While everyone else is reflecting on 2017 or predicting trends for 2018, let’s take a moment and think about something more important. How healthy will your brand be in two years? What about five years?

Now is the time to think about it and steer the ship in the right direction.

• What’s that you say? Your community doesn’t really have a proper brand. It doesn’t have a message and strategy that has been researched and formalized that can guide your marketing and PR. That’s a problem you need to address quickly. The true definition of a brand is how people think or feel about a place or product. The process of branding means being proactive about helping people arrive at a truthful conclusion about a place. Without a proper brand and the message discipline that comes with it, you’re leaving it up to chance — hoping that potential visitors will have the correct ideas about your community. Is that comforting?
• Is your brand getting maximum benefit from its marketing? It’s a big and complex question. Here are the major factors to look at: a. Is the marketing creative? In the travel and tourism sector it has to be in order to inspire people to visit. b. Is your message and visual style consistent across all platforms — print, web, social media, video and outdoor? If not, fix this right away. It’s a fairly easy thing and it's the hallmark of a great brand. c. Are you reaching your target audience through the best and most effective media for your destination? Giant brands who advertise during the Super Bowl are paying to reach the zillions of viewers. That’s not the strategy for most travel destinations. Smart and targeted use of digital, print, out-of-home and social media are most likely the first tier choices. Broadcast, including TV and radio, may be beneficial for some. There is no standard answer because each destination is unique, which is why this question deserves close scrutiny, expert judgement and constant monitoring.
  • Has your brand experienced message drift? This happens too frequently. If you’re driving along, the first time your GPS says “Recalculating” you don’t think much about it. If it starts beeping, shouting, cursing and frantically warning “make a U-Turn now” maybe you should pay attention. You’re off course. The same thing happens to brands, usually not for any good reason at all except carelessness. Unless you have solid data showing that the current strategy needs correcting, give it every chance to succeed. It takes longer to make an indelible mark in consumer’s minds than you might think.

Occasionally I’ll read an article about how brands don’t matter any more. Here at Mikula-Harris we could not possibly disagree more. Brands are more relevant than ever. In this era of social media consumers interact routinely with brands especially in the travel and tourism industry. If the public engages in conversation with brands regarding questions, complaints, compliments and special offers it’s logical to think that they listen to what the brand has to say in return. They have a relationship with brands. That’s why brands need every advantage to be recognized, strong and respected.

Never stop learning. That has been a guiding principle for me all of my life. There will never be a year when I am not taught or reminded about a valuable lesson. Learning a lesson is more valuable, and often more humbling, than learning facts from a book. Here are some things I learned firsthand or observed from those around me during the past year.

1. The importance of getting the branding right the first time

In two separate instances in 2017, we developed new ad campaigns for existing clients for whom our team developed the original branding in years past. Working on the ad campaigns naturally caused us to reflect on the original branding. In both cases the branding was spot on. They both stood the test of time. Both clients got fresh new campaigns that support their brand messaging, which will definitely make the brands even stronger. That's exactly how it should work.

2. Research (usually) leads to smarter marketing

Marketers have access to so much more data today than they did a mere 10 years ago. Good marketers know their ideal target audience by age, location, gender, hobbies, and perhaps most importantly their media consumption habits. All that data should steer not only media strategies but also messaging. Why, with all the information at their fingertips, would someone waste money going down the wrong road? Because he or she is following a hunch and not the research? Because they are being pressured by a vocal constituency in the community or perhaps board members? I don't have the answer to this dilemma, but sadly I see it happen all the time.

3. Sometimes data can be interpreted badly

For example, data shows that travelers are booking trips with less lead time. Does that mean that a destination’s campaign for summer travel should start in mid-May. Absolutely not. It's still important to keep your marketing message in front of prospective travelers to remain top of mind. In this scenario, a destination will ultimately lose business — not to mention brand awareness — by not moving prospects through the sales funnel.

4. Marketing success is never measured by how little money you spend

If a marketer cuts corners on the quality of their advertising, visitor guide and website making them bland and uninspiring — was the savings a good idea? If a marketer eliminates three months of ad buys because of misinterpreting data (see item #3) thus ceding top of mind position to every competitor — was the savings worth it?

Happy New Year. May 2018 be filled with wise decisions and much success.

Who would inadvertently re-brand? It sounds a little crazy when you put it in those terms but it occurs a lot. It happens because even seasoned professionals sometimes don’t have a true understanding of the value of a destination’s brand or how advertising should work to support it.

When I speak to groups about branding I often suggest that they substitute the word “reputation” every time they hear me say “brand.” It’s the closest available synonym. A destination’s brand is the feeling that a person has about the place whenever they are reminded of it. Those emotions can be positive or negative. Most of the time DMOs work hard to develop a destination brand by being proactive about controlling their reputation. They are actively working to help people arrive at the right (truthful) conclusion about the destination. That’s certainly better than just leaving it to chance.

One of the many benefits of having a brand is that it narrows the scope of what your marketing must cover. Make sure the marketing messages speak about the things that are vital to the reputation you are striving to build. Nothing else. Seriously, your brand strategy lifts the burden of having to prove that your destination has something for everyone or is on board with whatever is the latest trend.

One of the most common mistakes we see is advertising that is not aligned to support the brand. Usually when a brand strategy is formulated the initial advertising campaign is specifically developed to advance the objectives. Great start! Unfortunately, that's also where it ends for some destinations. Advertising, marketing or PR messages that wander off topic are more than just distractions. They actually weaken the brand by sending mixed signals to the consumer and watering down the important brand-building messages. Make all of the marketing tools at your disposal work toward strengthening the brand (ahem, reputation) and expanding awareness of it or before too long you won’t have much of a brand to worry about.

Albert Einstein once said, "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." Of course, he only worked in theoretical physics not marketing. I wish that marketing, especially tourism marketing, were simple. But every destination is unique. Target demographics, feeder markets, budgets and just about every other variable comes into play. While these may not be iron-clad "rules" in the scientific sense, they are certainly rules to live by in tourism marketing that will lead to results.

• Focus on the long term. Even though all DMOs are under pressure to produce immediate results, it's important to take the long view. Building brand awareness can take a long time and moving consumers through the sales funnel from awareness to action also takes time. Unless you're working for a big city with universal name recognition, yes, you have to make brand awareness a priority.

• Start from a solid foundation. Destinations of every size need a brand image and strategy. If you think branding is only for large communities — think again. The small and medium-sized destinations need it even more. A smart brand strategy may actually save money in the long run by keeping the entire staff focused on what's important and giving them the courage (and research) to say "no" to unnecessary side projects.

• Don't measure success by how little you spend. Your marketing items must make people stop what they're doing and say "wow." Crappy photography (no one wants to admit it, but face it, you may be using bad photography), amateur video, websites derived from a template not designed for results, and utterly lame marketing messages like "Eat, Stay, Play" are not simply under performing they are actively damaging to destinations. Prioritize if necessary and put some actions off until funds are available, but never ever put a low-quality marketing product in front of the public.

• You can't please everyone. That goes for the local as well as external audiences for DMOs. Naturally, you can't position your destination as the ideal destination for all people. No place has it all. It's also helpful to accept that some local folks will not be happy with your efforts. You can't answer their criticism with "Well, I think…" You have to have real research and a solid rationale for your decisions.

• Focus. Focus. Focus. It's time to get over the notion that being consistent in brand messaging and visual style is boring. It's not. It's the wise strategy of an seasoned professional.