The print ads in Visit London's new "Do London like a Local" campaign show Londoners pursuing happiness on shopping sprees, in restaurants and cheering at Wembley Stadium. The city's storied icons, from Big Ben to St. Paul's Cathedral, can be spotted way in the back of the ads exuding warmth and familiarity. Nobody in the ads can be seen gawking at the icons. They're just there.

Visit London hopes its new campaign will reach those who have already seen those sights and now want to come and enjoy the city within the glow of its famous attractions -- the way they enjoy living in their own home town, especially if that town is New York or Boston, London's top source markets in the U.S.

With radio, print and online ads, "Do London like a Local" uses local characters to explore different themes for trips to the city. In one ad, the Latimer family plays in the maze at Hampton Court Palace. In another, a woman named Lucy tells us everything she knows about the city's shopping hot spots. The ads portray the people of London along with their insider tips and knowledge about the city. Photos of these same Londoners will also appear in outdoor installations in New York City and Boston, respectively, at 777 Third Avenue in New York and Boston's Prudential Center. The artwork can be viewed at the end of the September for one month.

Give Visit London's executives credit -- they go after our market big time. This particular $3 million campaign is the 11th North American campaign Visit London has run here since 2004. A lot of national tourist organizations wish they had that kind of punch and commitment from the head office. But clearly it's worth the investment. According to Visit London, the city gets $25 back for every $1 it spends promoting in the U.S., the city's largest international market. In 2006 London welcomed 2.5 million U.S. visitors. Last year, the city welcomed a record 15.6 million total overseas visitors, representing a growth of 12.3 percent. Total visitor spending -- overseas and domestic -- was a record £10.1 billion ($20.3 billion). About half of all overseas visitors to Britain include London as part of their visit and three-quarters of visitors to the U.K. come through a London airport.

As Visit Britain has been stressing in its campaigns, the deluge of new exotic destinations that are marketing in the U.S. demands a strategic response in branding. Visit Britain's "Be a Brit Different" campaign, for example, stresses all of the things that a repeat visitor to London has yet to discover. This campaign is ingeniously different, inviting that same repeat visitor to come back and enjoy, as the song says, "all the old familiar places."

Visit London's new campaign is saying, "Come see London like a Londoner does," because repeat travelers probably know the city's chief attractions nearly as well as any local does. It's the tourism equivalent of telling an old familiar friend to go into your refrigerator and take whatever he likes. It's also that special relationship at work again. Apparently, London's icons are so well established in this market that they can sit confidently in the background of this particular campaign.

London is no longer enough for these experienced travelers. They want to know the city on a much more intimate basis. This knowing London from a Londoner's perspective also allows the campaign to have a tactical tool, since those insiders' insights that a Londoner knows can be accessed online to tip travelers off on "places to visit, ideas for great days out and money saving tips."

London also is using sports to make Americans feel like the city is truly a home away from home. This fall, teams from the NHL (Los Angeles Kings versus the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Sept. 29), the NBA (Boston Celtics versus Minnesota Timberwolves, Oct. 10), and the NFL (Miami Dolphins versus New York Giants, Oct. 28) will be playing games in London. It's not only juicing the U.S. campaign, but it's also good practice for the coming Summer Olympics in London in 2012.

The NHL, NBA and NFL games also are being used directly by Visit London in its promotional campaign here. A series of events in North America are planned, including bar takeovers featuring themed coasters in 230 bars and backlit boards in 55 bars across Miami, New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Anaheim.

The Miami Dolphins will open Dolphins stadium during their game in London so that fans can watch the game live, get VIP access to usually private areas such as the changing rooms and executive suites while being treated to London style festival atmosphere with London taxi rides and food and drink. The NFL game alone is expected to attract 20,000 American fans to London.

Personally, I'm really looking forward to watching the way Visit London and Visit Britain handle the London Olympic Games. You just know that this group of professionals is going to find every imaginable way to leverage that opportunity. And you can bet they'll be employing those Olympic laurels in their outreach. They won't be sitting on them.