DESTINATION POSITIONING & BRANDING DESTINATION MARKETING SESSION 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14

DESTINATION MARKETING SESSION 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 PREVIEWSESSION 4 DESTINATION POSITIONING AND BRANDING Brands and branding Brand positioning Brand image

DESTINATION MARKETING SESSION 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 PREVIEWSESSION 4 DESTINATION POSITIONING AND BRANDING Brands and branding

The world’s Top 10 valued brands in 2014 RankBrand value-US$ billions 1. Apple Google Coca-Cola IBM Microsoft GE Samsung Toyota McDonald’s Mercedes Benz 34.3 Source: Adapted from

Video link What is branding? –

The importance of brands Today’s consumers have more product choice but less decision- making time than ever before Consequently, a brand that can help simplify decisions, reduce purchase risk, and create and deliver expectations is invaluable (Keller, 2003) The future of marketing will be a ‘battle of brands, a competition for brand dominance’ (see Aaker, 1991 p. ix) Within the tourism industry, destinations are emerging as the biggest brands (Morgan et al., 2002)

The importance of brands Increasing importance of brand equity Increasing global competition Commodification The power of retailers Sophisticated consumers Brand extensions Media cost effectiveness Short-term performance orientation

Branding destinations What is a destination brand? 1. Brand identity Self-image Image desired in market 2. Brand image Actual image held by consumers – Brand identity and brand image not always congruent

Three components of branding

Brand identity The desired image aspired to in the market place Clear vision and values What the brand stands for Differentiates from rivals Brand positioning (Chapter 11) The attempt to achieve congruence between the brand image and brand identity Clear differentiation from rivals Logo, slogan … and supporting marcom Succinct and meaningful value proposition Brand image (Chapter 10) The actual image of the brand held by consumers Might be quite different to that intended by the brand identity Might not exist Three components of branding

Destination branding is... … the set of marketing activities that (1) support the creation of a name, symbol, logo, word mark or other graphic that readily identifies and differentiates a destination; (2) consistently convey the expectation of a memorable travel experience; (3) serve to consolidate and reinforce the emotional connection between the visitor and the destination; (4) reduce consumer search costs and perceived risk. Collectively, these activities serve to create a destination image that positively influences consumer destination choice. Blain, Levy & Ritchie (2005, p. 337)

Video link Destination branding vs slogans

Brand critical success factors (Keller, 2000) The brand excels at delivering the benefits customers truly desire The brand stays relevant to customers The pricing strategy is based on consumers’ perceptions of value The brand is properly positioned in the market by offering a distinctive value proposition The brand is consistent The brand portfolio and hierarchy make sense The brand makes use of, and coordinates, a full repertoire of marketing activities The brand’s managers understand what the brand means to consumers The brand is given proper support, and that support is sustained over the long run The organisation monitors the sources of brand equity

Brand champion Brand community – Local residents’ sense of place – Local businesses – Local government – Travel intermediaries Brand charter – Major goal to have as many stakeholders as possible using the brand Destination brand identity development

The host community’s sense of place When residents are called on to live the values of the brand in pursuit of tourism goals, it would seem that marketers are in danger of assuming too much influence and a sense of balance needs to be restored. Societies cannot be engineered or places manufactured for tourist consumption without a loss of authenticity which is ultimately recognised by the visitor who will move on to seek it elsewhere. Henderson (2000)

Core promise – what we promise our destination brand will deliver to visitors Brand personality – how our destination brand is portrayed, based on human characteristics Brand values Mikkeli’s brand identity

DESTINATION MARKETING SESSION 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 PREVIEWSESSION 4 DESTINATION POSITIONING AND BRANDING Brands and branding Brand image

The role of image in destination marketing The images held by consumers play a significant role in travel purchase decisions – an understanding of the images held of the destination by consumers is critical Perhaps the most important issue in destination marketing

Perception is reality Images people hold of a destination dictate their decision making The brand image might not be related to the brand identity ‘What is defined or perceived by people is real in its consequences’ (Thomas & Thomas, 1928, p. 572, in Patton, 2002)

Video link Perception is reality –

Three components of branding

The role of image in destination marketing: The marketer perspective – Intangibility and risk – Inseparability – Variability – Perishability – Substitutability

The role of image in destination marketing: The visitor perspective Attitudes: 3 components Cognition – The sum of what is known or believed about a destination, and might be organic or induced Affect – An individual’s feelings about a destination, which may be favourable, unfavourable or neutral Conation – Analogous to behaviour since it is the intent or action component – Intent refers to the likelihood of destination visit

Organic and induced images Organic – Developed through an individual’s everyday assimilation of information School geography lessons Travel experiences Media exposure Induced – Formed through the influence of tourism promotions directed by marketers Advertising Cognition The sum of what is known or believed about a destination, and might be organic or induced

The role of attitudes in the visitor decision making process Need awareness Develop alternatives (Cognition) Evaluate alternatives (Affect) Choice (Conation)

Visitor decision making Consumers aware of an almost limitless number of destinations Decision set consists of only those brands the consumer will actually consider in the next purchase decision Four plus or minus two destinations – Consistent in the literature Implications for those destinations not included Importance of unaided ‘top of mind awareness’ Importance of travel context

Evoked decision set 4+/-2 brands considered by consumers in purchase decision Destinations included in this set have a competitive advantage Implications for destinations not included in this set? Top of mind awareness (ToMA) is the first destination that comes to mind in trip planning

Measuring destination image Qualitative studies involving personal interviews or focus groups – Small sample, not generalizable Interpreting the content of what people write or photograph – About their travel intentions and planning – About their actual travel experience – Emerging web-crawler technologies Quantitative studies administering questionnaires to a large sample

Assignment: Measuring Mikkeli’s image online 1.Research what people are saying online about Mikkeli’s image as a destination and one of its competitors (use the home town of one of the members of your team). Do not use the destination’s website as a source for your postings. 2.For each of your two destinations, find a positive posting, a neutral and a negative posting, and determine the credibility and influence of each. You will need a total of at least 6 postings. What actions would you recommend regarding the negative postings? Create a document similar to what you see below and post to MyCourses.

Destination image change Destination image change occurs only slowly over time The larger the entity the slower the change Implication is destination branding takes time – Consistency of message over a long period of time

DESTINATION MARKETING SESSION 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 PREVIEWSESSION 4 DESTINATION POSITIONING AND BRANDING Brands and branding Brand positioning Brand image

Market positioning is defined as the process of identifying and selecting markets or segments that represent business potential, to determine the criteria for competitive success in each This must be based on a thorough knowledge of the needs, wants, and perceptions of the target market, along with the benefits offered by the destination. To do this, a few crucial questions must be answered. These are: Market Positioning

1. What is important to the target market? 2. How does the target market perceive the destination? 3. How does the target market perceive the competition? 4. What should a destination emphasize to convince the target market that it is a better value than its competitors? Market Positioning Questions

The reality is that if the target market doesn't perceive the value, the value does not exist.

Market positioning research also requires an evaluation of the image that customers have of a tourism destination. This can be used to identify the attributes which comprise the benefits. The beauty of a destination, the architecture of a palace, and the historic artifacts in a museum are examples of attributes that may produce a benefit, or may be a tangible representation of an intangible benefit, but are not themselves the benefit. Market Positioning & Destination Image

The benefit itself is what the attributes do for the visitor, for example, perceived benefits of Rock and Lake might include… Perceived Benefits Benefits, like positioning, exist in the mind of the customer and are determined only by asking the customer. Only after this information is obtained, can a destination match its strengths to the visitors' needs and the benefits sought

Psychological positioning is a strategy employed to create a unique product image with the objective of creating interest and attracting visitors. Since it exists solely in the mind of the visitor, it can occur automatically without any effort on the part of the marketer and any kind of positioning may result. There are two kinds of psychological positioning in marketing: objective positioning and subjective positioning. Each has its appropriate place and usage. Psychological Positioning

Objective positioning is concerned, almost entirely, with the objective attributes of the physical product. It means creating an image about the destination that reflects its physical characteristics and functional features. It is usually concerned with what actually is, what exists. For example… Objective Positioning

Objective positioning can be very important and is often used in the tourism industry. If a destination has some unique feature, that feature may be used to objectively position the destination, to create an image, and to differentiate it from the competition Less successful objective positioning occurs when the feature is not unique. This is why many destination promotions with pictures of beaches fail to create a distinct image or successfully differentiate the product. Other unsuccessful approaches may include a picture of two people looking at a mountain that looks like any other mountain or lying on a beach that looks like any other beach. One of the first rules of effective positioning is uniqueness The “Unique” Factor

Where in the world are we?

Which hotel are we in?

Which of these is Rock and Lake? If you can’t tell the difference, how can you expect potential customers to do so?

Subjective Positioning Subjective positioning is the image, not of the physical aspects of the destination, but other attributes perceived by the tourist, (i.e., they do not necessarily belong to the destination but to the tourist's mental perception of the experience).

What the marketer hopes is that the people in the target market will agree on a favorable image whether or not the image is true. This is the test of effective subjective positioning.

While psychological positioning creates an image, market positioning attempts to influence the picture, using visual and words, to reinforce what the destination does best and what benefits are offered. Tourism marketers may decide to select the most appropriate of the following approaches, depending on the information gathered during market and psychological positioning. Positioning by attribute, feature, or customer benefit. For this strategy, emphasis is placed on the benefits of the particular features or attributes of the destination. Market Positioning Approaches

For example, Thailand promotes the friendliness of its people with the statement "The world meets in the land of smiles."

International destinations are not usually positioned on the basis of price because lower prices may be perceived as connoting lower quality. However, value offered to visitors can be effectively used. For example: "Malaysia gives more natural value." With this positioning statement Malaysia is appealing not only to the sense of value (more for the money) but also to its natural attractions. Positioning by Price Value

Here a destination is positioned based on the reasons for visiting it. Bermuda positions itself to the American MICE market with "Sometimes you have to leave the country to get any work done" which promises productive meetings in a relaxed environment. Cancun, Mexico is positioned as "The meeting place for sun worshipers." Positioning with respect to use or application

In this case, positioning features the people who should visit the destination. Hong Kong appeals to the incentive travel market with the statement 'When they've reached the top, send them to the peak," referring to Victoria Peak, a major tourist site in Hong Kong Positioning according to users or class of users

This technique is often used to associate a destination with experiences that are extraordinary and / or unique. For example, the Principality of Monaco is positioned as "The fairy tale that does not end at midnight," or Holding a convention in Thailand is "Smooth as silk where the sky's the limit, or "If your looking for an ideal meeting place, here's one that's close to heaven" for Israel. Positioning with respect to a product class

This approach is not used frequently in international tourism destination marketing since it may involve negative statements about another country or region. However… Positioning vis-a-vis the competition

What position does Rock and Lake own now? (In the mind of the target market.) What position does Rock and Lake want to own? (Look for positions or holes in the marketplace.) Who must Rock and Lake out position? (Manipulate what's already in the mind.) How can it be done? (Select the best approach that will work for the target market.) Consider these questions

DESTINATION MARKETING SESSION 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 PREVIEWSESSION 4 DESTINATION POSITIONING AND BRANDING Brands and branding Brand positioning Brand image

DESTINATION POSITIONING & BRANDING DESTINATION MARKETING SESSION 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14