I just got the stats on the traffic driven to www.TheOtherSideofCalifornia.com by this year’s Inyo County ad campaign that uses your ads and your placements and you knocked it out of the park.” Jon Klusmire, Inyo County/Eastern California Museum.
Following are three of my favorite marketing projects. Tahoe Keepers, Inyo County, and Tahoe Arts and Mountain Culture.
Tahoe Keepers
Need: Brand Identity & Educational Outreach Program
To prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) into Lake Tahoe that can ruin the pristine watershed and local economy, the myriad public agencies realized they needed an outreach program to motivate the non-motorized community to self-inspect and decontaminate their boats and gear. While the mandatory Tahoe boat inspections program targeted at motorized operators can be controlled and enforced, reaching paddlers poses a unique challenge since they can launch anywhere.
Approach: After attending several meetings and analyzing available boat inspection and user profile data, Bell develop a customized outreach program based on the core values and culture of waterborne stewards she coined Tahoe Keepers.
To influence paddler’s behavior, Bell developed a communications strategy to “connect the experience to stewardship” through a highly integrated campaign. To bring the strategy to life, Bell developed the Tahoe Keepers brand identity and hired designer Greg Brady to create the Tahoe Keepers logo. To genuinely create an indelible impression in the mind of local and visiting non-motorized watercraft operators, the Tahoe Keepers brand identity portrays each boater’s intimate connection to Lake Tahoe to convey stewardship, pride and respect. Bell also wanted to deliberately leverage the highly recognized “Keep Tahoe Blue” conservation campaign developed by the League to Save Lake Tahoe. Tahoe Keepers is a natural extension of this famous campaign and visually embodies the values of the waterborne stewardship community.
By connecting the experience to stewardship, Bell knew boaters would identify with the brand and feel a sense of responsibility and obligation to participate in the self-inspection and decontamination training program. The impassioned appeal of the core communications message developed by Bell, “Protect your favorite place. Protect your favorite pastime.” naturally creates a sustainable cornerstone for the entire outreach campaign that includes an online membership program, watercraft inspectors, and local residents and businesses that assist in the distribution of the clean boating message to visitors.
Results: After creating the sustainable strategy, brand identity and outreach campaign in four short months, Bell was retained to help build the campaign foundation and implement core components in 2011. Bell assisted with the development of the Tahoe Keepers website, secured the URL, developed the framework and strategy for the Face Book community page, obtained local photography, wrote core messages for communication pieces, defined the Tahoe Keepers roving inspectors role, and outlined the protocol for working with local paddle shops, aka the Keeper Fleet. Within two months after announcing www.TahoeKeepers.org, more than 200 people had successfully completed the online training and received Tahoe Keeper membership decals. Bell will continue to work with the non-motorized working group in 2012 to launch the Keeper Fleet program, social media, and measurement. Bell was hired by the Lake Tahoe Quagga Mussel Prevention Fund.
Inyo County: The Other Side of California
Need: Destination Brand & Sustainable Marketing Program
Located in the Eastern Sierra of California, Inyo County needed a brand identity to create one unifying theme for the entire destination. It also needed a long-term tourism marketing program to differentiate the destination from the competition and build demand for visiting the county, and in turn, increase tax
revenues.
I. Brand Development
Approach:
A brand building exercise with tourism officials, county supervisors, land managers and a cross-section of community members was conducted. Using this input along with a review of Inyo County’s competitive set brands, Bell developed three strategic options that were sent via email survey to the Inyo County visitor database to vote on the image and tag line.
From a tourism assessment, Bell understood that the greatest challenge was educating visitors that Inyo County is located in California not Nevada. (Many people think that Death Valley and the Eastern Sierra are in Nevada.) To correct this misconception, Bell worked with designer Greg Brady to create options that would clearly represent a geographic sense of place and an emotional state of mind for Inyo County. The brand also had to be completely different from the competition and defensible over the long-term.
Result: “The Other Side of California” and a vintage old world poster theme were chosen. The tag line was designed by Bell to clarify the geographic location, and to promote the distinguishable Inyo County experience and attractions that are completely different from more well-known California attractions such as the beach, wine country and Disneyland.
II. Sustainable Tourism Marketing Program
Approach:
Bell used authenticity as the core strategy to guide the creative execution of all marketing tactics and to reach the identified market segments.
Bell segmented the Inyo County target markets by lifestyle preferences such as fishing, hiking, mountaineering, motor touring; and two primary geographic markets — Southern California and Las Vegas.
Bell understood that Inyo County locals, past and present, personify California’s true adventurous spirit that is confirmed by countless stories of heroic proportions and stunning photography. In addition to this adventurous spirit, the county’s timeless character, rich cultural heritage, diverse geological magnificence, and undeveloped nature also define its allure.
Result: Bell developed a creative concept that would bring Inyo County to life through its local characters. A print and online campaign using vintage photos of locals and legends in identifiable locations was used as the corner stone for the entire marketing program. The vintage photos helped to promote the timeless character and undeveloped nature of Inyo County and support the headline: Legendary Experiences. Larger than Life.
This creative theme was used in every marketing execution to introduce the county’s tourism assets, create continuity for the entire program, stretch limited ad dollars, and tie together existing Inyo County print materials and websites with a similar feel and color scheme.
Meticulous planning by Bell landed 71 placements in eleven publications targeted primarily at Southern California and Las Vegas. The Inyo County website www.theOtherSideofCalifornia.com, was redesigned which includes a Content Management System so Inyo County can easily update and manage the content. Until this day, Inyo County continues to use the same core media plan with minor adjustments and the ad creative developed by Bell.
Tahoe Arts and Mountain Culture Website
Need: Promote authentic side of Lake Tahoe
Approach: Developed by Becky Bell, the Tahoe Arts and Mountain Culture website, www.TahoeCulture.com, creatively captures an important travel element missing from many destination websites and vacation planning resources – the local’s perspective.
Bell launched www.TahoeCulture.com as a resource for people to authentically connect with Lake Tahoe and Truckee through the businesses, events, artists and individuals who help shape the character of Lake Tahoe. Regular features include the Tahoe-Truckee art scene, cultural heritage, special events, locally-made products, green businesses, eco-tips, local profiles, hot spots, mountain health, and outdoor recreation.
Result: Over 90% of www.TahoeCulture.com visitors reside outside of Lake Tahoe and Truckee, with most living in Sacramento followed by San Francisco/San Jose, and out-of-state. Along with a comprehensive marketing program that drives traffic to the website, the Culture Connection monthly e-newsletter has an average open rate of 46% and click-through rate of 48%, well-above the national average.
Lake Tahoe Website Creates Authentic Connections
In addition to introducing the people who embody Tahoe-Truckee’s creative and entrepreneurial spirit, Bell also wanted to reach the growing number of travelers aware of their socio-economic impact on a destination’s local community and physical environment.
“By highlighting the local people, places, history, activities and environment, TAMC gives conscious travelers insight into how we live as well as our habits, tastes and values that originate from our innate relationship with the natural beauty of Lake Tahoe. I wanted to provide a resource for people to authentically connect to Lake Tahoe that will encourage visitations to local businesses and events, as well as preservation of our mountain culture and participation in the protection of our natural resources,” explains Bell.
To promote the local art community, each year Bell creates a collectible sticker that features artwork from a local artist that captures the essence of Lake Tahoe. “Mackerel Sky” by South Lake Tahoe artist Phyllis Shafer was selected in 2009 as the third in the series of collectible 4 x 4 inch stickers. Shafer’s landscape paintings are well known for their whimsical, stylized clouds and enchanting shapes and colors which she deliberately orchestrates to put the viewer in the moment.
“Like my website, Phyllis’s magical landscapes give us a strong sense of place and belonging,” said Bell. “Powerful images by local artists such as ‘Mackerel Sky’ spark conversations and connections among people as they relive their experiences at Lake Tahoe.”
