A New Vision
In the classic 1996 movie Jerry Maguire, the lead character, played by Tom Cruise, experiences a moment of clarity in which he recognizes that the way he and his peers have been operating their business is fundamentally flawed. He writes and distributes a 25-page memo entitled “The Things We Think and Do Not Say: The Future of Our Business.”
The next morning, as he walks into the office he helped create, fellow agents and support staff stand and applaud his words, vision and passion. Within hours, he’s fired.
This moment in time feels a bit like Jerry Maguire for us at DMOproz. We may be congratulated and called visionary by those who read the manifesto we release today. And, hopefully we won’t be shunned after rocking the sacred boat called “The Way We’ve Always Done It.”
Indeed, Under Armour founder Kevin Plank once said “Those who say ‘That’s the way we have always done it’ can be the most dangerous people in any company.”
But, as we grapple with the future impacts of a new recession brought on by the response to the pandemic, we have the rare opportunity to re-examine how and why Destination Marketing and Management Organizations (DMOs) were founded, how they have evolved and what changes need to be actualized to realize the full potential of these organizations going forward.
As we suggested a few months ago in this column, Destination Marketing Organizations have evolved organically over the past century, not unlike an old country farmhouse in which an extra bedroom or two, a porch and a rec room have been added over the years. The house is functional, but it often looks like a hodge-podge from the road.
In the beginning, DMOs pursued convention business. Then we added Motorcoach. Leisure marketing followed. Then Sports Tournaments. Some DMOs dove into destination infrastructure advocacy. Others added facility management to their repertoire. Creating and curating experiences became core competencies for many. And, in this world of the ‘VID, most have pivoted to train their considerable marketing muscle toward local residents.
We aren’t structured consistently. While most DMOs have gained independence from their parent Chamber of Commerce, our database shows that 17% still reside within the confines of the house in which they grew up. Sometimes its due to budgetary constraints (they simply don’t have a sufficient resources to break away) but sometimes it’s about power and control. In a handful of communities, the DMO is housed under economic development. In a handful, government has just thrown in the towel and hired a private sector ad agency to handle their marketing.
Far be it from us to dictate how a DMO is designed, as every destination is different...and we've worked successfully with virtually every different organizational structure out there. But where the DMO exists in the hierarchy of community development organizations in most of our communities needs a reset. And, for those that have the courage and vision to, as Apple famously challenged us, “Think Different,” the logic of our argument that marketing comes first is rock solid.
Every organization in our community that is dedicated to growth, quality of life and sustainability speaks to a subset of the whole. Chambers of Commerce speak to and support their members. Economic Development Organizations speak to business leaders and site inspectors. Downtown and Main Street organizations speak to their members and those that love downtowns. Arts agencies speak to those who love arts and culture. Sports Commissions speak to rights holders and facility managers.
Destination Marketing Organizations speak to everyone.
And, if you subscribe to the “Circle of Life” concept, made famous by our friend Maura Gast, you know that “it all starts with a visit. And, that visit starts with Marketing” (which is what points back to DMOs, as we are the specialists in this field). So, why is it when discussions evolve in our communities about potential mergers of community development organizations that it is pretty common that it is assumed that the DMO will be folded under either the Chamber or Economic Development?
This is not, in anyway, an attempt to denigrate these other organizations. They are absolutely vital to the growth and success of our communities. But, they typically do not look at “everyone” as their target market like DMOs do.
As we fully expect those merger conversations to begin once again amidst the budgetary carnage ahead, we have developed a position paper on the topic entitled “A New Vision for Achieving Community Success, Growth and Sustainability.” You can Download your copy HERE.
Like what Jerry Maguire experienced, what we are proposing to become the next iteration of community development will likely be initially embraced as making a whole lot of practical and strategic sense by some. But, we also expect the concept to elicit a fair amount of pushback from those that fear a loss of position and/or influence…or from those that simply don’t want to work together to achieve a common good. But, it doesn't have to be that way. In our proposed path forward, we believe that we can create a scenario that works to everyone’s highest interests.
And, we’re anxious to hear your reaction.