Red Funnel, the Isle of Wight ferry and holiday specialist has launched a new and contemporary approach to destination marketing with the unveiling of a new newspaper style website www.myisleofwight.com

myisleofwight.com aims to capture the true spirit of the Isle of Wight through the eyes of those who live and work there. It offers local insights and hidden gems that are not freely available through traditional tourism websites and meets the growing demand for authoritative and independent information that is full of honest local knowledge.

The website is part of Red Funnel’s 2011 marketing campaign; however the content is produced independently by people from the Isle of Wight. Some are professional journalists, others are local residents from all walks of life but all are passionate about where they live, work and play.

The content has been compiled and curated by Isle of Wight creative agency ccubed who are responsible for the new website’s design. Deep links to Red Funnel’s existing ecommerce platform at redfunnel.co.uk are used to monetarise the campaign. The activity is being supported by online display banners, outdoor, specialist magazine advertising and social media.

Jonathan Green, Sales and Marketing Director at Red Funnel said: “myisleofwight.com underpins Red Funnel’s 2011 short-break campaign and aims to inspire and engage new visitors with independent content, set in an easy to read newspaper style format. This approach is a first for the Isle of Wight and is one of the first private sector funded destination campaigns of its type in the UK.

Steve Blamire from ccubed commented: “By stepping back and considering the kind of information sought by the target audience when researching a holiday, we commissioned a wealth of relevant and inspiring content including expert features and blog posts by local people as well as groundbreaking rich media, all of which will be regularly updated.”

Red Funnel is hoping that previous visitors to the Isle of Wight will share their insights and knowledge with myisleofwight.com users by regularly posting comments and recommendations. Feedback about the new site is also welcomed.