Best Idea Program Achievement Awards
Four destination marketing organizations received achievement awards during a recent competition with their DMA West colleagues. DMA West’s annual Best Idea Program showcased innovative projects and creative marketing strategies. This year’s Best Idea Program awards were presented during the September 2017 DMA West Education Summit in Las Vegas. Representatives presented their best ideas during the Education Summit. Congratulations to:
- Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association
Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop - Visit Lubbock
National Travel & Tourism Week 2017 - Visit Mesa
360 Degree Videos - Limitless Rewards - Visit Park City
First-timers Video Series
Overviews
Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association (Colorado)
Project Title: Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop
Five destination marketing organizations (DMOs) on the western slope of the Colorado Rockies collaborated to form and promote the Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop. Each DMO contributed $5,000 to apply for a Colorado Tourism Office matching grant. They were fully funded the first year (2016) and second year (2017).
The five DMOs produced a webpage that is part of the Colorado.com state site. This includes a video, downloadable brochures and information about each destination. The brochures are translated from English to German, Japanese and Chinese. In addition, they contracted with Brand USA to produce videos in those four languages and are featured at VisittheUSA.com in-language pages. The DMOs have hosted media from around the world and promote the Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop at four annual international trade summits. Articles about the Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop, mostly feature placements, have appeared in top-target outlets such as: National Geographic Traveler, Sunset, The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, 5280, United Hemispheres, Dallas Morning News, The Washington Post, USA Today and more. The USA Today article, “Warm up a cold night in Colorado’s Hot Springs Loop” was syndicated in 21 additional outlets and The Washington Post article, “The Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop makes it easy to plan a visit and a long soak” was syndicated in 11 additional outlets. Information at: http://www.colorado.com/hotspringsloop
Visit Lubbock (Texas)
Project Title: National Travel & Tourism Week 2017
Every year, Visit Lubbock celebrates National Travel & Tourism Week, America’s annual salute to the travel and tourism industry, through a strategic marketing campaign. One of Visit Lubbock’s biggest challenges is educating local citizens that people do visit Lubbock for more than just meetings, business and sports. In 2017, the team decided the best way to educate Lubbockites and get in front of the largest audience would be through a series of videos. The team produced three videos showcasing everything from the impact of tourism to Lubbock to the perfect Lubbock day to a series of lighthearted “mean tweets.” The videos were uploaded natively to the Visit Lubbock Facebook Page and boosted a day later to Lubbock’s roughly 250,000 residents. Through these videos, Visit Lubbock maximized the effectiveness of the message by giving a unique local perspective to important tourism impact numbers, recognizing the hospitality industry through the story of a housekeeper at a local hotel and harnessing some negative perceptions of Lubbock and turning them into an opportunity to showcase the vibrant art, wine, music and culture the city offers. Uploading them natively to Facebook also allowed Visit Lubbock to strategically reach their target audience of Lubbock locals. To view the videos, visit: http://bit.ly/2iDwqDa
Visit Mesa (Arizona)
Project Title: 360 Degree Videos - Limitless Rewards
Visit Mesa launched 360 degree videos with an added element, called Limitless Rewards, enticing the viewer to take a longer look at the destination’s visual content. Visit Mesa embedded discount codes on stays within the videos, intended to convert impressions into sales. The digital ads featuring the 360 degree videos were placed with Viant, a leading digital media agency recently acquired by Time Inc. Visit Mesa partnered with Viant’s exclusive viewbox delivery technology. The video campaigns run by Visit Mesa helped lead to a 32% increase in gross bookings and were an attractive and compelling presentation of the destination using drone footage, with a focus on unique to Mesa experiences. The video content was also aligned to all five of Visit Mesa’s established lifestyle brands. The succinct nature of the videos also contributed to a higher than expected view-through rate.
Visit Park City (Park City Chamber/Bureau) (Utah)
Project Title: First-timers Video Series
ThePark City First Timers video series was created to show potential visitors the vast array of recreational opportunities in Park City. While the town is well known for being home to two ski resorts, a significant portion of the members of the Park City Chamber/Bureau offer year-round off-site adventures. Trying new things can be intimidating so Visit Park City hired a host to guide visitors through a series of activities that were being experienced for the first time. A wide range of activities per season were selected and then Visit Park City staff worked with an individual member within each category to produce a single episode. This unique opportunity allowed the Chamber/Bureau to feature individual members, give a face to their company and their unique products and services. The member/partner is identified in each episode, tagged in social posts and linked to their listing/website in each blog post. Each video was shot with a GoPro and minimally edited to give the viewer an authentic perspective. Many of the shots are from point-of-view angles to bring the viewer into the experience. The campaign was supported with paid ads and boosting on social so that the DMO could expose potential visitors to this content and raise their awareness of Park City. The content was created in such a way that it can be boosted again during the next two years. All episode can be found at https://www.visitparkcity.com/plan-your-trip/first-timers-video-series