Online Exclusive:
The Branding Of A City
Destination marketing officials in Tulsa, Okla., have just launched a new branding campaign they hope will give potential meeting groups and visitors new insight into what the city is all about.
“Most people who have never been to Tulsa have no idea what to expect,” said Suzann Stewart, CAE,
Tulsa Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) executive director. “Our goal through the campaign is to show potential visitors to Tulsa the kind of experience they will have once they get here.”
Launched in August, the campaign features a series of messages about Tulsa attractions that start with the words “I am.” Stewart said these messages will be featured on various advertisements in a seven-state region. “No matter if you see one of the billboards on the highway, set a drink on one of the coasters at one of Tulsa’s restaurants, or come to us through the new website at
VisitTulsa.com, you will be able to see Tulsa in a whole new way,” Stewart said. Each message includes an artfully cropped image that corresponds with the statement.
“Beautiful imagery helps us tout interesting and little-known facts about the area, while leading a visitor on a journey of discovery they will find charming, welcoming and authentic,” Stewart said.
A big section of the campaign’s target audience will be the meetings industry, where Stewart said the city seeks to attract meetings, conventions and special events of “high impact” and with “high-volume attendees.”
Along with billboards and various types of advertisements, the campaign includes an enhanced website,
www.VisitTulsa.com, which has new offerings such as interactive maps that direct users to different Tulsa destinations and a journal section for visitors to post their experiences at each Tulsa attraction highlighted on the website.
Local hoteliers say they are excited about the “I am” campaign. “Brand culturalization gives us a chance to remind those on the front lines of the Tulsa tourism industry what is so great about the place we live,” said Jon Davidson, chairman of the CVB and general manager of Radisson Hotel Tulsa. “We’ve made it a priority to give our hotel personnel, airport volunteers, museum docents, taxi cab drivers and other front-line ambassadors for our city an in-depth look at what visitors are looking for from Tulsa, and remind them about all the great things our city has to offer.”
In order to learn more about Tulsa’s new branding campaign,
ConventionSouth asked Stewart these specific questions:
Is this your first branding campaign and if not, how is it different from previous ones? This is our first branding campaign. We “inherited” the distinction of “Oil Capital of the World” from 1957 and so many changes have occurred since the ’50s when that was developed that we believed it was truly time for a change.
Why do you feel that branding is important to promoting the city? Branding happens whether we like it or not—people form a brand impression of Tulsa from what they hear and what they read if they haven’t been here—and we have to make sure that what people are hearing, reading and seeing about Tulsa is true. We are a warm, welcoming city and a diverse, cultured community. We treat our tourists like family, and we are unique in that our attractions were built for us; they weren’t built to attract tourists. Marketing that experience and then delivering on that brand promise is the key to both attracting customers and to ensuring repeat visits.
You said that most people that have never been to the city have no idea what to expect from Tulsa. Why do you think that is? We found in our extensive research that those who’d never had an experience with Tulsa either had no impression or thought we were out in the Wild West somewhere. They don’t think of a big city with suburbs and a thriving arts community and downtown business district—all of which Tulsa has.
Your research showed that people feel that Tulsa is a “genuine” city. What does that mean to you? Being a native Tulsan, I know and love what we have to offer. What you see when you come to Tulsa is true. Nothing was built for tourists—our world-class museums, our Art Deco buildings, our attractions were all built for those who live here to enjoy.
You said that you are trying to attract “meetings, conventions and special events of high impact with a high volume of attendees.” Can you talk more about that? We’re adding new facilities with our BOK (Bank of Oklahoma) Center, designed by Cesar Pelli, and expanding our
Tulsa Convention Center with a new 32,000-square-foot ballroom, additional meeting rooms and exhibit space. This means we can attract larger groups and special events.
With the improvements we’ve made in our meeting and convention facilities and the emphasis being placed on hotel, entertainment and recreational space in Tulsa, we are eager to show off a little. We want people who are planning for the next few years to see all that Tulsa now has to offer. The BOK Center will open in early fall of 2008, and our convention center will be complete in April 2009. We want to show that we can handle larger groups with more specialized needs for their gatherings.
Can you tell us more about the new website and how meeting planners and attendees can utilize that? We believe we’ve designed our new website to be more user-friendly, very simple yet intriguing. We have dedicated informational sites for meeting and event planners and tour planners. The RFP (request for proposal) we have placed on the site can be completed and returned electronically, and we can respond immediately to any needs.
We will also handle our Web-based housing operations though that site. Our “Don’t Miss,” “Let’s Eat” and “Please Stay” sections are easily searchable. We’re encouraging past guests to enter journal entries on their experiences here as well.
Jon said the campaign also works to help the front line hospitality staff of Tulsa. Why do you think this will set you apart from other destinations? We showed the results of our research to those who are usually the first to greet visitors to Tulsa—those who work at hotels, the airport, drive taxis and guide visitors through attractions. Through what we call “brand culturalization training,” we basically reminded them about making sure our guests feel welcome and wanted, and like part of the family. Because we don’t consider our attractions to be for tourists, sometimes we need to be reminded that to others, they are attractions—reasons people come visit our city. We also want to assure that the experience we promise our guests is the experience they actually receive…people may forget what you say to them, but they will always remember how you make them feel.
Beyond the campaign, how else is Tulsa growing as a destination for meetings? Other facilities that have undergone improvement include our Expo Square, with 450,000 square feet of exhibition space, barns and show arenas, and a 5,000-seat pavilion, which is on the National Registry of Historic Sites. The $150 million in improvements there give us the finest equine facility in the country. Downtown entertainment districts and museum development are also in the works. Hotel developers are knocking on our doors for additional downtown housing. Tulsa is changing rapidly, but of course, not quickly enough for us.
Two major downtown hotels are finishing up multimillion-dollar renovations, and Tulsa International Airport recently added non-stop daily departures to Albuquerque, Austin, Ontario, Sacramento, San Antonio and San Diego, bringing its daily departure capacity to nearly 6,700 passengers.
