Sloganize for City Attraction

A UCLA and University of California-San Diego survey of people who’d moved away from the Windy City found that visits to tourist attractions, such as Chicago’s Millennium Park, were clustered toward the very end of residency, perhaps in the midst of packing up. Other surveys had found that tourists visiting a city for three weeks saw more of the major attractions than residents of three or more years.
     The researchers suggest tourism retailers sell to locals the idea of a “staycation,” such as a gift certificate for specific dates to visit the nearby attractions. The proposed marketing hook: “Now’s the time to see.”
     Studies from Erasmus University, University of Hamburg, and Kühne Logistics University support the idea that, in marketing a city to residents, prospective residents, and prospective visitors, the right slogan helps. Express in the slogan the values consumers find attractive. For residents and prospective residents, these are values the people want to live with. For visitors, the values might be ones vacation shoppers want to live up to. Charleston, South Carolina has had success with the tag line “Where history lives.”
     Do be sure the city lives up to the slogan, too. Las Vegas has gotten lots of mileage from their “What happens here, stays here” campaign. That’s the mileage visitors have logged bringing their money to leave in Sin City. “What happens here, stays here” was the Las Vegas brand’s promise. It was blatantly violated during fall 2012 with the sale and subsequent publication of photos of U.K. Prince Harry and a female partner close to the climax of a strip billiards game. The balls, as well as the billiard cues, were not visible in the photos, but a naked prince and lady were.
     When a brand promise is violated, acknowledge this and declare corrective action. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority did both with an ad, in the format of a World War II propaganda poster, reading, “Keep Calm and Carry On Harry,” and a full-page ad in USA Today reading, “We are asking for a shun on these exploiters…. We will not play with them anymore.”
     Whatever slogan you use, keep it upbeat. The LVCVA once used a “What Happens in Blank” TV spot to point out how inserting your own town’s name highlights how your own town falls short. For many consumers, the ad left a bitter aftertaste.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

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