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An editorial response published in the Door County Advocate June 7th, 2008

A Brand has a point.

By Jack Moneypenny

After a year’s worth of effort, we would be remiss to let Chuck Carlson’s editorial “What’s the Point of a County Brand?” slide by without a response.

Over the course of the last year, between May, 2007 and May, 2008, the Door County Visitor Bureau (DCVB) has held numerous public forums with Believable Brands in communities throughout the County with the intent to make attending them as convenient as possible. In addition, the staff and board of the Bureau have been available to discuss the purpose, process and outcome of the branding research and analysis.

Branding is a process, not a slogan. Branding provides the foundation for marketing, advertising and promotion — and so much more. Branding takes a collection of feelings, emotions and memories to build a destination’s “personality.” That personality filters down to the businesses, communities, and people who may possess certain attributes of the overall brand. They are free to develop a sub-brand that strengthens their own position as well as adding impact to the destination’s brand. In the same way, Door County’s brand is part of the eclectic quilt for the State of Wisconsin where “Originality Rules.”

The cumulative $50,000 we have invested in developing a brand promise originated with a grass roots effort (that started outside the DCVB, but with the Bureau’s endorsement) to bring in outside consultants. The Door County Strategic Marketing Coalition raised over $50,000 in private funds to bring in Robert Brooks and eventually Marshall Murdaugh to conduct assessments. Both experts recommended that Door County needed to establish a brand identity and base its subsequent marketing on the research, analysis and conclusions of branding professionals.

The DCVB’s mission is to generate economic impact and economic stability for the community by attracting visitors with marketing strategies that ensure sustainable tourism. Even the most dedicated preserve-things-as-they-have-always-been traditionalist cannot believe that there’s been no attrition in tourism. They only have to talk to their friends and neighbors in the hospitality industry to read the economic barometer of the County’s largest industry. Almost everyone has felt the impact of the $16 million decline in visitor spending in 2007.

We must ask Chuck Carlson, “How do you think people come to know that ‘If you’re looking for rest and relaxation and a chance to recharge the battery in a setting like no other,’ Door County is the place?” Can he possibly think that all the people who enjoyed vacationing here in the 1930s and ‘40s are still coming and spending? Did all of their children make Door County their vacation destination? Has he planned for attrition? Other demands on household incomes? Changes in demographics and changes in vacation travel? We think not.

For the record, a brand promise is how the experience of a destination stacks up to the pre-visit anticipation. If we do not deliver on what a visitor has imagined, then we have promised them the wrong things. That’s like Las Vegas trying to place itself as a wholesome family vacation spot or the Dells as a center for arts and culture.

The brand establishes the visitor’s expectations and marketing ties the emotional appeals to all subsequent messages. So, the brand promise is the basis for all outgoing communication. The promise was generated through research that captured the emotional words people use to describe how they feel when they are here and again when they go home. It’s not just about fish boils and light houses. It’s about the eclectic quilt of experiences and opportunities that make up the whole of the County.

A brand promise is far less about what people do when they are on vacation, but how they feel when they are there and how they recall those experiences when they return home. It’s by doing your homework with the people who can tell you why they come, how they feel and what they remember — and then meeting their expectations. As Maya Angelou says, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

The purpose of this Brand Development program wasn’t a simple visitor research survey on attributes of Door County, but a way to acquire a uniform understanding of images and perceptions people have of the County. From that knowledge, consistent messages that align with experiences that visitors come to the area to enjoy can be created. This program was about defining a community-based strategy that will allow Door County to communicate its product, services and experiences more effectively by uniting around a common message. It is important to mention that this countywide initiative involved city, town and county leaders, residents, business and visitor industry representatives, and others who depend on a vibrant and healthy tourism economy. The DCVB spear-headed this brand initiative on behalf of the County in order to retain and refine the distinctive, “only in Door County” experience.

The Door County branding process identified eight action steps made up of fifteen tactics to implement

the brand. These can be found at: http://www.doorcountyvisitorbureau.org/DestinationBrandBlueprint.pdf

This is a process that we all can take pride in and use to position ourselves within the brand that has been developed. I am personally proud of the data gathering and the outcome suggestions, most of which are already being addressed, completed or on the near horizon.