What is it about a city that enables it to attract meetings, leisure travelers, investors and new residents? Chris Fair, president of Vancouver-based Resonance Consultancy, grapples with these questions as he advises CVBs and DMOs around the globe on place branding—a strategy for using a destination’s strong points to give it a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Meetings Today sat down with Fair to get his take on why place branding is an important tool for CVBs.
What are the key influences now in regards to choosing a location for meetings, travel or relocation?
In the past, decisions were largely determined by the city’s hardware, which includes infrastructure such as convention centers and hotels. But as the economy has shifted, it’s now less about the hardware and more about the software, which are the experiential aspects.
This is especially true for meetings. Organizations are not focusing so much on the convention package but instead are looking at the brand and identity of the city and what it means for their particular event. For example, the TED conference relocated to Vancouver not just for the infrastructure but because of what the city represents for who they are trying to attract.
Does some of this have to do with the fact that so many cities now have the basics covered in terms of convention centers and nearby hotels?
It’s part of it. The competitive advantage of infrastructure has been watered down in that many cities have the equivalent hotel brands and meeting space facilities to offer.
What is the key to successful place branding?
When it comes to positioning and branding a city, people think it’s about logos, but it’s not. It’s about focusing on the key characteristics of your destination. If it’s not authentic, it will not ring true. It will be seen as marketing mumbo jumbo.
Marketing can be an outcome of the process, but the process starts with assessing the destination and understanding its key characteristics. This could be about the institutions and corporations that are there or the experiences available such as shopping, culture and nightlife. It can also be about the people who live there. You need to identify those comparative differences. That’s what the brand really is.
What impact is the Millennial generation having on place branding?
We do a lot of research on Millennials, asking what they look for in a city in which to live or vacation. We see that a lot of those elements are similar. They are much more interested in the software of the city than in the hardware. The big institutions are not as important a draw for them as they have been for Baby Boomers. Millennials are looking for the experiential quality of the city, which is a reason why cities like Portland, Ore., are drawing so many young people.
How can cities best communicate what they have to offer?
They can do this through authentic, intelligent stories that help people understand their key characteristics. They can do this through storytelling on film and through social media. It’s best to focus on specific positioning, rather than trying to be everything to everyone.
One great strategy is to enlist ambassadors from key industries and leverage these people to help attract meetings and events. Associations are drawn to cities where there is an authentic group of thought leaders they can connect with. It’s not just about the city’s beauty, but about the depth of experience it offers, whether in academics or industry.
What are reasons why some organizations bypass certain cities?
In the post-financial crisis world some organizations are not going to certain places because of what the city represents. Government conferences are still not going to Las Vegas and many organizations continue to shy away from pure resort destinations. The perception issue has had lasting repercussions for the MICE industry.