Diane Charno, "I’m just sayin’..."

Thoughts, Musings & Interests

Social Media Upends Ski Resort Marketing

Check out this interesting video where CEO Rob Katz of Vail Resorts talks about how they've decreased spending on long-lead media in favor of shorter-lead digital and social media efforts. As many of us know in the tourism industry, the consumer decision cycle for planning a getaway has practically become non-existent. People are often planning a trip within a week of the getaway and when it comes to snow, it's often based on the latest conditions. Vail Resorts shifted dollars from long-lead media to digital where they can be more responsive based on weekly, even daily, conditions. So, what do you think about their approach? How are you changing things up to respond to shorter trip planning cycles?

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1370868150/bctid52412902001

Check out even more commentary on the video at adage.com. http://adage.com/aboutdigital/article?article_id=140710

Tourism Pays

Visit Denver created a nice YouTube video showing how Tourism means more than visitors enjoying the state. Tourism means more jobs, taxes and a better quality of life. Tourism pays for Denver and Colorado, just like it pays in many other communities. Kudos Visit Denver on the nice video. And, thanks @billgeist for pointing it out.

How a Simple, Single-Minded "Tourism" Campaign Took Home a PR Grand Prix

Earlier today I shared a post on “A Really Good Job” campaign from Murphy-Goodie. It reminded me of the awesome campaign that Tourism Queensland did with their “Best Job in the World” campaign. It was a huge PR success and did a great job utilizing social media. It has already won some big awards and now it won again at International Advertising Festival in Cannes. Here’s a post from Matthew Creamer on AdAge.com talking about the latest.

How a Simple, 'Single-Minded' Campaign Took Home a PR Grand Prix

http://adage.com/cannes09/article?article_id=137499

Here’s a case study video on the project:

Social Media Smackdown - DMOs

I just came across a great post from Mengel's Musings. She has a social media smackdown series and her latest one compares how two DMO's (destination marketing organizations) are using social media. She compares Columbus, Ohio to Columbia, South Carolina. Both have an impressive presence on many social media outlets, including facebook, flickr, myspace, youtube, twitter and more. Check out the post and then let me know what you think. Oh, and if you're a DMO, how do you think you would stand up in a social media smackdown?

http://www.amymengel.com/2009/05/20/social-media-smackdown-columbus-ohio-vs-columbia-sc/

Visit Las Vegas' Latest Push Asks "What's Your Excuse?"

Today I was catching up on some TV (The Real Housewives of New Jersey – a guilty pleasure) when I saw the latest Visit Las Vegas spot – Chinchilli Day. A man creates a fake holiday as an excuse to stay an extra day in Vegas. Then the commercial asks, “What’s your excuse?” I had to learn more.

 

 “What’s Your Excuse?” is the latest campaign push for Summer travel to Las Vegas. It’s another round of spots that depart from the “What Happens Here” branding approach in order to have a more direct tourism push and message. In this case it’s “add an extra day to your Vegas getaway this summer”. From what I hear, Visit Las Vegas is not benching “What Happens Here” campaign forever, but will evolve it and launch again in the future. Perhaps when the tourism environment improves.

If you’re looking for more excuses to take an extra day off for a trip to Vegas, check out “Shin Wack”:

And, you can find more holiday excuses here: http://www.visitlasvegas.com/vegas/features/summer/holiday.jsp