Travel PR Archives - Travel Alliance Partnership

Local and Regional PR Efforts Lead with Laughter to Build Brand Awareness

Tim Lindner — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 21:05:36 +0000

How this Case Study may be relevant to you: This example of work illustrates Break the Ice Media’s strengths in leveraging local and regional PR to build brand awareness and promote visitation from nearby drive markets.

As of January 2021, we earned over 265.6M media impressions in national outlets and in key regional drive markets.

Photo Credit: National Comedy Center

Situational Analysis

The National Comedy Center opened in August 2018 and received many accolades in the months following – including being named Best New Museum by USA Today. The museum’s guest experience is often touted as second to none and their net promoter score is 81-83. The National Comedy Center continues to bring huge name exhibits and artifacts from comedy legends into its museum – keeping the news high and attractions fresh for returning visitors.

The Challenge

With the freshness of the museum's opening beginning to wane and the difficulties faced around the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Comedy Center wanted to add proactive public relations into its marketing mix to boost awareness and drive visitation to this world-class cultural attraction.

Photo Credit: National Comedy Center

Objectives

Increase brand awareness for The National Comedy Center and new museum offerings
Seek third party endorsements of The National Comedy Center through proactive PR, media and influencer relations
Drive traffic to The National Comedy Center website
Inspire visitation and increase attendance, while promoting the new LaughSafe Program

Strategic Insight

Position the Center as a place where laughter promotes mental health and wellness, while keeping physical health in mind. Share the experiences that make the National Comedy Center a must-see destination for all ages, especially in the time of COVID-19.

Research told us that during the pandemic, the first visitors to return would be from local and regional markets. These travelers cared about health, safety, trust and flexibility above all when making travel plans. In addition, laughter holds a healing power, with comedy as a tool to regain power and perspective during a challenging time.

Photo Credit: National Comedy Center

Strategic Approach

Emphasize the one-of-a-kind experience as well as health and safety measures found at the National Comedy Center
Build off the affinity that people have for comedy of today and American nostalgia for comedy legends of the past
Tell the story of how the National Comedy Center came to be and the tie of Jamestown to Lucille Ball
Draw attention to the Jamestown community, the Chautauqua-Allegany Region and Western NY among local and regional drive markets

Photo Credit: National Comedy Center

Tactics

Public Relations Strategy
Proactive Local & Regional Public Relations
Reactive Local & Regional Public Relations
Ongoing Pitching & Outreach
Blogger & Influencer Relations
Media FAM Coordination
Measurement & Tracking

Results

Results as of January 2021*

22 coordinated feature stories or broadcast coverage around key messages
265,661,479+ total media impressions around key messages
Gift guide coverage leading up to Christmas 2020 announcing the new online ”Comedy Shop” and new merchandise offerings
Upcoming: Coordination of 2-3 spring media familiarization tours with media and influencer outlets in NYS drive markets of Hudson Valley, Saratoga Springs/Albany, and Syracuse DMA

*Efforts ongoing
Photo Credit: National Comedy Center

Result Highlights

Dedicated coverage of the National Comedy Center Anywhere online streaming platform on Forbes.com (among other outlets)
Dedicated coverage of the National Comedy Center’s Reopening, LaughSafe Program and Lucille Ball Virtual Comedy Festival in key drive markets of Rochester & Buffalo
Dedicated coverage of I Love Lucy Day and broadcast celebrity interview with Keith Thibodeaux (“Little Ricky” actor)

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The post Local and Regional PR Efforts Lead with Laughter to Build Brand Awareness appeared first on Travel Alliance Partnership.

Taking Charge of a Shoulder Season to Reposition Winter for Locals & Visitors

Tim Lindner — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 02:17:44 +0000

How this Case Study may be relevant to you: This campaign used the PESO model to develop a holistic approach to marketing, driving visitation and hotel occupancy within a destination.

We earned 5.61 million media impressions in just four months, created video content that received 18,038 YouTube views, and 52,036 Facebook views. The campaign was covered by Huffington Post and The Weather Channel, and won 6 industry awards.

Note: Visit Syracuse is the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) for Syracuse, New York and Onondaga County’s official Tourism Promotion Agency (TPA).

Photo Credit: Visit Syracuse

Situational Analysis

In Syracuse & Central New York, winter is off-season for tourism. With the region’s snowy reputation, hotel occupancies fall to nearly 40% in January from highs of 80% in August (functionally sold out). Yet, top attractions operate all year. For growth to occur, it must be in winter.

With a need to generate higher levels of hotel occupancy during the winter season, Visit Syracuse was looking to change the perception of winter vacations in Syracuse and Central New York.

The Challenge

To succeed, Visit Syracuse needed to overcome negative perceptions—both internal & external. In addition, they couldn’t rely on typical advertising and promotions which historically showed little return.

Photo Credit: Visit Syracuse

Objectives

Position Syracuse and CNY as the “Official Home of Winter”
Prioritize spending to the most lucrative target markets
Communicate with stakeholders
Build social media and video content

Strategic Insight

Syracuse and Central NY doesn’t just handle winter – they embrace it.

Messaging and positioning are extremely important for influencing and, in this case, changing a visitor’s perception of the destination. This multi-faceted campaign created awareness of Syracuse as a winter destination as groundwork for moving the needle on shoulder season visitation.

Photo Credit: Visit Syracuse

Strategic Approach

Create a simple message: Syracuse owns winter, has fun with it and is proud of it.
Permeate Visit Syracuse’s channels with positive winter messaging for locals, visitors and stakeholders.
Humorously position CNY as a fun destination in all seasons.

Photo Credit: Visit Syracuse

Destiny USA Street Team

Winter Welcome Rally

Six More Weeks!

Winter is interviewed by Jim Cantore, The Weather Channel, at Punxsutawney's Groundhog Day

Tactics

Destiny USA Installation & Street Team: Created and installed a wall display for shoppers to take & post winter-themed photos with 6 fun characters. A street team and video crew on Dec. 10 encouraged visitors to use the photo wall and collect testimonials for use in future videos.
Meet “Winter” Video Series: An actor in seasonal makeup, “Winter” became the spokesperson for the overall campaign, showing the season as fun-loving, irreverent and always interesting. Meet Winter video series launched twice weekly on social media.
Winter Welcome Rally: In a “fake news” press conference, timed for the quietest news week of the year, “Winter” was welcomed to his official hometown. State, county & municipal officials took part in the good-natured event, along with several reporters.
Visit Syracuse FAM Trip: A familiarization tour for 8 travel journalists visited Syracuse in conjunction with the Winter Welcome Rally.
Six More Weeks: The team “hacked” America’s #1 annual weather story, Punxsutawney’s Groundhog Day, with a PR stunt built on a creative news hook. The team bucked common desire for early spring and “protested” for 6 more weeks of winter. The team used social media/streaming video to amplify the message, trailed by an imbedded video crew hired to draw attention & capture B-roll.
Blog: Continued Winter’s exploration of his home with a blog written in his voice, posted on the Visit Syracuse website, Facebook & Twitter.

Results

The campaign generated goodwill and support from local elected officials and piqued the interest of tourism partners who re-evaluated winter as a viable market.

Photo Credit: Visit Syracuse

Result Highlights

Over the course of 5 weeks, 9 videos featuring Winter were released, receiving 18,038 total views on YouTube and 52,036 total views on Facebook
Generated significant media attention with 561,442,540 total impressions in just four months from 38 placements, including stories on Huffington Post and The Weather Channel.
Hosted 11 writers on media fams. Collectively, they posted 156 times in addition to Retweeting VisitSyracuse posts.

Award Recognition

Ragan's PR Daily, Publicity Stunt
Gold HSMAI Adrian, Integrated Marketing Campaign
Gold Davey, Promotional/Branding
Gold MarCom, Public Relations Program
Bronze Telly, Video/Shows/Segments
PRSA PRism, Creative Tactics

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The post Taking Charge of a Shoulder Season to Reposition Winter for Locals & Visitors appeared first on Travel Alliance Partnership.

Creating Year-Round Demand with Storytelling & Strategy

Tim Lindner — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 01:07:58 +0000

How this Case Study may be relevant to you: The Haunted History Trail is a shining example of a multi-stakeholder project, as it is a state-wide initiative with over 30 county participants and 85 individual locations, managed by Genesee County Tourism Marketing Director Kelly Rapone.

In the 2017-18 season we earned 178 million media impressions. 64% of Trail Partners attributed an increase in attendance in 2017 to the Haunted History Trail program.

Batcheller Mansion Inn, Photo credit: Amity Photos

The Haunted History Trail of New York State is a collection of over 90 creepy, spooky, and downright haunted locations that offer experiences for visitors interested in the paranormal.

Situational Analysis

While most people consider “haunted” to be a fall or October activity, the Haunted History Trail has a unique shoulder season of winter, spring and even summer.

The Challenge

Give the trail a year-round presence to promote trail awareness and inspire travel in drive-to markets of NYS. Also, visitors don’t always know how to travel a trail with hundreds of stops spread across the state.

Mount Hope Cemetery

Objectives

Inspire travel and drive visitation among leisure travelers to haunted attractions, inns and restaurants.
Promote trail awareness – both online and in print. Increase awareness of the Haunted History Trail’s attractions and events.
Create year-round demand for the Haunted History Trail product.
Promote statewide travel within participating NYS vacation regions.
Generate interest in events and new offerings on the trail.

Strategic Insight

The Haunted History Trail has a unique product and needs to promote it to visitors interested in spooky travel year-round. Travelers interested in this “taboo tourism” are looking for a thrill, and not necessarily just in the fall.

Focus on the experiences and tell the trail’s story.

Photo: Dr. Best House
Photo credit: Amity Photos

Strategic Approach

Position Haunted History Trail stops as year-round destinations.
Create themes and develop content that inspires travel
Highlight destinations and experiences on the trail.
Explain to visitors how they can travel the trail.
Position NYS as an industry leader in the creation of cultural trails.
Manage trail partners and assets and keep abreast of new and current trail offerings.

Tactics

Public relations: generating earned articles and influencer engagements.
Social media: strategic posting on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Facebook advertising: executing campaigns to drive attendance at events and encourage requests of the trail’s printed brochure.
Content marketing: regularly updating content on the trail’s website such as blog posts, and managing the annual print brochure including writing copy and overseeing the design.
Developed a photo library to support all initiatives. Planned photo FAMs for a photographer to capture stops along the trail. Created a photo library using Zenfolio for storage and as a sharing tool for media, stakeholders and internal use.
Asset management/stakeholder communications: staying on top of new trail offerings and keeping partners well-informed.

Museum of Wayne County, Photo credit: Amity Photos

Genesee Falls Inn, Photo credit: Amity Photos

Results

According to a 2017 Economic Impact study conducted by Young Strategies, the Haunted History Trail partners reported an increase in year-over-year attendance with two-thirds (64%) attributing the increase in attendance to the Haunted History Trail program.

Photo: Wing's Castle
Photo credit: Amity Photos

Result Highlights

82 media placements and over 178,000,000 media impressions.
Inclusion in SmithsonianMag.com (11.3M) roundup, with mention of both the trail and a trail partner.
Two feature pieces (online and in print) by Time Out New York that mentioned 14 individual trail partners.
Facebook page grew by 40% in 2017 and 23.6% in 2018. Twitter saw 22% growth in 2017 and 8.9% in 2018, and Instagram saw 90.4% growth in engagement year over year.
Won Silver Davey Award and PRSA PRism Award for the 2018 social media campaign.
Promoted Facebook posts reached 207,384 unique users across two years for events and drove conversions on the website. Many events sold out, pointing to paid social as an indicator of the success.
Facebook advertising generated 61,586 brochure requests in 2017 and 85,123 in 2018.
Reimagined 36-page printed guide with narrative copy and increased visuals.
Won PRSA Award of Excellence and MarCom Award Honorable Mention for the 2018 printed brochure.

Schedule a Consultation

The post Creating Year-Round Demand with Storytelling & Strategy appeared first on Travel Alliance Partnership.

Attracting Canadian Travelers to Upstate New York Destinations

Tim Lindner — Thu, 14 May 2020 02:22:18 +0000

How this Case Study may be relevant to you: This project involved attracting visitors beyond gateway cities, travel public relations, influencer marketing and media FAM planning for a multi-stakeholder collaborative effort.

We earned 7.74 million PR impressions from 15 media visits including feature placements in major in-market publications, and influencer placements.

Photo Credit: Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau

Situational Analysis

Canada is the number one inbound international market for New York State. With 25% of all Canadians living in the Golden Horseshoe a region in Southern Ontario that includes Toronto and borders the northern shores of Lake Ontario.

Upstate New York destinations consider Canadian Travelers a top target market - specifically Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton and other areas in the Ontario province.

The Challenge

After crossing the border, Canadian visitors typically stop in Buffalo, N.Y. on their way to New York City, and spend very little time in the other destinations across Upstate New York.

Photo Credit: Livingston County Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism

Objectives

Build awareness of destinations in New York State between Buffalo and NYC.
To inspire travel and visitation among leisure travelers in Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, and surrounding areas within the Ontario province of Canada through media coverage of partner destinations and attractions.

Strategic Insight

Curiosity & Surprise.

Beyond Buffalo and New York City, destinations across Upstate New York are largely unknown to many Canadian visitors. We aimed to pique Canadian visitors’ curiosity with a range of exciting offerings just over the border – and positively surprise them with endless opportunities during their visit.

Photo Credit: John Kucko

Strategic Approach

Position Upstate New York as a destination of endless opportunities, found just across the border.
Highlight experiences, packages and events relevant to key audience segments within the Canadian market.
Build awareness of program partners among Canadian travelers.
Foster relationships with Canadian media.
Drive visitation from target markets to CO-OP partners websites to learn more.

Photo Credit: Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce

Tactics

Media Kit Development: a full suite of press kit materials including a one-sheet of top offerings/attractions for each partner in the program
Media Relations/Outreach: pitch Canadian media following an editorial calendar with key themes
Media Events/Deskside Visits: attending select media events and organizing deskside visits in the Ottawa and Toronto markets
Media FAM Hosting: work closely with partners to coordinate potential hosting opportunities as they arise, creating itineraries and securing post-visit coverage.
Tracking & Reporting: providing monthly and year-end reports

Results

First Year Results

9 media visits
14 media placements
48 social media placements
1,240,000 media impressions.

Second Year Results

6 media visits
7 media placements
43 social media placements
Over 6.5 million media impressions.

Photo Credit: John Kucko

Result Highlights

Feature piece in CAA Magazine (114,000 UVM) on new museum in partner county.
20 Instagram posts by influencer Food.Diva (21.2K followers) and 32 Instagram posts by influencer LittleBlackPearls (14.2K Followers) featuring program partners.
Feature piece in Escapism Toronto (50,000 Circulation/206,000 UVM) on accommodations in a partner county.
Two feature pieces on program cities by Planetware.com (2,000,000 UVM).
Inclusion of 5 partner ski resorts in an online roundup by Planetware.com (2,000,000 UVM).
Two-page print spread in Foodism Toronto (50,000 UVM) that featured 1 program partner and 4 of its tourism assets.
Two-page print spread in Ottawa Life (200,000) that featured 1 program partner and 9 of its tourism assets.

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The post Attracting Canadian Travelers to Upstate New York Destinations appeared first on Travel Alliance Partnership.