Reset to Attract more than Visitors
Last month in this column, in the face of rapidly declining Room Tax revenues that power most Destination Marketing Organizations, I suggested that this would be the great reset. Not unlike a video game in which we had collectively crashed and burned, it would be time to press that button to begin again.
But today, I’m thinking of the Tom Cruise movie “Edge of Tomorrow” (also known as “Live Die Repeat”) in which his character dies in combat against alien invaders every day only to wake up the next day smarter than the day before. Each new day, he advances a little farther towards learning how to defeat the enemy.
I’m not sure we have the luxury of dying 24 times (as Tom’s character does in the film) to get the next chapter right. In fact, I’m deadly sure we don’t. We have but one chance to get this right.
For years, DMOs have been viewed as acquisition bait for opportunistic Chambers of Commerce and Economic Development agencies searching for new revenue streams. Under the guise of streamlining like-community development functions and eliminating duplicative administrative waste, it always sounds reasonable on the surface…but, in practice, the advantage is rarely realized in the end.
And, that’s because we’ve all been coming at this from the wrong reality. Most communities highly value their Economic Development agencies, plowing general fund revenue into their programs of work, hoping for that big corporate relocation score that is so elusive. But, how do these operatives break through the cacophony of every other community’s operatives barking the same tired offers of shovel-ready ground and financial incentives?
How a community attracts visitors, residents and investors is through messaging that is about Quality of Place, Quality of Life and Quality of Experience. Richard Florida made this break-through realization almost 20 years ago in “The Rise of the Creative Class.” Building on the “human capital” theories championed by Jane Jacobs, Florida points to people, not geography (and certainly not business parks or adaptively reimagined warehouses), as why communities emerge as attractive.
Florida held that it’s all about Lifestyle, Social Interaction, Diversity, Authenticity and Quality of Place. And, isn’t that what Destination Marketing Organizations do better than any other community-development agency? We carry these messages to the marketplace every day, even when a virus gets in the way.
If we were to start from scratch…we would all recognize that developing our communities, encouraging residential in-migration, workforce development and attracting entrepreneurs and corporate investment all start with “the visit.” It’s about brand, earned media, inspirational digital storytelling and providing those in our Social networks the images and videos to spread our message to their Social networks. When it’s again time, it’s about enticing meetings, conventions and sporting events to our destinations so that those not typically predisposed to visit our communities do…and are influenced to relocate. And, nobody does that better than a Destination Marketing Organization.
So, if we were granted the ability to build this initiative from the ground up, may I suggest the DMO should be the umbrella organization; the Mothership, if you will? Within the enterprise, there should be an Economic Development Division, just as there should be the Convention & Event Division, a Sports Events Division, a Group Services Division…and so on. Because Job #1 is the community brand and messaging…everything else is a specialized market under that brand, n’est ce-pas?
There will be those that will call me crazy for upsetting the status quo of how it’s always been done. And, that’s fine with me…because the way it’s always been has never looked quite right to me. I grew up with it. I initially accepted it because I figured that somebody smarter than me decided this should be the way it should go. But, with each passing year, I’ve become increasingly uneasy with “how it’s always been.” It doesn’t feel right; it’s not leading with our best face forward…and today, with decreasing resources for the vital work that we all do, this is the time to hit the reset button for real.
This is like the priceless scene in the WWII film “A Bridge Too Far” where the badly outnumbered Allies are offered the opportunity for surrender by a German messenger. The Allies reject the offer because they don’t have the resources to take in that many prisoners of war. The befuddled German simply turns and heads back to his superiors, unsure of how he’s going to explain such a baffling response.
There will be those in the Economic Development field that will deride my suggestion, saying that, in DMO’s time of budget crisis, we should surrender to their embrace. However, if they separated themselves from their job security for a moment…they’d realize I’m right.
It’s all about the brand…and DMOs are the brand managers.
Time to press the reset button on behalf of our communities and reorganize how we compete in the global marketplace.