BrandingWire: Take a Walk on the Wild Side, Estes Park, CO

Estes Park is a 6 square mile town located 70 miles (about one hour and 40') northwest of Denver at an elevation of 7,522 feet. It counts 150 lodging establishments that offer 2,600 rooms and has been defined the YMCA of the Rockies with 219 cabins that can house 4-88 people each for a total of 476 rooms.

With 7 private campgrounds and 5 Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) campgrounds, 577 summer sites and 186 winter sites, as well as 2 Roosevelt National Forest campgrounds, this is a perfect location for outdoor recreational activities. The RMNP includes 355 miles of hiking trails and can be used for cross country skiing, rock climbing, and fishing.

As well, the town's 20,000 sq. ft. conference facility with an 8,000 sq. ft. ballroom can serve as many as 10,000 people.

We met recently with the town's Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) to talk about how to increase the tax base to enhance the lives of all residents. Tourism is the major vehicle for this endeavor. The town wants to balance the ability to draw more visitors with the desires and needs of the town's residents.

As you can see in the brief we put together, we identified four market segments: (1) day trippers; (2) touring vacationers; (3) conventioneers; and (4) destination vacationers.

I will be focusing the strategy on expanding the existing branding efforts for the last two groups: people who travel to a remote location for meetings and those who choose the destination for a quiet vacation. Both groups can potentially increase the revenues the most with the least disruption to the town. The key message points to convey in all our branding activities will be:

• This is a premier mountain resort -- the gateway to the Rocky Mountain National Park
• You will find a broad range of activities and amenities -- the healthy lifestyle approach
• You will feel part of a community that protects the natural environment -- sustainability

Marketing to Women (destination vacationers)

It's no secret that most of the purchasing decisions in the US are made by women. Especially for big ticket items, like vacations, women have a high influence over the choices that families and couples make. The quaint bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodations are an easy attraction for couples and families that want to leave it all behind.

In turn, once these vacationers spend time in the town, enjoying the amenities, the quiet surroundings and the dining, they will more likely spread the word to their friends and colleagues. Word of mouth is a very powerful way to entice first time visitors. That can be encouraged with visitors' entries in the B&B blogs -- for example, the Mountain Valley Home B&B Inn could allow guests to post their experiences online in real time.

I would employ a more robust public relations strategy to reach out to a number of vacation web sites and lifestyle magazines such as Better Homes & Gardens, Southern Living, Gourmet, and perhaps throw in a few more like O and other lifestyle magazines with features like the "hot weekend" retreat.

Reaching the Outdoors and the Retreat People (conventioneers)

The town's selling points with these groups are the recreational parks and campgrounds. It is customary for many companies to have annual sales meetings (retreat) in out-of-the-way places. Some industries have these meetings yearly -- large printing and inventory fulfillment companies; insurance and financial services; agrichemical and chemical companies are a few examples. It is the job of assistants and sometimes communications staff to propose the location of the site. This is your marketing audience.

During off site meetings, strategies for the following year are set, recognitions are awarded to support teams and individuals, and group recreation activities help the organization employees bond and renew. The town's parks would be a great setting for people to choose among fishing, hiking, and outdoors for a half day of R&R.

Here I would employ direct marketing to reach the top administrative and communications staff at those industries by SIC code. Once permission is obtained to begin a dialogue on the location for the sales or company meeting, we can follow up with a link rich email that details: ease of transportation from local airports and in town; lodging facilities; restaurants; outdoor activities, etc.

Whether you are planning a big event, or a cozier retreat, you can find the facilities that are right for your meeting at Estes Park.

The company award is a subset of the company retreat. For its best sales people, the company awards an all-paid package for the sales person and family to Estes Park at a value of $$$. In this case, the inquiry would be via direct marketing to National Sales Directors, VP of Sales and Marketing and combinations of those titles, as well as their support staff.

Word of mouth and repeat visits can be the result of this move as families who come here with an award package may decide to come back as destination vacationers if their experience is good.

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This is a unique small town that can put you in touch with big nature. I would capitalize on that. Use word of mouth references, testimonials, first person stories as much as possible in your public relations and direct marketing activities -- ideally aggregated into one single place. And reach out specifically to the two groups of visitors who can do the most to enhance the town's tax base with the least disruption.

See more suggestions at Branding Wire. You will notice that each of my colleagues has a different angle. Visit Patrick Schaber, Lewis Green, Kevin Dugan, Steve Woodruff, Becky Carroll, Drew McLellan, Martin Jelsema, Gavin Heaton, and Derrick Daye for a tour of the possibilities.

Comments

[Steve Woodruff]

Valeria,

Great stuff here. You've taken some unique angles and given some highly practical, actionable suggestions.

I went to the Stanley Hotel site and sure enough, their descriptions and pictures created that "hunger to see the place" that I described in my post.

I particularly like your summary phrase:
"This is a unique small town that can put you in touch with big nature." It really captures the dual appeal of Estes Park - if you're looking for a destination that isn't overwhelming and Vegas-y, but want to be in "big nature" - here we are!

[Patrick Schaber]

Valeria,
You nailed it on the head with your take on marketing this town to women and event planning staff.

Although my wife and I decide on vacations together, she does a bulk of the research and narrows our options.

Plus, I really like the direct marketing angle to events committees. Those groups spend money much more freely!

[Lewis Green]

Valeria,

I love the way you structured this, first with key messages and then with target audiences. Every marketing campaign must identify key messages before the strategies and audiences are identified. Great job!

[Martin Jelsema]

Valeria:

Well done. I know I forget the importance of women in the buying cycle, particularly for vacations and such. And the idea of targeting meetings and destination tourists really would allow Estes to focus on the most profitable, both near term, and because of word-of-mouth, long range goals. The conventioneers will generate destination tourists through word of mouth.

Martin

[Valeria Maltoni]

Steve -- what a day! All those trips and views and conversations with Estes Park people have me completely refreshed. I loved the Stanley Hotel's site. It made me *want* to go there and I'm an ocean person. I don't think I ever did a vacation in the mountains.

Patrick -- I was thinking about the most likely receptive audiences. Looking at the landscape and thinking about the difficulty that conference organizers and company meeting folks have to create unique experiences, I thought it would be a winner.

Lewis -- unless we know what we want to say, we won't do that consistently. It seems the town can take many of the suggestions and streamline what they already have with more focus.

Martin -- this was an interesting case. The town already has a lot of efforts out there. As many have said, they can be harnessed better. Thank you for working on the brief with the CVB.

[Gavin Heaton]

Excellent thinking as usual, Valeria. A clearly defined plan and easy to activate steps. I am sure Estes Park has found plenty to consider here!

[Becky Carroll]

Valeria, nice job! I especially like this part: "...families who come here with an award package may decide to come back as destination vacationers if their experience is good."

We go on these types of trips when my husband has his annual shareholder's meeting. While he is busy with meetings, the rest of us get to go out and explore the town/city. Another reason why women may be influential! (PS - he used to do the same when I had my meetings at HP) :-)

[Valeria Maltoni]

Gavin -- thank you for stopping by.

Becky -- there are some places I would have never seen had it not been for a company meeting. And when we can go on an unscheduled and comped trip, we are more open to exploring and being in the moment. The expectations are not as high and thus we may remain in a playful mood longer.

[Kevin Dugan]

Valeria - Direct marketing and SIC codes, the more targeted the better. But how many CVB's would think to access SIC?

It would not be feasible to do a mass approach. Combined with Lewis' media approach, we're hitting the key influencers who will help amplify the message. Smart!