Warm-weather Florida Keys scenes are saturating commuters' senses in frigid Toronto during January and a similar tourism campaign is set for cold Chicago in February thanks to a $465,000 marketing commitment by the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.

The two transit station campaigns evolved out of a similar train station domination promotion staged during the winters of 2012 and 2013 in New York City's Penn Station.

"We were so successful with the transit campaign in New York we decided to expand it to other cold-weather markets," TDC Director Harold Wheeler said recently. "For this fiscal year, we've increased efforts in Toronto with both advertising and public relations, so the campaign there is especially beneficial."

In Toronto's Union Station, the region's primary rail and intercity transportation hub, there are more than 100 different creative executions including floor graphics, door decals, column wraps, wall murals and video walls.

Some messaging is specifically targeted to the market with ad headlines such as "More fights than a Maple Leafs-Canadiens (hockey) game" at the top of a photograph showing an angler casting in the Keys backcountry. Or "It's 25 degrees warmer and 180 degree cooler" on a large floor graphic showing a woman paddleboarder.

"Commuters are tired of the cold and are ready for a unique Florida Keys vacation," said John Underwood, chief marketing officer at Tinsley Advertising, the TDC's longtime advertising agency that created the campaign. "We know we have a captive audience that craves the beauty and warmth of our destination, especially during chilly winter months."

Underwood said the campaigns are expected to reach more than 5 million people in Toronto and about 3.3 million people in Chicago's Citigroup/Ogilvie station that connects commuters from the north, west and northwest suburbs to the downtown business district. Chicago's campaign is to have target-market messaging spread among some 100 dioramas, hanging banners, wall presentations and floor graphics.

Transit station marketing efforts augment heavy print, broadcast and digital advertising efforts in both markets.