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Marketing
in the Wake of Tragedy
The
20 September 2005 edition of the Zeitgeist e-Zine
Dealt a
more than devastating blow from Katrina, New Orleans, its surrounding
parishes and the Mississippi Gulf Coast are, for the foreseeable future,
FORMER destinations. Despite Stephen Perry’s optimistic take on
the potential for scaled-back New Years and Mardi Gras celebrations,
it will take years for these destinations to completely rebound.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m rooting for my assessment to be
wrong. But the realist will understand that this region is “off
the board” for a long while.
Which leads me to the question of how the rest of us (and especially
their SouthCoastUSA
neighbors) should respond. It’s an awkward situation for all but
the most callous of destination marketers.
While we’ve seen a couple predatory DMOs aggressively swoop in
to pick off the low hanging fruit left by Katrina’s destruction,
most DMOs have been very cautious in talking with meeting planners that
have been planning events in the affected area. Others are even more
tentative in their marketing to leisure travelers, fearing that they
will appear opportunistic in their efforts.
And, while we appreciate the sensitivity being displayed by the majority
of DMOs...there is a part of us that believes we’re being just
a little TOO cautious.
Clearly, DMOs that are in the convention business can connect with planners,
using the argument that they are trying to help the planner in a time
of crisis (”omigosh, where am I gonna put my event?”). But
for those marketing to leisure, what to do?
Lafayette
(LA) CVB CEO Gerald Breaux recently quipped, "The
touchy subject needs to be explored. The rest of the state is still
open for business."
Good point. And let me make a (probably) unpopular suggestion. It is
unfair for areas that have been impacted by natural or man-made disasters
to take offense to the marketing efforts of others in the wake of their
struggles.
FACT: The Media unfairly broad-brushes entire regions
with their coverage of disasters (e.g., Only 1% of Montana was affected
by forest fires in the summer of 2000...but most Americans believed
the entire state was ablaze). So, in order to avoid catastrophic losses,
neighboring destination MUST aggressively post an “OPEN FOR BUSINESS”
sign. If they don’t, they allow the devastation of a local economy
to spread further than it should.
FACT: People need to travel. If their original plans
included the affected area, they need new suggestions on where to go.
If DMOs are too squeamish about marketing in the face of a tragedy,
these consumers might reconsider the utilization of their discretionary
income to a tangible product. And who does that help?
When our friends in the industry go down, we need to step up to provide
alternatives to those who still want to travel. It’s not predatory.
It’s providing the service that we are designed to offer.
We need to keep the consumer traveling. If they take their getaway money
and buy a Big Screen TV, we have all lost. And, while we all share the
pain of our friends that are valiantly trying to recover from Katrina,
we need to market hard in the weeks and months ahead. Not to take advantage
of a bad situation...but to stop the economic loss from growing even
larger.
America’s economy has put on a stoic face over the past few weeks
(as we are wont to do)...but, if we don’t rev the remaining engines
quickly, the future could be far worse than we’ve ever imagined.
In the days after 9/11, the mantra was “Keep Traveling.”
Today, we encourage our friends to “Keep Marketing.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Kudos to
our friends at the Missouri
Association of CVBs who have recently pledged $1000 to
the CVB Associations of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and challenged
other State Associations to do the same. We hope you all join in!
And, it
was great to see so many of you at the Upper
Midwest CVB Fall Conference in Fargo.
Congratulations to Cole and his Bureau team for hosting a real winner!
Til next
time,
Bill
Wanna
comment on this or other topics. E-mail
Me!
Bil
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