Reno Tahoe

That’s right, we have settled on a new marketing campaign slogan for the destination: Reno Tahoe USA … Far from expected

Far from expected conveys the almost universal reaction that new or recent visitors have after experiencing our region.

Take a second and count up the number of times your friends or family have said “I didn’t know….” that your town:

• … has a river running through town and a kayak park
• … hosts an annual, month-long arts festival
• … recently opened the world’s largest all-sports store
• … races planes upside down
• … is just 45 minutes from the shores of Lake Tahoe
• … has a brand new Triple A baseball team and stadium
• … is a must-stop on the way to Burning Man
• … runs live cattle through town during the rodeo
• … has some of the best hotels and restaurants on the West coast
• … is just a 45-minute hop by plane from the Bay Area

And so on …

I am glad to report it is a significant milestone that will power an entirely new and differentiated marketing program to hit the airwaves very soon.

It is important to note that the RSCVA is targeting a new market for visitors; one with the potential to bring millions of dollars of tourist revenue to the region over the next few years.  You can learn more about the project here.

The work by the RSCVA over the last year has been an effort to effectively reposition the destination to this new target audience to grow overall visitation. The goal of this effort is to turn around many consecutive years of declining visitation to Washoe County. This decline in visitation means a huge economic loss of revenue for hotels, restaurants, bars, retail shops and local governments.

While we are replacing the “America’s Adventure Place” slogan, we are not suggesting that the entire destination adopt the new campaign tagline as its individual identity. Reno will always be “The Biggest Little City”, Sparks will be “It’s happening here” and North Lake Tahoe will remain “Go Tahoe North.”

Though it is hard to comprehend for many, campaign taglines are not destination slogans.

We are also not retiring the America’s Adventure Place campaign just to “change.” Research showed America’s Adventure Place was not motivational to potential new visitors.  The new destination identity is going to be Reno Tahoe USA.  There is a new destination logo and a new campaign that is currently in the process of rolling out both in the region and nationally.  While the tagline always gets all the attention it is truly not the focal point of the campaign. Taglines also almost never work by themselves and have to be taken into context with the entire marketing campaign.

Now the hard work really begins. The RSCVA is in the midst of organizing an extensive co-op marketing strategy with our stakeholders in the destination. These stakeholders are being asked to fund along with the RSCVA the advertising campaign that will target these new visitors. That group has provided extensive input and guidance on developing the plan.

The most difficult thing to accomplish in destination marketing is forcing  yourself to think like a “visitor” and not like a “resident.” This new campaign strategy is built on what thousands of consumers told us they liked or what appealed to them most about our region. With that said, it will be imperative that “residents” embrace this effort. Helping visitors uncover what is unique, special and different is a job all of us should take seriously. This economic engine powered by tourism is needed now more than ever to continue the momentum of significant improvements in the region.

You remember those words as a kid right? The excitement of Saturday morning cartoons and the inevitable ad for a new TV show or movie that got you all worked up? The RSCVA Marketing Department realizes that many in the community are interested in what the next steps are in the new tourism marketing campaign developed by the organization and our community stakeholders.

Yes, we are working on a revised tagline for a new marketing campaign.  The RSCVA Board adopted the new strategic marketing direction on Sept. 24, 2009 and asked staff to rework the proposed campaign tagline. Unfortunately, it is hard to communicate that the tagline is just one component of the overall vision, and as a consequence much debate has arisen regarding the tagline.

The goal of this effort is to turn around 11 years of declining visitation to Washoe County.  Please let that one sink in.  Every year for 11 years fewer people have been coming to the destination than during the previous year.  It’s a losing streak we must stop and turn the other direction.  This decline in visitation means a huge economic loss of revenue for hotels, restaurants, bars, retail shops, and local governments.   This economic tourism engine is needed now more than ever to continue the momentum of significant improvements in the region.

Since the Board meeting in September we have continued to present the findings of the research behind the campaign to a number of community groups and stakeholders.  We are seeking their feedback and listening to their thoughts.  The general feedback has been very positive when the entire campaign is put in context and the full strategy explained.  The subtleties of an issue this complex are difficult to convey through the media.  Those outlets rarely can provide such an in-depth review  of the strategy and background that accompanies a new marketing plan.

Since the extensive media coverage about the tagline several people have popped in unannounced to my office to tell me their ideas for a slogan.  People have offered dozens of ideas and suggestions.  It is clear that many people love this region and they are passionate about telling us why.  The challenge is this campaign is not about getting more people to live in Reno, Sparks and Lake Tahoe.  That’s an important cause, but different than the RSCVA mission to attract tourists.  Trust us there is stiff competition for Reno Tahoe from destinations both in our own back yard and around the world to attract these visitors.

The RSCVA did not start out this process to develop a new marketing direction because of a desire to “change”.  Instead we carried out extensive research in both our drive and fly-markets.  In all we have listened to more than 11,000 people.  This required phone research, internet based panels, consumer intercepts, and dozens of focus groups. What that research told us is to grow visitation from a new group of potential customers the marketing for the destination needs to be more distinctive and should push new messages than in the past. Hence the recommendations that have been developed by both the RSCVA staff and our marketing firm Mortar.

We are hard at work developing a campaign that will both motivate new visitors and channel all the passion of the community to support all of us in the hospitality industry better sell Reno Tahoe USA.  So please stay tuned …

As a result of 11 years declining visitation to Reno Tahoe, the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority (RSCVA) undertook an extensive project starting last year to develop a new strategy to improve visitation to Reno Tahoe.

As a community member you have a vested interest in the success of the new direction and the opportunity to help us shape the conversation about Reno Tahoe going forward. The RSCVA invites you to attend a presentation to view the destination’s “Updated Tourism Brand Promise,” online, or during one of several public forums. It will provide key insight into the process that RSCVA has undertaken over the past 12 months to develop a tourism marketing strategy and will focus on four main steps of the process: Internal Research, External Research, Distillation and Workshop, and Brand Platform and Execution.

The RSCVA will be hosting a WebEx conference and would like you join. The meeting is scheduled to last approximately 60 minutes.

• Topic: Preview Reno Tahoe’s Tourism Marking Strategy
• Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009
• Time: 2:00 pm, Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)
• Meeting Number: 334 541 493
• Meeting Password: (This meeting does not require a password.)

To join the online meeting (Now from phones too!)

• Go to https://thna.webex.com/thna/j.php?ED=115040727&UID=0
• Enter your name and email address.
• Enter the meeting password: (This meeting does not require a password.)
• Click “Join Now”.

Please RSVP to Sally Moore at smoore@rscva.com or call 827-7668 with a date that you are able to be on the WebEx.

If you are unable to make the above date the RSCVA would encourage you to try and attend one of the other community-wide meetings listed below:

The meetings are scheduled to last approximately 60 minutes.

Schedule of Community Meetings:

September 16 at 9 am

September 17 at 2 pm

September 22 at 4 pm

September 23 at 2pm

What does this mean for locals?

Local residents should understand that the RSCVA along with its numerous stakeholders are working to develop a brand promise that resonates with visitors, tourists. Locals need to think about this new brand direction like a tourist would, not how a local resident would. The mission of the RSCVA is to drive overnight visitation into the destination (Reno, Sparks and North Lake Tahoe).

What does this mean for potential visitors?

A key strategy in this new campaign is to expose tourists to more of the local flavor of Reno and Tahoe.  As a result we are officially retiring the “Don’t hassle me I’m a local” T-shirts and replacing them with “Ask me for something fun to do-I’m a local” logo gear. In all seriousness more effort will be placed on providing guides and services to expose visitors to the offbeat things to do in the region. Some of those are in the known tourist spots such as hotel-casinos and shopping malls.  Others are a bit more off the beaten path yet still authentically Reno and Tahoe.

Communications Plan Summary

RSCVA marketing programs have been based upon a more traditional advertising model. Reliance on public relations and Internet-driven strategies has been light. Our new audience, on the other hand, is far more likely to get their getaway ideas from friends and online. The RSCVA has a new marketing focus that requires a revised marketing strategy. The RSCVA will focus on effective Co-Op marketing and securing support from area partners. For the near-term, all area marketing budgets are constrained by the challenging economy. There is a widespread desire for greater efficiency. While not the ‘main’ motivation for visitation, gambling is a popular activity for tourists. The RSCVA can be more efficient by focusing its efforts on attracting new visitors to the destination.

Measurement

The RSCVA Marketing Department is developing more sophisticated tracking that will accompany the implementation of the Market Segmentation Study findings. The goal is to evolve the current measurement methodology to include a better understanding of the relationship between Word of Mouth media drivers (e.g. PR coverage, internet searches, positive reviews) and more traditional measurements of marketing effectiveness such as room nights booked, total visitation and growth in Average Daily Rate. The new measurements which include metrics for Awareness (PR impressions, print circulation, newsletters sent, keyword impressions and total Web visits, etc.), Engagement (online banner clicks, Website downloads, repeat Web site visits, newsletters opened, etc.) and Action (leads, bookings, visitation) would ultimately be presented for adoption by the RSCVA Board of Directors as Marketing Department goals for fiscal year 2010-2011.

Time commitment

Several short-term goals have been established to see if the new advertising campaign and updated tourism brand promise is working as hoped.  However, a 5- to 10-year time commitment will be needed from key stakeholders in the destination in order to most effectively gauge the success of this new strategy.

Community outreach

The RSCVA acknowledges that the process will involve a substantial amount of community outreach. The story is compelling but not effective to tell through media coverage alone. Therefore, the RSCVA is meeting with a variety of local community leaders over the course of several weeks. These small group presentations will allow community leaders to understand key findings of the Market Segmentation Study in order to help them understand the process. Community leaders will also have the opportunity to get involved with the process by participating in community contests, commenting on social media sites, etc.

• To read about the Reno Tahoe’s market potential research, check out Branding Reno Tahoe: Research is Key.
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