Smart Meetings

Redefining the brand

Author: Carolyn Koenig
August 2008

Features

30 CVBs Speak Out

Convention and visitors bureaus have been around for about a hundred years. They’ve enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with meeting planners that has grown exponentially, but still relies on relationships.

To keep those relationships vibrant and reach out to new partners in the meetings arena, they’ve had to re-examine their mission, their brand, their way of doing business. It’s required thoughtful introspection, industry-wide studies and revised marketing strategies. It’s also required becoming pro-active, especially in this extremely competitive economic environment.

At the same time, today’s CVBs are under more scrutiny by stakeholders, more challenged to produce a return on investment and stay relevant in a world with increasingly sophisticated technology.

Destination Marketing Association International, the umbrella organization for CVBs worldwide, has been leading the way. A name change in 2005 from International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus signifies “a repositioning to reflect the main element of our membership and what they do,” says Michael D. Gehrisch, president and CEO of DMAI.

The change in nomenclature sent a ripple throughout the industry, but has been overwhelmingly accepted by members, he says. In fact, it’s helped to broaden membership to encompass state tourism organizations, as well as created an allied member section.

“Our mission hasn’t changed; our ambitions have,” Gehrisch says. “Our mission still is relatively the same—the goal of enhancing the professionalism of the industry and the image of destination management organizations [DMOs] worldwide.”
To increase the professionalism, DMAI has undertaken an accreditation process that provides certification for organizations, using 54 mandatory standards, he says. To date, 60 members have gone through the accreditation process, and “we expect to have 100 by the end of the year,” he says.

The organization recently commissioned a study of issues and trends, The Future of Destination Marketing: Tradition, Transition and Transformation, which is being released this month (see page 52 for highlights). Its three key themes—relevance, visibility and value propositions—resonate for planners as well as its member DMOs.

We conducted our own survey of some of the top CVBs in the West to learn more about their branding efforts, their challenges in the realm of technology-enhanced destination resources and the increased emphasis on ROI. They’ve weighed in on changing planner expectations, the green movement and the trend toward shorter lead times. They’ve also shared their “wish list” (see page 54) of things they’d like meeting professionals to know—but maybe don’t—about their destination. It’s a fascinating glimpse of our partners. Read on!

THE NAME GAME
“What’s in a name?” Shakespeare asked. Plenty, say CVBs around the West, a number of which  have changed their names from the traditional convention and visitors bureau to monikers like “visit” or “travel” or “tourism.” The reasons vary, but are based on a solid understanding of their markets and their strategies.

For instance, Travel Portland made the official name swap from Portland Oregon Visitors Association last January. “It was a way to better reach our customers,” says Jeff Miller, president and CEO. “Nobody knew who ‘POVA’ was.”

Banff Lake Louise Tourism did the same, to become more user-friendly for their largely consumer market.

West Hollywood made another, yet different leap, renaming their bureau the West Hollywood Marketing and Visitors Bureau, the only one thus far in existence. “We don’t have a convention center; we don’t pursue that business,” says Bradley M. Burlingame, president and CEO. “We thought it was a sensible thing to do, to clarify the role of the bureau and how we position it. We patterned it a little after IACVB changed to DMAI, which made a bit of a stir at the time.”

LA INC. The Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau has another tale to tell. According to Michael Krouse, CHME, CMP, senior vice president, sales and services, the original plan was that LA INC. would become a parent company, with a variety of organizations under it. The bureau later added “Los Angeles” to the CVB’s name, so it wouldn’t be confused with Louisiana. “We’re known in the community as LA INC.,” Krouse says, “but we always say Los Angeles CVB when we go to trade shows.”

Although name changes like those of Portland, Banff Lake Louise and West Hollywood have gained widespread acceptance, other bureaus have found a few challenges. “We changed our organization’s name to Experience Colorado Springs at Pikes Peak about three years ago,” recounts Kathy Reak, director of convention sales for the Colorado organization. “It was something DMAI was introducing and hoping it would become an industry trend. We wanted to be on the cutting edge, so we decided to make that change. We also thought that Convention and Visitors Bureau sounded a little too bureaucratic, and our new name would be more welcoming and a better introduction to our area.”

While for visitors the name is self-explanatory and has garnered a positive reception, “for meeting planners and the local community there’s still a learning curve,” she says. “In order to clarify who we are, under our name ‘Experience Colorado Springs at Pikes Peak,’ we added ‘Convention and Visitors Bureau.’”

VISIT OUR DOMAIN
While some bureaus haven’t created new names, they’ve changed the way they present themselves on the Web. On the forefront, Albuquerque has used “itsatrip.org” for six or seven years now, according to Linda Brown, vice president of convention sales and service for the Albuquerque CVB.

This year, L.A. changed their seemyla.com to discoverlosangeles.com for better search-engine optimization. It’s also the official source for Los Angeles information. “‘Discover’ is commonly used for destination websites,” Krouse says. “It’s also better branding.”

Secondary, or sub-sites, are another way bureaus are redefining themselves — without sacrificing their primary brand recognition. Scottsdale, for example, hasn’t changed its official corporate URL, but has expanded it, with experiencescottsdale.com, golfinscottsdale.com and spainscottsdale.com, says Rachel Sacco, president and CEO of the Scottsdale CVB. “We have secured different ways that people can relate to us; we’re trying to make sure you can find us using a key word.”

Emphasizing its reputation for being a foodie haven, San Francisco has added a sub-site, Taste SF, connected to the main website. “It’s critical that we have a consistent message that we take out — Only in San Francisco,” says Joe D’Alessandro, president and CEO of the city’s CVB.

Also launching a microsite is the Big Island Visitors Bureau, highlighting sustainable tourism on the island.

Trading in the “visit” angle, the Stockton (Calif.) Conference & Visitors Bureau is in the early stages of launching a new brand that will see its domain name change from visitstockton.org to celebratestockton.com,” according to director Wes H. Rhea. The organization may adopt the brand “Celebrate Stockton” as its moniker as well.

THE [NEW] CAMPAIGN TRAIL
To better market the broader picture of their destinations, or its lesser-known facets, CVBs are developing a host of new campaigns to reach the group, business and leisure markets. Expect to see some of these on a magazine page or in a television commercial sooner, rather than later:

• “Our tag line is going to be ‘more to explore,’” says Don I. Cohen, the newly appointed executive director of the Bakersfield CVB. “People say, ‘I drove past there once in my life’; our point is, Bakersfield is worth stopping in. There’s more here than meets the eye.”
• You don’t have to be a news junkie to know that San Francisco has a major LGBT-enhanced theme, but the city has also launched a variety of other campaigns, including an arts and culture campaign focusing on major new art exhibits (Frida Kahlo at SFMOMA, Dale Chihuly at the de Young, female Impressionist paintings at the Legion of Honor, plus the newly opened Contemporary Jewish Museum). And there’s also the Taste SF campaign, focusing on food and wine, with the recent kick-off of the Slow Food Nation event with a garden planting at the Civic Center. “We’re positioning San Francisco as the epicenter of the slow food movement,” D’Alessandro says.
• Tri-Valley, a region in San Francisco’s East Bay, debuted a redesigned campaign with a new tagline “our roots are showing,” to “really reflect the attitude a visitor gets here; we’re showing our historic, winemaking roots, but it’s OK to be yourself here,” says Amy Blaschka, president and CEO of the Tri-Valley CVB. “We’re approachable. If your roots are showing, we don’t care.”
• Coming soon, like Burma Shave signs, is a series of numbered ads for the new “10 Reasons to Visit San Jose” campaign. According to Dan Fenton, president and CEO of the San Jose CVB, “We’ve learned through some research what planners are interested in, for example, the proximity to the airport, ease of walking downtown...”
• With more than 400 miles of coastline, the Lake Havasu City CVB just launched their new slogan: “Put more water in your diet.”
• A young organization, the Davis Area CVB used “Home of the Great Salt Lake” to put them on the map geographically. Now approaching five years, the organization is adding a new marketing promotion, “A Destination for All Seasons,” to promote both summer and winter activities.
• Boise, Idaho has been successful in educating planners and leisure travelers about its great outdoors—but discovered it was time to broaden the picture, thus a “Boise Is” campaign that capitalizes on the fact that it’s a vibrant city with four seasons, professional sports teams and solid corporate hospitality venues.

REDEFINING THE BRAND
When a campaign isn’t enough, some DMOs have turned to reinvention. For example, Sonoma County has redefined its brand as “Sonoma Country,” says Director of Sales Mark Crabb, a move that now expresses the county’s appeal as a full destination experience encompassing a rugged coastline and mountains as well as vineyards, fine dining and spas.

The upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games in British Columbia were the impetus for rebranding efforts by Tourism Richmond, B.C. The organization is now partnering with the city of Richmond and leveraging the Olympics’ visibility to promote the city as a meetings and business destination as well as a tourist locale.

REDEFINING THE MISSION
The CVB’s role as a destination marketing organization hasn’t changed; nor has its role in the economic development of its destination.  “Our mission has not changed, we’re all about creating economic impact,” says Steve Hammond, president and CEO of the Sacramento CVB. “What has changed is our need to do more in a highly competitive industry. Planners are looking for dates and rates, but also want a CVB who’s a partner with them to help make their jobs a little easier, and keep their delegates or board happy.”

Santa Fe didn’t have a mission until its current executive director, Keith Toler, joined the organization a little over a year ago. “I wanted to make sure our community here recognized tourism is economic development,” he says.

According to Jonathan Walker, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Tucson CVB, “Our direction is still the same, we’re still a DMO.  But we’ve become increasingly more political by necessity. The conditions are unique to every destination, but the mission of every bureau is to get as much business and make as much noise as you possibly can.”

REDEFINING THE MARKETS
While their missions haven’t changed, how the bureaus fulfill their roles has, from targeting groups outside their traditional markets to creating events that boost visibility and visitor numbers.

“Our mission has changed only in terms of markets,” says West Hollywood’s Burlingame. “Our primary mission is driving visitation in West Hollywood in all forms—corporate business, meetings, leisure travel—bringing in overnight visitors. It’s changed in terms of strategy, going after the international market, particularly United Kingdom and Australia.”

The international market is also attractive—and makes sense—for Hawaii. “After North America, Japan is our biggest market,” says Mike Murray, CMP, CMM, CASE, vice president of sales and marketing for the Hawaii VCB. Now, there are emerging markets to target, such as China, South Korea and Taiwan. San Francisco is also placing an increased emphasis on the international market. “There was a 10 percent increase in international arrivals last year,” D’Alessandro says. “They’re a big segment of our market when the U.S. economy is weak.”

Some are adding a focus on business they didn’t pursue in the past. Previously Fresno was mainly associations and religious, says Laura L. Whitehouse, president and CEO of the Fresno CVB. “Now we’ve added education, corporate and government.”
Denver is also looking more closely at the corporate market. “Over the years our lifeblood has been association business, it’s stable, it gets convention centers built,” says Richard Scharf, president and CEO of the Denver Metro CVB. “We do citywides, but we also do 600 smaller meetings a year.”

While Park City typically markets to corporate groups, “We are considering expanding our marketing efforts to include association groups as well,” says Bill Malone, executive director of the Park City Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau.

Salt Lake City has taken a different tack. According to Scott Beck, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City CVB, “Here in Salt Lake there’s a shift to market more of the leisure tourism side of the city. As our destination as a city has grown, so has our ski industry after the Olympics.” With four of the nation’s top ski resorts—and being only 25 minutes from the #1 ski resort in North America (Snowbird), the city “got into the ski pass-selling business,” he says. “We sold $3.5 million in ski passes this year.” That said, with the recent expansion and renovation of the Salt Palace, the destination can now market to larger groups and trade shows.

For Scottsdale’s Sacco, creating new events has been a shift beyond adding value and providing great service to fill hotel rooms. “We’re now creating experiences and products,” she says. “We kept hearing visitors say, ‘We know Arizona has a lot of Native American culture, but we have a hard time accessing it.’” They’re private, not public, she says, and six years ago the CVB had an opportunity to create an actual peformance, called “Native Trails.” The free-to-the-public event features dances and storytelling with 21 different tribes, “a great example of how a CVB creates experiences and stretches branding,” Sacco says.

Strategies change and will continue to change, D’Alessandro says. “Our strategy this year is not the same as in the next two years. The only way a CVB can remain successful is to continually evolve strategies. We have never been in a position to dictate to our customers; they dictate to us and we have to provide what they want.”

FORGING STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
Working collaboratively with other destinations and marketing entities expands not only the reach but also the rewards.

West Hollywood joined together with its L.A. West Side counterparts—Marina del Rey, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica—to form a marketing consortium, complete with website (westla.com), that helps planners put together events that capitalize on the individual cities’ strengths: water, shopping, beaches and entertainment. “We have a great affinity in terms of geography, a small but collectively substantial presence,” Burlingame says. It’s been such a successful collaboration that they’re considering taking it to trade shows as well.

Putting the last piece of the Tri-Valley “puzzle” together, the CVB added Danville, the fifth and remaining community in the region, to its focus. “They came to us, saw what we were doing and wanted to partner with us,” President and CEO Blaschka says.    

According to Whitehouse, Fresno has “really gone through a transformation. Instead of focusing on just the city of Fresno, now we’re representing all 15 cities in the [Fresno] county. One county, one call.”

Scottsdale has had a contract with neighboring Paradise Valley and two Native American communities—Salt River Pima and Ft. McDowell Yavapai—for many years. But, Sacco says, we have two fairly new partners—Sedona and in the coming year, the Grand Canyon.

As for San Francisco, “We’re expanding the perception of San Francisco to a broader regional alliance,” D’Alessandro says. Easily accessible right from San Francisco’s home page is Beyond the Bridge, which tells people about the opportunities to experience Northern California beyond the city—Wine Country, the North Coast, Tahoe, Yosemite, Carmel... “We’re working closely to position the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. We are all stronger if we’re working together,” he says.

Elsewhere in the West, the Davis Area CVB forged a partnership with six other CVBs in Utah, along with the Utah Office of Tourism, to create a cooperative marketing campaign, “Meet in Utah,” according to Barbara S. Riddle, CMP, president and CEO. Elko joined forces with Virginia City for the “Dig Mines” campaign and to create itineraries that would encompass Reno, Elko and Virginia City. And Stockton has expanded its outreach to nearby Lodi and Manteca. “We are working on a couple of regional marketing pieces and exploring agritourism,” Rhea says.

Two other cities have forged unusual—and unexpected—partnerships. Sacramento has formed a three-city partnership with Baltimore and Fort Worth (Texas), which is unique to the convention industry, Hammond says, “in that three new sales managers were hired to sell the three-city package to meeting planners in the East, Midwest and West.”

The packages offer significant savings and incentives for groups booking at least two of the three partner cities; plus, he says, by joining forces and sharing the three additional sales people, they can create added discounts by booking the cities for multi-year deals.

San Jose partners with—surprisingly—Virginia Beach, Va., a combination which focuses on meeting planners who plan rotating meetings between the East and West Coasts, says San Jose’s Fenton. The dual-city partnership works, obviously, because they don’t compete for business; but also because they have similar convention center sizes and target groups with similar needs. 

SHOW US THE ROI
It’s no secret that some bureaus have lost funding, their independent status and their community support over the past few years. Some have had to reorganize and restaff. But the large majority have never lost sight of their accountability and fiscal responsibility.

“It’s an ongoing responsibility we have to our stakeholders, responsibility to government leaders, to make sure we get a greater return on investment,” D’Alessandro says. “We also have an internal responsibility to make sure our efforts are focused. We have limited resources, limited staff, and we need to make sure we utilize them well.”

The city, in fact, has undergone a very open probe, looking at the booking goals and patterns; they ended the last fiscal year with the most room nights booked in their history, he says.

Sacramento’s Hammond has always felt that “one of our major responsibilities is to clearly communicate the return our stakeholders are receiving for their investment in our organization”—and posts some pretty impressive numbers. Last year, in fact, the bureau generated about $150 million of economic impact, just from its convention business, on a $6.8-million budget.

Educating the community is another leg on the chair, as evidenced by Seattle’s “Why Tourism Matters,” a regional public education campaign. Tom Norwalk, newly announced president and CEO of the CVB, however, has seen “more of a shift toward return on investment and metrics-driven performance and accountability.”
Accountability is a constant push. Some bureaus, like Sonoma County, have now formed an ROI committee to help direct them in their marketing and sales strategies, Crabb, the bureau’s director of sales, says.

“The biggest challenge for smaller bureaus is that tracking and quantifying ROI is costly and for the most part expensive to do,” says Stockton’s Rhea. “You have bureaus dedicating $50- to $100,000 on research and studies. We just cannot do that. We rely a lot on state and county-level data and do our best to parse out what we can.” But, as he says, the leisure market rarely calls and lets us know they are coming because they saw our ad.

Portland put several ROI measures into place a few years ago, to determine how they measure the success of their sales efforts. “It put us in a position not of greater scrutiny, but of giving us an opportunity to discuss our success and how we measure it,” Miller says.

Ontario has a new program implemented this fiscal year for which the director of sales, Amita Patel, CHSP won the best idea award at the WABC conference in October. “The ROI worksheet analyzes how we do business and see how it works for us,” says Theresa Moretti, director of marketing and public relations.

PLANNERS’ CHANGING EXPECTATIONS
“Planners are savvy business people,” says Portland’s Miller. “They are being asked to be smarter, quicker, faster—we all have to be.” Add to that the issues of time-poverty, juggling other responsibilities and having to do more with less. “They want better value and what more they can get for the price. They’re being squeezed by their clients, too,” says Blaschka, of the Tri-Valley CVB.

But lack of time and shrinking budgets aren’t the only changing expectations. Our experienced group of CVB execs enumerated a raft of others:

• Planners’ issues have changed, says D’Alessandro. “They’ve seen the market go from a buyers to a sellers market, and from sellers to buyers, and planners have to react to that. What they need in any given year may be different than the last year.”
• Based on today’s economic conditions, many planners want to wait to make decisions on booking meetings. “Planners are a lot more short-term now,” says Joel Racker, president and CEO of the Utah Valley CVB. “It’s more of a buyer’s market and planners can be a little more picky and negotiate a little harder. Hotel occupancy is a little softer this year, and whenever that happens, hotels are more willing to negotiate.”
• According to Colorado Springs’ Reak, planners expect a quick reaction to their requests and a high sense of customer service. And more services, adds L.A.’s Krouse. “Planners are saying ‘I need staffers.’ I get requests for all the things they [normally] do, because they are being cut back.”

Two major changes dwarf the others, however: the issue of green meetings and sustainability, and the sales methods CVBs use to do business with their planner clients.

As a national park, Banff has been on the green bandwagon for decades. Now, the region is experiencing an uptick in meetings planned by corporations and associations who are challenged to find solutions to green meeting requirements—and organizations can learn by experiencing the area. Portland—known as a green destination—has begun hosting two green FAM trips a year to talk about the product. They’re seeing more corporations being directed to having green meetings—such as Kaiser Permanente, whose planner attended a recent FAM. San Jose is committed to sustainability, Fenton says. “We are holding events with no waste, and beginning to roll out packages with that kind of environment. We use local food products and are reducing our carbon footprint.”

Denver, which is hosting the first green political convention this summer (the Democratic National Convention), has hired one of the few full-time sustainability managers in the country for the convention center. “We’re not only taking care of our own business and what we can do better, but we’re putting a checklist together for the top 50 things our clients can do, to make [meeting green] easier for them,” Scharf says.

Back in the day—and it does seem long enough ago to use that phrase—four and five sales calls, wanting to show them your brochure, were de rigueur. Now, it’s “I want your value proposal and information, upfront and easy to decipher,” says Salt Lake City’s Beck. “They have less and less time. Our initial point of contact has to be so well researched. You have 5-10 minutes. You need to understand what their product is; they require we know their product and what they need. No cold calls. Now they’re demanding that when we go out there, we need our research done. ‘Don’t call me unless your center has 500,000 sq. ft.’”

Seattle’s Norwalk says, “Today planners expect to do business electronically and over the Web just as easily as face-to-face and on paper. It’s more important than ever for them to be able to pick and choose the way they want to do business.”

SELLING THE CENTER
Traditionally, CVBs sell convention centers from a year to 18 months out, the other dates reverting to the venue to book consumer shows, local events and short-term business. But some locations, like Davis, are finding that their clients are booking in shorter windows—often within 12 months. “With the current economic climate, this window seems to be getting even shorter,” Riddle says.

San Jose, aka Team San Jose, sells more than the center—it sells eight venues, including museums and a theater. The bureau is really a one-stop shop, Fenton says. “No service is involved in coming to a destination that we don’t handle.”

Denver went through an RFP process recently for its center and formed an alliance with various stakeholders, including SMG, the city and the Hyatt, that makes the CVB solely responsible for selling all convention business—getting rid of the 18 months window, allowing everyone to focus on their core competency, according to Scharf.

GREATEST CHALLENGES TODAY
With a bear market and rising costs for fuel, food and just about everything else, it’s no wonder that many CVBs’ challenges are directly related to the economy. “The cost of flying and air capacity are our greatest challenges,” Hawaii’s Murray says, “but the situation isn’t just isolated to Hawaii.” Indeed, Lake Havasu’s challenge is also lack of air service, as the majority of visitors have been within driving range—driving has always been the cheapest and easiest way to get to the area.  “How’s the transportation?” is also a frequently asked question for the Elko CVB, although the city opened a new regional airport about five years ago (there’s also service to Reno in the works, according to Tom Lester, tourism and convention manager).

What’s not as well known about Hawaii, Murray says, is that other airlines have picked up routes from Aloha and ATA and added seats, although he says, the bureau is working with planners on seasonality, moving meetings off-peak to the shoulder season to reduce overall costs.

According to Crabb from the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau, both leisure and corporate travel are being affected in his Wine Country destination, and people are cutting back on their trips. But, “Working with our partners on added-value packaging is helping our leisure markets and the cash incentive program for meeting planners has created new interest. Planners can earn up to $4,000, depending on meeting size and time of stay, that goes to their master account at the hotel and can be used however they see fit.”

A common theme among destinations like Salt Lake City, Portland and Utah Valley is awareness of the destination—getting planners to visit their cities. “When they see it, they’ll love it,” is their mantra—and rightly so.
Increased competition continues to present challenges even to larger cities. “Some destinations are able to greatly reduce the cost of the convention center or provide incentives we’re not able to do,” says SFCVB’s D’Alessandro. “There has been an overbuilding of meeting space, and some destinations in the past that we didn’t compete with, we now do.”

Bringing more meeting space online is another issue. Albuquerque is working to get funding for an event center and new headquarter hotels, according to Brown, while Santa Fe is anxiously awaiting the opening of its new center this fall.

Overcoming outdated perceptions is one of Krouse’s greatest challenges regarding L.A. “If you haven’t been here in the past five years, get your buns out here!” he colorfully encourages. When planners recently came for PCMA, they found a gorgeous music center, outdoor patios, a beautiful night, he says. “People didn’t perceive it was like that. They thought ‘homeless, nothing to do at night.’” In the new downtown, he says, there are 100 bars and nightclubs.

Other challenges are educational. In Bakersfield, there’s a renewed emphasis on “educating our own citizens about international travel, a lot comes through our town; making our front desk people aware of all the things there are to do in Bakersfield,” Don Cohen says.