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Branding
the CVB
This
expanded web-only version is based on a feature article from the Summer
2001 edition of the Zeitgeist Client Newsletter
Arthur Anderson said it last summer. Nobody gets this CVB thing. And,
for us to succeed in the future, the concept of "CVB" must
be firmly planted in the mind of the consumer.
As the International
Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus works
to create a branding campaign for the industry, they should take a trip
to Fort
Wayne (IN). 'Cause they've already done it. 
Breeze through the Ft.
Wayne International Airport and you'll see the obligatory
Bureau welcome sign, alright...but with a twist. The biggest letters
don't spell out "Welcome" or "Ft. Wayne," but "C-V-B."
And these are the most prominent signs one sees throughout the airport.
The whole campaign was the brainchild of CVB Chief Dan O'Connell,
who knocked down major sponsorship from a shopping mall and the cable
company to launch a local media campaign back in 1999.
Through
billboards and media placements, the Bureau made the case that they
were the ones responsible for Ft. Wayne Tourism. The message: "The
CVB works to increase cash. The Chamber works to create capital investment.
Both are needed for a city to grow."
A study done last year showed a 20% increase in community awareness
and appreciation of the Bureau and its program of work.
CVB Communications Director Kristen Guthrie smiles as she recounts how
staffers introduce themselves by saying that they're from the "Convention
& Visitors Bur..." and people in town now cut them off and
say, "Oh, yea...the CVB!"
Next door, the Illinois
Council of Convention & Visitors Bureaus has launched
a public awareness campaign entitled "My CVB Works for Me."
Spearheaded by Greater
Alton/Twin Rivers CVB CEO Doug Arnold,
the effort began with the distribution of buttons at the Illinois Governor's
Conference on Tourism.
Worn by just the CVB CEOs and their staffs on day one of the Conference,
almost all of the initial 500 buttons were on lapels by the end of the
Conference. Hoteliers, Attractions, Restauranteurs and even State legislators
stopped their Bureau representatives in the halls and the session rooms
and asked if they could support the CVB by wearing the button.
Just five months later, ICCVB is at the tables to which they had never
received invitations. State Policy Boards, the Industry Advocacy Association
and others now realize that Bureaus are key to the State's Big Picture.
All from a couple hundred li'l ole buttons. Next up, ICCVB will look
toward expanding the "My CVB Works for Me" campaign from preaching
to the choir to evangelizing in their home towns. And ICCVB Chair Sue
Vos of the Aurora
CTC just smiles when asked about their next step. "Stay
tuned," she winks.
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