With destination marketing the smart money markets the “place” and everyone wins. Who is everyone? Everyone is every hotel, restaurant, experience and economy that is battling for the travel dollar. Travel is big business and intelligent destination marketing can bring in a big haul for everyone including you and all businesses around you. Thinking with generosity will have a long term positive effect on your bottom line and everyone else’s bottom line in your community.
I have a few smart examples to show below from clients that truly understand generosity in regards to marketing. It’s the same principal that you should follow with social media…talk about others and you will thrive. That is a hard proposition for old school marketers but one that works if you can wrap your arms around it. Ryan Seacrest is a prime example of someone from entertainment that truly understands and thrives from generosity marketing. He plays it smart and the same principals can be applied to any industry. Especially destination marketing where you have so many opportunities to sell with video and other media.
Think about that small taco shack on your island that lives and dies by the big hotel next door being filled up. What if you included places like that in your marketing plan which helps focus on the culture around you the benefactor of said marketing? Guess what? That small taco shack will post that destination marketing video in all of their social channels and be flattered by their inclusion. Then someone who was staying on the other side of the island that loves that taco shop has discovery and incredible sentiment towards your brand. Guess where they might stay the next time on the island? You guessed it.
This angle of generosity in destination marketing can be successfully applied in many ways. Below are 2 great examples.
This example of smart destination marketing comes from our client Four Seasons Resort & Residences Anguilla. Anguilla is a very small island that shows up every now and then in the tabloids as it is a celebrity mecca. There are a few well known and new places to stay in Anguilla. Four Seasons Resort & Residences Anguilla wanted to promote the island and not just their amazing resort in a destination marketing video. This takes serious marketing bravery and brand selflessness and will be hard for some brands to stomach. The ROI will not be black and white. You will be investing in the community and taking a backseat to the focal point which will be your community. You are a PART of that community and if THEY thrive YOU thrive. Yes, you will spend thousands of dollars on a 2 min video and may appear in less than 10 seconds of that video. WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! It’s not an easy pill to swallow but it is a smart one.
Now that you have swallowed and approved this crazy plan you have to decide who will star in your destination marketing masterpiece? EVERYONE YOU CAN! You will be amazed how many will bend over backwards to participate. You are creating a marketing monster that will be fueled with passion and have a very long shelf life. Below is the finished product which is a nice capsule of what you can expect in Anguilla presented by Four Seasons Resort & Residences Anguilla. Anguilla tourism and Viceroy Anguilla will benefit from this for a long time as it floats through the interwebs.
The next example is a smart play dreamed up by 2 resorts (both clients) on the opposite end of an island. The Island is St. Lucia. Cap Maison and Ladera are not owned by the same company and have no financial affiliation. They both realize getting people to St. Lucia benefits everyone. What about a destination marketing video promoting…wait for it…2 separate resorts. Cap Maison and Ladera compete BIG TIME for the St. Lucia travel dollar. Hmmmm. What? What if the consumer likes one better than the other and takes their money there instead next time? Smartly, neither resort thinks that way and has created a “peak to beach” package that puts you at both places for a half a week each. Brilliant. Here’s 2 very popular honeymoon and romantic destinations pooling their resources to knock it out of the park. They both benefit greatly and so does St. Lucia.
The travel dollar is out there being spent. How are you making waves to grab hold of that precious buck? Here’s the Peak to Beach video below. How can you leverage generosity with your marketing plan in 2016 for the win? We’d love to help you figure it out and would love to help. Contact us anytime.
