Evergreen Nuggets

Over the holidays (I just love that week between Christmas and the New Year to catch up and stretch out), I discovered a series of notes I had taken during the run of BrandWorks University that was staged in Madison during the early years of this Millennium. One of our dearest friends on this planet (and a previous guest on DMOU) was the curator of this MBA-level immersion into all things marketing…and Marsha Lindsay was kind enough to let me sit in on the event during the years I wasn’t out on the road.

Looking back on what we were collectively talking about 15-ish years ago was pretty fascinating. And, despite the wholesale changes in how consumers respond to stimuli that drive marketers in bold new ways, some of the concepts are as true today as we imagined they would be then.

As Marsha said in 2010: “We are the authors of our Future.” With that…as Khan said in Star Trek Into Darkness, “Shall We Begin?”

Some of the evergreen nuggets include one from Byron Sharp: “Most of our customers rarely think about us. That’s why advertising is so important.” An appropriate answer to those that challenge DMO budgets by saying that everyone already knows your destination. While they may…they need reminding. Not unlike incumbent politicians. If voters already know you, why are you investing in yard signs?

Robert Cialdini suggested that we are more motivated by a sense of loss than a desire to possess. He pointed to a failed Bose ad that promoted all the new features of a speaker. When the same ad ran with the new headline of “Hear What You’ve Been Missing,” sales increased 45%. Thus, shouldn’t destinations play to how not visiting would be a forfeiture of experience?

And, to that concept, Frank Luntz shared that the word “Imagine” is the most powerful word in the English language because it puts the concept into the consumer’s perspective. Should DMO pros not make better use of this exceptional word? To paraphrase, “Picture yourself in a boat on a river…”

Phil Barden (author of “Decoded”) offered that strong brands trigger a “reward” sensation in the brain. Conversely, the cost of an item triggers pain. If the net is positive, we buy. Apple is undeniably a strong brand. Their new Vision Pro goggles are priced at $3500. What the net is for you will determine if the reward of the brand can overcome the pain of the price.

He went on to say that brain activity increases when confronted with a weak brand…and that most of us have been programmed to ignore offers that include the word “free” because we have learned there is always a catch. All the more reason for Destination Marketers to double down on developing and living a strong brand identity.

And, as Stanford Researcher BJ Fogg suggested, a marketer’s job is to help people do what they already want to do. We’re not here to “lure” them. We’re here to enable them to score the experience they already want.

If your campaigns aren’t successful, it’s because you haven’t designed an effective trigger. “Behavior,” BJ said, “happens when motivation, ability and the right trigger converge.”

True dat.

Quite amazing that these concepts were voiced from the BrandWorks stage more than a decade ago by some of the brightest minds in marketing…and they are more relevant today than they were then. Or, at least we recognize them for their brilliance today more than yesterday.

Marsha…thank you for letting me sneak in the side door and fill my head with these amazing concepts and thought leaders lo those years ago. BrandWorks was one of a kind and my favorite conference each and every year.

And I’m still distilling its content to this day.