News Release

- Brand USA Reveals Key Component of America’sFirst Global Marketing Campaign

Brand USA, the marketing entity responsible for attracting international visitors to the United States, today launched an entirely new consumer website, www.discoveramerica.com, complete with a new look, interactive features, and a wide selection of U.S. destinations to explore.  The website aims to help potential visitors imagine their visit to the United States by showcasing 250 vibrant and distinct experiences that can only be found in the United States of America. 

“The new DiscoverAmerica.com is all about discovering the wonders of the United States like never before,” said Brand USA CEO Jim Evans.  “The phrase ‘Discover America’ is 
itself a call-to-action to come and explore the boundless possibilities unique to the USA, and the website is a great tool to help everyone find the perfect experience that inspires them.”

The website features destinations both large and small, iconic and lesser-known, from all geographical regions.  The site highlights not only the destinations, but more specifically, the experiences a traveler might have – for instance, Memphis barbecue, the scenic Hana Highway in Maui or baseball Spring Training in Florida.  Each experience is showcased as a “tile” on the home page, creating a mosaic across which visitors can scroll to reveal a seemingly endless stream of colorful U.S. images to explore.  The 250 featured experiences and their descriptions were licensed from the best-selling book, 1,000 Places to See in the United States and Canada Before You Die by Patricia Schultz.     

“What is great about including content from the book is Patricia thinks like a traveler, and her language makes it easy for travelers to imagine themselves visiting the destinations,” said Brand USA Chief Marketing Officer Chris Perkins. “Her words, combined with the beautiful imagery from these destinations, certainly make DiscoverAmerica.com a place that will transport and inspire potential visitors.

”On the home page, in addition to viewing the tiles, visitors can connect with Brand USA through Facebook and other social media channels, as well as search for destinations by city, state, region and category of experience.

Additional site features to help visitors explore and share their findings include: 

• Online travel journals, featuring photos and commentary from international travelers on their journeys throughout America; 
• Useful information and tips, provided by Lonely Planet, to assist international visitors traveling to the U.S., including links to U.S. government resources such as the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection and Department of State;
• Links and extensible information to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other global social media sites; and  
• A "suitcase" feature that allows visitors to collect their favorite itinerary ideas and travel experiences to share with friends across their social networks. 

   
The website is just one component of Brand USA’s overall marketing strategy. The official 
campaign launch will take place on April 23 in Los Angeles during International Pow Wow, the travel industry’s largest international marketplace for the sale of U.S. travel. At that launch, Brand USA will reveal creative elements of the multi-channel campaign, which includes television spots, signage, digital, mobile, print and social media. The campaign will begin on May 1 in Canada and the United Kingdom and on May 7 in Japan.  To that end, the website will initially be available in Canadian French and Japanese as well as English, and more languages will be added as new markets are targeted.