For decades, branding has been applied to consumer products, but only since the mid-90s has the concept been used to help destinations compete for their market share.
In this age of mega brands it may seem to be an unusual concept to consider a destination as a brand. We buy particular brands because it makes our choices easier and because we like them.
Borrowing from this concept, branding is growing rapidly as an approach to tourism destination promotion. Just as Coca-Cola and Nike use branding to create a distinctive image, destinations of all sizes are doing the same to tackle issues like what they want to be known for, how they can stand out from the crowd and what they want people to think of when they see their name.
Sometimes we forget that the rest of the world is not as interested in Carlsbad as those of us who live and work here. We have to consistently keep our name and message in the forefront of travelers.
Carlsbad's brand is the sum total of all of our visitors' perceptions and their encounters with it. This can include past experiences, movies, news, advertising, weather, price, opinions from friends and family, the Internet and, not least of all, our residents.
It takes constant care, consistency and commitment to produce a strong and meaningful brand identity that over time will become an asset and be difficult for competitors to copy. Our brand needs support from our stakeholders and partners or it will be nothing more than a logo and tagline on paper.
Simply put, the brand is built at every point of contact between customers and our destination. Each and every contact has a vital role in building and delivering the experience that is promised by our brand.
For decades, leading tourism marketers have regarded selling travel and tourism as an intangible promise. This means that a brand needs to encompass core experiences and emotional benefits to provide that competitive edge. We need to move beyond selling a laundry list of attributes and features.
Visit Carlsbad, as the official destination marketing organization for Carlsbad, along with Mindgruve, an interactive marketing agency, have a strategic plan to help increase our market share. As the scramble over the shrinking pool of discretionary spending ramps up, destinations and tourism marketers are on the cliff as the industry sorts through its roster of winners and losers.
To be a winner we need to position our message to give a traveler a reason to choose Carlsbad over our competitors.
In California, beaches are a dime a dozen. There are warmer beaches, sandier beaches and more spacious beaches. California is a great destination. Anywhere you go in California, the state offers loads of enjoyable destinations and attractions.
An increasing supply of luxury accommodations along the Southern California coast threatens to reduce Carlsbad's market share. It cannot be taken for granted that our hotels and attractions will maintain a level of success without the tourism structure to support it.
Destinations compete and each needs to be marketed to attain awareness, recognition and preference. One only has to pick up a travel magazine or search the Internet to see the efforts in play up and down the California coast.
An exciting new tool that Visit Carlsbad will be using to get our message out is our new Web site, which will launch in the middle of this month. The site will be easy to navigate and more user-friendly.
Visit Carlsbad has partnered with Striker Media to produce the 2010 Visitors Guide, due out in April, along with the advertising sales. The guide will have a polished new look, and valuable destination information.
Here is a statement for you to ponder: “A tourist is a distant visitor and a word that carries bad connotations. A traveler, on the other hand, is invited into the local culture, leaves a part of himself behind and carries part of the experience with him.”
In this age of mega brands it may seem to be an unusual concept to consider a destination as a brand. We buy particular brands because it makes our choices easier and because we like them.
Borrowing from this concept, branding is growing rapidly as an approach to tourism destination promotion. Just as Coca-Cola and Nike use branding to create a distinctive image, destinations of all sizes are doing the same to tackle issues like what they want to be known for, how they can stand out from the crowd and what they want people to think of when they see their name.
Sometimes we forget that the rest of the world is not as interested in Carlsbad as those of us who live and work here. We have to consistently keep our name and message in the forefront of travelers.
Carlsbad's brand is the sum total of all of our visitors' perceptions and their encounters with it. This can include past experiences, movies, news, advertising, weather, price, opinions from friends and family, the Internet and, not least of all, our residents.
It takes constant care, consistency and commitment to produce a strong and meaningful brand identity that over time will become an asset and be difficult for competitors to copy. Our brand needs support from our stakeholders and partners or it will be nothing more than a logo and tagline on paper.
Simply put, the brand is built at every point of contact between customers and our destination. Each and every contact has a vital role in building and delivering the experience that is promised by our brand.
For decades, leading tourism marketers have regarded selling travel and tourism as an intangible promise. This means that a brand needs to encompass core experiences and emotional benefits to provide that competitive edge. We need to move beyond selling a laundry list of attributes and features.
Visit Carlsbad, as the official destination marketing organization for Carlsbad, along with Mindgruve, an interactive marketing agency, have a strategic plan to help increase our market share. As the scramble over the shrinking pool of discretionary spending ramps up, destinations and tourism marketers are on the cliff as the industry sorts through its roster of winners and losers.
To be a winner we need to position our message to give a traveler a reason to choose Carlsbad over our competitors.
In California, beaches are a dime a dozen. There are warmer beaches, sandier beaches and more spacious beaches. California is a great destination. Anywhere you go in California, the state offers loads of enjoyable destinations and attractions.
An increasing supply of luxury accommodations along the Southern California coast threatens to reduce Carlsbad's market share. It cannot be taken for granted that our hotels and attractions will maintain a level of success without the tourism structure to support it.
Destinations compete and each needs to be marketed to attain awareness, recognition and preference. One only has to pick up a travel magazine or search the Internet to see the efforts in play up and down the California coast.
An exciting new tool that Visit Carlsbad will be using to get our message out is our new Web site, which will launch in the middle of this month. The site will be easy to navigate and more user-friendly.
Visit Carlsbad has partnered with Striker Media to produce the 2010 Visitors Guide, due out in April, along with the advertising sales. The guide will have a polished new look, and valuable destination information.
Here is a statement for you to ponder: “A tourist is a distant visitor and a word that carries bad connotations. A traveler, on the other hand, is invited into the local culture, leaves a part of himself behind and carries part of the experience with him.”