Eleven Myths and Pitfalls That Weaken City and Destination Branding

By Bill Baker, Total Destination Marketing

Despite the best efforts of many places, a disappointing number fall short of their destination branding goals when faced with some of the myths and pitfalls that can arise in communitybased branding. Successful destination brands are proving to be those that unite stakeholders, clearly differentiate themselves from competitors, connect with customers on an emotional level and consistently deliver outstanding experiences. While there are many obvious benefits to be gained from branding places, there are several myths that can easily develop into pitfalls and derail even the best intended efforts. Branding is strategic! Its a business toolkit, and is all about prioritizing, differentiation, focus and consistency. It should boost your destinations marketing effectiveness and efficiency. And you really can do it on a shoestring budget by optimizing the resources, messages, and leverage that is available through the power of focusing key partners onto the same page. The following eleven myths are just a few of those that get in the way of the branding efforts of many places. Awareness of them may prove valuable as you start your brand planning. the reputation and image of your city. Your brand strategy should be at the heart of just about everything that you do as a destination marketing organization or economic development agency to positively influence the perceptions and experiences of your key customers. And yes, your logo is an important part of your branding toolkit. It acts as a cue to trigger positive thoughts and feelings about your destination. But, it isnt your brand!

1. We already have a logo

Its simply amazing how many City Councils, CVBs, Chambers and their Boards still regard their logo as their brand. A compelling and distinctive brand identity for a city will take much more than a new logo, new graphic design, or a fresh coat of paint. Yet, every week we see places fall into this trap. In a nutshell, your brand is your promise of distinctive value and is closely related to

2. And we have a tagline

This is the same syndrome as we find in #1. Your tagline is an important and expressive phrase to capture and dramatize the essence of your brand promise. It also acts as a cue or key to unlock positive associations about the place that people hold. It plays a valuable role, but again, it is only one element in your branding 1

toolkit. The trick is to ensure that people hold the positive associations that will lead them to choose your city. And please, dont conduct a community-wide competition to find a new logo or tagline. There must be a strategy to shape and manage the citys brand platform to underpin the logo and tagline.

most potent brand platform for the city. While these are handy for economic development marketing, in terms of brand planning they belong in the smoke and mirrors department. Your research must zero in on the information thats really essential for gauging the attitudes and perceptions of key audiences toward your community.

3. And we created our brand this afternoon.

On several occasions city leaders have told us, We created our brand the other afternoon. Invariably, we discover that they simply decided on a tagline or slogan during a brainstorming session. The reality is that a true brand strategy will not emerge in an afternoon. There are many complex issues to review and the views of many stakeholders, external customers and partners to consider. Your ideal brand identity will take shape through extensive quantitative and qualitative research, analysis, creative thinking, and then careful refinement. Great brands stand apart from competitors in ways that are meaningful and valued, connect with customers hearts and excite their minds. Sustainable destination brands must also be in strict accord with the values and personality of the local community and have the capacity to unify key marketing partners. Getting to this point takes objectivity, know how, honesty, and certainly a lot longer than one afternoon!

5. We dont need to go upstairs.

Branding efforts that do not directly involve the CEO and Board of the

4. The more research the better.

Some agencies like to run up the projects budget with unnecessary nice to know research, such as the demographic profiles and buying behavior of the local community. This may deliver some nifty diagrams and charts that make for impressive presentations, but they provide next to zero in terms of establishing the

organization (and probably the mayor) are doomed to fail. Before the project starts, obtain the approval and firm endorsement of the leading executives, and desirably that of the citys political leaders, who will be instrumental in the future health and viability of the brand. They must understand why this project is important to the citys economic and social well-being and buy into the concept from the start. Simply presenting the brand solutions to them when completed is likely to result in a very weak brand, controversy, and failure to gain traction. Involving the citys leaders in our clients brand planning has led to unexpected bonuses such as renewed support, revitalized relationships, and a rekindled sense of purpose. 2

6. We dont anyone.

need

to

consult

We know of countries, cities and regions that have launched their brand strategy only to find that it wasnt supported by stakeholders and partners. This has most often occurred when the brands were developed behind closed doors by agencies with no (or token) consultation or collaboration with key partners, stakeholders, and the community. Often these brands are little more than a new advertising campaign not a brand strategy. The process and rationale for the brand strategy must be able to stand the test of time, public debate, political scrutiny, and media questions. The best course is to generate buy-in and broad support from the start. Destination brands live or die on these important early steps.

customers, then it is wasting public money. Your brand is the competitive identity and reputation that your combined marketing efforts should be promoting. This takes a comprehensive roadmap to keep everyone on the right track. A place that does not proactively manage its identity and image runs the risk of being positioned, one way or another, by competitors, the media and others, and usually to its disadvantage. A wellconceived brand strategy will provide efficiencies, focus and consistency across the marketing programs in ways that would otherwise not be possible. Proactively managing the competitive identity and reputation of your city is not an option!

8. We can do it ourselves.
Many cities have called on us to develop their brand strategy after first attempting to do it themselves. Their efforts became bogged down because of the sensitive and complex decisions that must be made in determining focus, positioning and brand priorities. They found that a successful brand strategy required unbiased outside objectivity, thorough research, specialized experience, practical insights, and the type of proven collaborative approach that a team of specialists like TDM brings. Above all, these cities needed professional expertise and the sobering voice of the customer.

7. We cant afford it.

Its actually a matter of whether an ambitious city or destination can afford not to have a brand management strategy! As I have said, a strong brand strategy provides the leadership, framework, and strategic toolkit to focus the places entire marketing efforts to build and manage its reputation. If your organization is allocating public resources to marketing projects and has not yet clarified what distinguishes the place, what it does best, how it should communicate, and why it matters to

9. Advertising examples are the best way to pick a brand planning team.
In some cases, unsuspecting city organizations have been lured by the glitz of the advertising examples and designs presented by prospective agencies. This causes them to lose sight of their original RFP and the timing and role of advertising and designs in the development of their 3

branding strategy. Chances are small city budgets arent sufficient to run full page color ads anyway! And the advertising examples have probably never been used by any of the agencys clients. In many cases, these ads have only been created to win the next job for the agency. We understand why ambitious cities want great advertising, designs and communications. But those actions come after the brands strategic framework is established. The skills, experience and know-how needed for brand planning are very different to those needed for designing ads. Otherwise, it is like engaging a painter to design your new home because you like the color he chooses and how he will finish the job. The first step is to establish the right architecture with a specialist architect. The red lights for this pitfall should start flashing when the prospective brand planning agency has an overemphasis on displaying its creative prowess in the RFP process.

partners understand and participate in projecting and delivering on your promise, it will struggle to come alive. If the brand strategy stays in the marketing department, it runs the risk of being limited to advertising, brochures and other communications and not the experiences that people have before, during and after their visit. This is where the reputation of the place is really built.

11. Only big advertising budgets build brands.

We have heard this one many times. However, Starbucks, The Body Shop, and Tupperware among other brands were all established with little or no media advertising. Their outstanding customer experiences have enabled them to build extreme loyalty and advocacy among their global customers. Advertising isnt always the right brand tool. Cities and regions are able to intimately touch their customers because they envelop them and impact all of their senses. They can really touch peoples hearts and minds. These powerful experiences are among the most influential in shaping visitors perceptions, feelings and thoughts about a place. It is incumbent upon all destinations wanting to build a strong brand to ensure that they delight their customers at every point or moment where they meet. When they can do this, they might then think about advertising.

10. Branding only involves marketing department.

the

One of the biggest mistakes of all is in believing that branding is the responsibility of the marketing department or tourism office alone. If this were the case, who is making sure that you are delivering on your Destination Promise? To a greater or lesser extent, everyone in the community plays a role in building the citys brand reputation depending upon their level of contact with its customers. Because a brand is built cumulatively by all contact with the destination, a weak brand can fall down at any point, at any time. Delivering a memorable and respected brand is everybodys business. It demands that the walls between organizations, individuals and departments be knocked down. Until all key stakeholders and

Advertising doesnt need to be their first and dominant marketing investment. In addition to experiences at the destination, other factors such as word of mouth, social media, personal recommendations, and public relations can have a far greater influence on destination choice than advertising.

Destinations that are aware of these myths and misperceptions, and are able to develop a brand strategy that has a stronger strategic focus are more likely to attract broad community support, claim a potent competitive advantage and generate increased prosperity for their city or region.

Bill Baker is the founder and President of Total Destination Marketing. TDM is a team of destination branding and tourism planning specialists. Bill is recognized internationally as an expert in developing brand strategies for destinations and communities of all sizes. He is a popular speaker and author of Destination Branding for Small Cities. WWW.DestinationBranding.com Bills Blog: http://www.citybranding.typepad.com Destination Branding for Small Cities by Bill Baker is drawing praise from industry leaders, marketers and academics worldwide. Its a must read primer that demystifies city branding and provides affordable, proven tools, templates and checklists to build a successful destination brand.