Reno Tahoe

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 …

The RSCVA has worked to determine where opportunities exist to grow overall visitation and understand what key messages appeal to potential visitors.

By introducing Reno Tahoe to a fresh group of potential visitors, the RSCVA is optimistic the region will see an increase in the number of visitors, increase in the number or rooms/nights booked and an increase in the average daily rate charged at hotel, casino, resorts in the destination.

What is branding for a destination?

Branding is not a logo or a tagline.

It is what people see about a place, company or organization.  In a more clinical sense it is a collection of perceptions in the mind of the consumer.  It is not what a region wants to be, but rather what consumers believe and help reinforce about a destination.  While it would be great to think that advertising could create a brand, perception and reality are much more persuasive in today’s world.  That is why a brand promise has to be authentic and real.  The most successful companies and destinations make sure their brand positioning is reinforced in all marketing, communications and customer service.

Connecting emotionally

Even in the face of a steep decline in travel and the overall economic slowdown, research highlighted opportunities to position both Reno and Tahoe as a fun, easy to get to and value-based destination. The goal of the marketing segmentation study is to create a ‘target mindset’ and find more emotional triggers in our potential visitors. This change in execution provides a departure from the typical destination marketing that focuses on features and attributes rather than connecting with the ‘psyche’ of customers.

The process

Over a two-week period Mortar conducted stakeholder meetings, gathering information about how the local community/stakeholders look at the destination and current RSCVA marketing efforts. Mortar met with RSCVA staff, the majority of Reno-Tahoe’s hotel partners, Reno, Sparks, and North Lake Tahoe tourism officials, Nevada Commission on Tourism, Reno-Tahoe International Airport, destination activity partners, and special event operators.

Following internal research, Mortar conducted in-person intercepts with visitors in Reno Tahoe to get a sense of why people come to the destination and what they like about it. The intercepts were held throughout the region. Mortar also conducted in-person and Web-based research with Reno Tahoe visitors in the Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles markets.

At the end of March, a New Market Segmentation Committee (made up of some of the stakeholders involved in the internal research step) held an all-day workshop to study video of the consumer intercept interviews, the commonalities and differences between the two target segments, and how locals view the destination. The information revealed details on why the RSCVA needs to develop a brand promise for tourists, not locals, but there are distinct differences between the two. This workshop provided an open forum for the committee to interject comments/suggestions, and create an opportunity for the committee to buy in to the process.

The brand platform embraces the research findings, and begins to explore the target mindset while creating a target archetype of the two segments. Also included in this portion of work is the communications strategy. The communications strategy is still under development, and will address how the RSCVA will communicate the key messages of the updated tourism brand promise to first timers and those needing reintroduction.

The brand platform

Utilizing a combination of the mindset and archetype of the two segments, Mortar worked to develop the RSCVA brand platform. The platform uses the following statements to characterize the destination: A True Original, No Judgment, Easy, and Fun for All. These for statements come together to create the brand DNA. Brand DNA is the foundation and tone in which destination marketing will revolve around. If executed effectively it will be the way tourists and visitors describe the destination to their friends and family, encouraging them to also visit the destination.

The personality and tone of the new brand platform characterize the destination as proudly unapologetic, confident, energetic, big sense of humor and embracing the quirky and funky.

Summary of brand blueprint

Several indicators exist when thinking about the new brand position. Both the Brand DNA, personality and tone are utterly true and have always been true; it is informed by the past and projectable to the future. This concept can be applied to Reno and Tahoe. It is differentiated – only this region can lay true claim to this kind of attitude. The new direction is motivating – it tells the target how to act and what is expected of them, rather than focusing on the location. It is purposefully simple and aspirational. It can apply to any activity and any frame of mind and it intersects the truth of both visitors and residents.

Supporting the positioning with additional research

In August 2009 the RSCVA took the updated brand platform and tested potential advertising executions with the new target markets (needs reintroduction and first-timers) in the I-80 corridor.  The objective was to evaluate the potential of new campaign to assess the comprehension, memorability and motivational aspects of the proposed advertising materials. The work was tested both quantitatively (through a web-based survey panel) and qualitatively (through one-on-one, 60-minute interviews).

The research provided a number of key insights including:

• All the work is successful – in varying degrees – in shifting people’s perceptions of Reno
• Some of the executions go as far as motivating people to take immediate action
• The work indicates that something has/may have changed in the region – and that is a positive
• Respondents saw more to do, activity-wise, and a more contemporary, fun personality
• The brand attributes that have been articulated in the brand platform – offbeat, unpretentious, unique, easy, inclusive and fun – come through very clearly
• The work is seen as very different to conventional destination advertising

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