Original NYC & Company Press Release via
nycgo.com:
NYC & Company and Nickelodeon Expand Family Travel Partnership to Include 3 Entertainment Properties
—SpongeBob SquarePants and PAW Patrol Join the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as New Official NYC Family Ambassadors—
—New Advertising Campaign and NYCgo.com Content Debut Today, Encouraging Family Travel to New York City This Summer and Beyond—
New York City (June 5, 2018) — NYC & Company, the City’s official destination marketing organization, is joining with
Nickelodeon—the number one entertainment brand for kids—to announce an expanded New York City family travel partnership that will include three Official NYC Family Ambassadors:
SpongeBob SquarePants,
PAW Patrol, and the return of
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a third year. This will be the fourth family partnership opportunity between NYC & Company and Nickelodeon, as Nickelodeon’s
Dora the Explorer,
Dora and Friends and the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have served as NYC Family Ambassadors in the past. With a multiplatform advertising campaign and refreshed age-specific content on
NYCgo.com/family debuting today, the beloved Nickelodeon characters will encourage families of all ages to travel to New York City—just in time for kids’ summer vacations.
“After more than a decade promoting New York City as a family-friendly destination, we are pleased to expand our partnership with Nickelodeon to advance our family travel platform utilizing new family brand properties
SpongeBob SquarePants and
PAW Patrol, in addition to building on the appeal of the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” said NYC & Company president and CEO Fred Dixon. “By lending us three of their influential and diverse brands simultaneously, we have a unique opportunity to target three individual micro-audiences within the family segment, showcasing how all ages can enjoy New York City.”
The new Nickelodeon brands inspiring family travel to New York City from now through early 2019 include:
SpongeBob SquarePants, a fan-favorite series for nearly two decades, now also appearing on Broadway in a Tony-nominated musical;
PAW Patrol (produced by Spin Master Entertainment), the number one ranked preschool series on all TV; and
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the newest reimagining of the iconic
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle franchise, set to debut on Nickelodeon this fall. Characters in the
TMNT franchise previously served as NYC family ambassadors for the past two years beginning in 2016.
“We are thrilled to continue working with NYC & Company for a third consecutive year by adding
SpongeBob SquarePants and
PAW Patrol, along with our newly reimagined Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as the faces of New York City family travel,” said Pam Kaufman, President, Viacom/Nickelodeon Global Consumer Products. “From the continued success of PAW Patrol with our preschool audience, to SpongeBob’s critically acclaimed debut on Broadway and the vibrant new look of
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, these beloved characters truly embody the endless fun and exciting experiences found throughout New York City for kids and families of all ages.”
Beginning today, a national outdoor media campaign will debut in Boston, Chicago, in 22 national shopping malls and across New York City. Three creative concepts are among the displayed advertisements (one for each family travel partner brand), with unique taglines in the voices of the Nickelodeon characters. To inspire families to plan their New York City adventure, a targeted digital and social campaign will run throughout the summer and drive to a newly imagined family section at NYCgo.com/family with comprehensive guides, itineraries and curated experiences, all designed to help families make the most of their NYC experience. Once on the family page, families can discover more “Things to Do” in New York City than ever before with online content tailored and themed by three specific age groups, corresponding to the Nickelodeon properties: teens (featuring
SpongeBob SquarePants), tweens (featuring
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and young children (featuring
PAW Patrol).
NYC & Company estimates 12.8 million family travelers visited the destination in 2017—that is up from 11.9 million family travelers in 2016.
New York City, the five-borough destination, is home to an incredible array of new and existing experiences for families: attractions, arts and culture, dining, hotels and more. New and upcoming family-friendly attractions include five blockbuster openings over the last year:
- Gulliver’s Gate opened in May 2017 and occupies 49,000 square feet of space in Midtown Manhattan. The attraction features built-to-scale miniature scenes of regions from across the globe (including models of NYC produced in Brooklyn) and hundreds of moving trains and vehicles, as well as ships that sail and planes that take off and land (gulliversgate.com).
- National Geographic Encounter: Ocean Odyssey opened in Midtown Manhattan in October 2017 in partnership with National Geographic and SPE Partners. The groundbreaking attraction transports visitors on an underwater journey without getting wet, thanks to cutting-edge technology and National Geographic’s rich history of storytelling (natgeoencounter.com).
- NFL Experience Times Square opened in December 2017 and is an interactive experience that brings football fans closer to the game than ever before. Including a 4D film with exclusive footage, interactive displays that dive into the players’ training regimen and game plan, physical challenges that allow guests to measure up against the pros and championship memorabilia, the first-of-its-kind attraction takes fans from the stands to the field (nflexperience.com).
- Opry City Stage opened in December 2017 in Times Square and is a four-story 28,000-square-foot entertainment complex dedicated to country music and Southern culture. With a performance stage featuring live music in the restaurant and bar, a menu of Southern favorites, a listening room for intimate ticketed shows and songwriter’s series, the venue brings Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry to New York City (oprycitystage.com).
- Spyscape opened in February 2018 in Midtown Manhattan and is the world’s largest interactive spy museum, featuring world-class artifacts, advanced technology and immersive experiences. Family visitors can test hacking, code breaking and espionage skills to discover their inner spy (spyscape.com).
- Ocean Wonders: Sharks! at New York Aquarium opens June 30, 2018, in Coney Island. The Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium will debut its new exhibit space, a 57,000-square-foot building that will house more than 115 species of marine wildlife, including sharks, skates and rays (nyaquarium.com).
For more, visit
NYCgo.com/family.
About NYC & Company
NYC & Company is the official destination marketing organization for the City of New York, dedicated to maximizing travel and tourism opportunities throughout the five boroughs, building economic prosperity and spreading the positive image of New York City worldwide. For more information, visit
nycgo.com.
About Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon, now in its 39
th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, digital, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 90 million households and has been the number-one-rated kids’ basic cable network for 22 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit
http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB).
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More Nick: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | First Look | Teaser Trailer | Nickelodeon!
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