourist attractions; and the positioning of Spain in emerging markets, with a view to reinforcing its popularity in markets with high potential where it was less known.
With this in mind, the I Need Spain campaign was launched in 2010, which aimed to renew the image of Spain as a tourism brand based on one of its main assets: Spanish lifestyle.
The campaign's graphic, audiovisual and online formats involved internationally renowned photographers, including Erik Almas and Ale Burset, filmmakers such as Julio Medem, and the collaboration of brand ambassadors from the world of gastronomy, such as Ferrán Adrià, and sport, including Gisela Pulido and Spain's national football and basketball teams.
The aim of the campaign was to reflect the diversity of Spanish tourist destinations and products through a wide range of visuals and spots. It was also the first campaign to include creative materials exclusively designed for the Asian market.
The campaign was structured around two main creative lines: one connected to a differentiation campaign and another linked to a segmentation campaign. The first involved the creativity inherent to an image campaign in which the aim was to show Spanish lifestyle as a differentiating factor of Spain as a tourist destination. The second saw creativity associated with a product campaign to reflect the different elements that are part of the product portfolio being promoted by Turespaña.
Spain Addicts 2011
With a view to reinforcing the advertising strategy in conventional media, in June 2011, Turespaña launched a communication campaign in digital media structured around the fact that Spain ranks first in the world for visitor loyalty, with more than 85% of the 53 million foreign visitors to Spain returning to visit us. This was reflected in social media, which the campaign drew on by offering users the opportunity to become ambassadors for Spain as a brand by sharing their personal experiences. To this end, www.ineedspain.com was set up, where tourists could share photos, videos and messages about their experiences.
“Spain is part of you” (2017-2020)
Since 30 June 2017, Turespaña's international advertising campaigns have been based on a new creative approach: “Spain is part of you”. This campaign aims to promote quality tourism in our country.
The target audience for the campaign was the cosmopolitan public, the tactical target audience in Turespaña's Strategic Marketing Plan; trend-setting consumers, who are likely to spend more in the destination, and with a high affinity for particularly experiential activities: art and culture, shopping, food and wine, urban tourism, nightlife and the creation of striking routes and itineraries.
As part of this campaign, the aim was to attract this cosmopolitan audience by showing the most aspirational and welcoming images of Spain, pursuing three main objectives:
- Be relevant, targeting messages based on the interests of potential tourists;
- Be credible, showing the real side of Spain that is not so well known by our target audience, depicting a captivating and aspirational image of Spain, far from what people typically expect; and
- Offer diversity, as part of a unique and quality experience, satisfying the different motivations of tourists who visit us.
As a slogan, “Spain is part of you” refers to how a visit to our country deeply affects the tourist and a part (such as a destination, a product, an experience, etc.) of the country remains with them after they leave. A nod to this can be seen in the use of polaroid pictures, in which tourists are seen with parts of the background landscape of each image either on their clothes or their figures. The claim achieves the aims of the campaign as it:
- Diversifies source markets: adapted linguistically and culturally to the 22 languages of the most consolidated Western markets (British, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, etc.), the Nordic, Slavic and Eastern European markets (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Russian, Czech, Polish, etc.), the Asian markets (Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, Hindu), as well as the Arabic, Turkish and Hebrew markets. This was the first campaign that was not only translated, but also culturally adapted to each source market, with changes in messages, characters and backgrounds. Cultural adaptation work was performed going well beyond the mere translation of texts.
- Be credible, showing the real side of Spain that is not so well known by our target audience, depicting a captivating and aspirational image of Spain, far from what people typically expect; and
- Geographically diversifying products and destinations: Huge production efforts were made, filming and taking photos in more than 50 locations across 25 cities, with more than 500 models and extras, representing one of the most complex projects ever undertaken by Turespaña. It included the following products: Gastronomy, Art and Culture, Urban Tourism, Relaxing on the Coast, Rural Destinations, Itineraries, Nightlife, Wellness, Shopping, Business Tourism, Sports and Nature Tourism, Language Tourism, and for the first time, one dedicated to Halal Tourism.
2020 International Advertising Campaign: Back to Spain
In 2020, the health, economic and social crisis had an unprecedented impact on the tourism sector.
Spain, the world's leading destination in holiday tourism, was particularly hard hit by the impact of the pandemic.
As a result, in the summer of 2020, TURESPAÑA launched an advertising campaign that informed potential tourists that holidays in Spain remained a safe bet.
In 2019, some 84 million tourists visited Spain, which is particularly impressive, but even more so when you consider that 50% of Europeans have visited our country 10 or more times. Visitors who come to Spain, come back time and time again.
Placing an emphasis on this fact, this concept was developed.
Back to Spain
Its main target audience was European tourists who feel Spain is their second home, those who have an emotional bond with Spanish destinations, where they have had unique and unforgettable experiences, the place where they have their best memories. For these tourists, Spain is synonymous with going on holiday, the best time of the year has arrived, it is time to GO BACK TO SPAIN.
TURESPAÑA focussed particularly on emotions as part of the creative process. Each piece conveys the emotions that tourists long for, which is why they come back to Spain year after year, emotions that they are particularly in need of after the hard times caused by the pandemic. Spain offers relaxation, peace of mind, fun, disconnection, enjoy “your time and time with your loved ones”.
The campaign consisted of 10 graphic pieces that reflect the diversity and wealth of our tourist attractions, attributes and destinations, aimed at different target audiences, with a variety of socio-demographic and motivational profiles.
The campaign was fundamentally disseminated via digital media to enhance the precision of the message's reach, adapting it to both the source country and the target, depicting the most appropriate creative aspects.
The digital strategy was supplemented with impacts in print media and social media to inform international tourists that: “we are waiting for you, its time for you to come back.”
Back to the Canary Islands
In autumn 2020, following the opening of safe tourist corridors between the Canary Islands and different European source markets, the campaign concept was adapted to focus on the Canary Islands as a safe destination.
Aimed at Europe's mature markets, these graphic pieces reflect the wealth of the Canary Islands' tourist attractions, focussing on the following aspects: sun, sea and sand, relaxation, sun and beach sport, lifestyle and nature.
