Project Phoenix: Reimagining How We Market the USA
Four years ago, when Brand USA began its operations, the team developed a campaign that became “Land of Dreams.” The reaction worldwide was phenomenal and the campaign has served Brand USA very well, helping us achieve a 47:1 marketing ROI in 2013. To stay fresh in the global marketplace, however, we must evolve. Project Phoenix is the foundation of our next chapter.
Project Phoenix, the most ambitious research initiative Brand USA has launched, is likely one of the largest scale projects any tourism organization has conducted. Spanning nine international consumer markets, the project will take a full year to complete. Dreamcatcher, launched in June 2014, was the first phase.
The objective of Dreamcatcher was to delve into the nuances of destination decisions and how we can deliver value as the destination marketing organization of the USA. Through 40 focus groups in 20 cities, we explored how people make decisions about international travel and what they think about the USA.
Explorer, the next phase that is currently under development, will leverage learnings from Dreamcatcher. There are two objectives for Explorer. One objective is to ascertain the website features and functionality that consumers find useful. The other objective is to get further insight into the target trigger points, identified in Dreamcatcher as moments when travelers can be influenced regarding their destination decision.
Understanding these trigger points will help us further optimize our media placements and creative. For a significant portion of trips, the destination is fixed – business trips, weddings, visiting friends/relatives. For travel suppliers and retailers, these travelers are as important to reach as discretionary vacationers because they book airplane tickets and hotels rooms. For destination marketers, however, they are not primary targets for messaging. To be efficient, we must focus our advertisements on those who we can influence, before they move from consideration to commitment.
The last phase of Project Phoenix is Narrator, which will begin in 2015. The objective of Narrator is to define our next brand story – the underlying concepts that will shape the creative of not only our next advertising campaign, but every other consumer touch point. Our learnings from Dreamcatcher will again play a major role in shaping Narrator and our new brand messaging. As we move through the phases of Project Phoenix, we look forward to sharing all of the knowledge we have gained.