the branding of small town america

In our audience research class we are doing a project in which groups were assigned on of the new 7th Wonders of the World. Our assignment is to come up with a media plan and analysis for our destination. This is very appropriate for the new age of marketing. When you sit down to watch just a half hour of television you can possibly see five different commericials for locations in the United States and around the world, mainly on food channels or "Discovery channel" sorts. Countries and destinations are considered products, which need to be marketed to tourists. In many countries the tourism industry is the main supply income to the eonomy because of the money that is brought in when tourists come for their goods and services.

Countries, and mostly states (after all I live in the US..i've seen plenty of I <3 NY commercials) have their own tourist boards that come up with campaigns to promote their destination in any season. In Ithaca, NY the DownTown partnership came up with a publicity stunt, to challenge a little town in Wisconsin to the title of "Birth Place of the Sundae." It attracted national coverage and brought in many tourists to the now annual sundae festival. Other locations do similar things to get (no pun intended) on the map. The most sucessful publicity event that a city could have is the Winter/Summer Olympics.

The 2008 Summer Olympics are being held in Bejing. I can only imagine the boost that this is going to give China's economy. But for the non-Olympic locations, theres always the option of hiring a spokesperson for your location or a catchy slogan (like: ST LOUIS...is with in reach - not one of the more creative ones, but at least they try).

Destination slogans: amazing or just plain horrible...you decide:

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