Selling the region
Region taps destination branding trend
It’s being dubbed a new "guiding star" for the 60 communities in Central Massachusetts and looked to as a unifying force for regions from the Lake Champlain Valley to the rural reaches of Wisconsin. Old Sturbridge Village is questing after it. Soon Worcester will be too. Branding is not just for breakfast foods or car companies anymore.
"It’s not about me sitting around and making up stuff about Central Mass.," stresses Gary Sherwin, whose Rancho Mirage, CA-based company, Believable Brands, just completed a yearlong, $35,000 brand analysis for the Central Mass. County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Rather, branding is a deliberate process of research and analysis to find out what a community’s image is and to act on it. Slogans, logos and taglines may be a part of that strategy eventually, he says, but they are definitely not a starting or ending point.
Sherwin says that municipalities began using branding in the late 1990s and the trend really took hold in 2002 and 2003 when the Destination Marketing Association termed the practice a must. He describes a brand as the consumer’s strong positive and emotional connection with a product or experience that has functional benefits. What a successful destination brand does, he explained to CVB members at its recent annual meeting, goes far beyond the warm fuzzies of emotion. "We’re all about trying to get more wallets to come to this part of the world than any other part of the world," he summarizes.
The rural, relaxing promise
After working with area stakeholders - business leaders in tourism and across the spectrum of industries, municipal and political officials and tourist groups - and surveying residents and visitors, Sherwin’s company has forged a branding "promise" for the region. It says: "The Central Mass. region offers the visitor a classic New England experience through a collection of affordable, accessible and unique communities (near Boston) which offer an intellectually innovative and culturally vibrant environment, a step back into historic Americana and superb outdoor recreation - all embraced in a beautiful and relaxing scenic location."
That promise follows a process that began with a summit of stakeholders in October of 2005 and continued into last spring, exploring their images of what the region has to offer. Believable Brands then conducted an on-line survey of some 738 visitors to the area, 209 non-visitors and 383 residents. Stakeholders’ general observations about the area included its easy access, recreation offerings, history, education, positive New England stereotypes, proximity to Boston, affordability, quaintness, relaxation qualities, Yankee mentality, family friendliness and fall foliage. Central Mass. did not emerge as having a clear image, however. The results noted that Worcester had a bad self image and Sherwin says he was struck by one particular comment, "Worcester is a great place to grow up but you don’t want to visit there."
The on-line survey (See charts) produced what Sherwin calls a "wake-up call." Visitors come here mainly for the rural experience above all else, though they do cite history, museums and educational opportunities as important. Originally, Sherwin says, stakeholders thought the larger communities in the region were the draw and that the smaller communities benefited from that. "It turns out it’s the reverse," he says.
Bring the brand to life
Now that there’s a branding blueprint, CMCVB’s next step is to "bring its brand to life," starting with hiring a marketing company. The bureau is about to issue a request for proposals for the job, according to CVB President Donna McCabe. CVB’s effort to promote its new brand will get a boost from a $751,175 grant it just received from the Mass. Office of Travel and Tourism.
While there have been previous marketing efforts for the region, McCabe notes, this is the first time it has actually researched how visitors and non-visitors view the area to form a strategy.
Kicking off the "creative" piece of the plan is part of an eight-step initiative. Since those surveyed kept focusing on it, the strategy includes finding methods to enhance and promote relaxation. Sherwin advises the region to try and offer its "own special brand version of relaxation," through spa packages or added services. The strategy also calls for: programs and packages playing on the intellectual experiences in the region - perhaps linking colleges and museums; outdoor recreation packages; improved signage throughout the region; and setting up a hospitality training program so that all tourism industry players promote the brand and offer excellent service.
Finally, the strategy envisions all the communities and regions within Central Mass. establishing their own sub-brands. Sherwin, who notes that CVB’s branding effort is extraordinary because it involves so many communities, equates it to a pot luck supper hosted by CVB. "What dish are you going to bring to the party that’s unique and special?" he asks.
Both the City of Worcester and the Sturbridge area will be working on their recipes. The Sturbridge Area Tourism Association recently began a branding effort after securing $300,000 in state funding. Paul Wykes, executive vice president for Old Sturbridge Village, which is heading up that process, says he expects the SATA branding campaign to work in concert with the CVB initiative. OSV, Wykes says, is also undertaking a branding effort for the first time in 20 years, but is unlikely to finalize it until the historic museum, under the direction of an interim CEO since April, has chosen a permanent top executive.
The City of Worcester is slated to launch a branding effort of its own via a new organization formed by City Manager Michael O’Brien called Destination Worcester. At press time, O’Brien had yet to appoint a board of directors or hire an executive director for the initiative, announced last May and geared to drawing visitors. Another Worcester-specific branding effort - this one geared to attracting businesses— is expected to be launched by a business-backed non-profit called Choose Worcester, also now seeking to hire a top executive.
Sumner Tilton, Choose Worcester president and director of Worcester law firm Fletcher, Tilton and Whipple, says his group’s branding component will likely dovetail with those of Central Mass. and Worcester.
"They all touch one another," McCabe says of the various branding efforts, noting that cultural and tourism aspects relate to quality of life for residents and employers.
Since branding is become such a buzzword for communities, the Mass. Municipal Association will be hosting a workshop on the process on Jan. 12, 2007 as part of its annual meeting at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Patricia Mikes, MMA communications director, says branding is something of which members are become more aware.
They have plenty of company. This year alone, branding projects are underway in St. Louis, Baltimore, Little Rock, Albuquerque, Milwaukee and Durham, NC. Mystic, CT is striving to replicate its successful branding for tourism with an identity to draw economic development. And the Boston Redevelopment Authority is working on a branding plan to save the floundering Downtown Crossing.
"The fact that you’re in business is not enough anymore," Sherwin says. "The consumer has too many choices."
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