With a talent for creating special events that blossomed while working for my dad’s car stereo shop, I got my start in marketing at Frontier Field in Rochester and I began serving as the executive director of the internationally known Lilac Festival. Later on, I headed the Canandaigua, New York Business Improvement District while also performing projects for the tourism promotion agency Visit Rochester.
In 2009, I founded Break the Ice Media, with more than 20 years of experience in tourism marketing. I now host “Destination on the Left”, a highly successful tourism marketing podcast.
As a business owner, I know what it takes to be successful. I founded BTI to help businesses tell their brand story through public relations, digital and traditional channels. I have the ability to uncover unique marketing opportunities and develop marketing and public relations initiatives that help clients build long-term success.
In this solocast episode of Destination on the Left, we look at the highlights from day one of our Destination on the Left Virtual Summit.
What You Will Learn in This Episode:
- The highlights from day one of the Destination on the Left Virtual Summit
- The latest study from JLL and the World Tourism Council
- Generational perceptions of the impact travel has on the environment
- Why destination marketing should be a shared community value
- How to use integrated campaigns
- How to use Facebook advertising for campaigns
Destination on the Left Virtual Summit: Day 1
By now, you’ve probably heard all about the exciting virtual summit we held to close out 2019. Many familiar faces turned out to hear some of the show’s previous guests discuss insights, strategies, and tactics—really everything destination marketing. We received overwhelmingly positive feedback and I could not be more thrilled about the amount of value each one of you brought to the event. But if you were not able to attend, don’t worry! Over the course of the next three solocasts, I will be covering each day of the event, with a detailed analysis of the key talking points.
Destination 2030: Readiness for Tourism Growth: Dan Fenton joined us to discuss a study that JLL and the World Tourism Council published. It produced a framework and 5 typologies that can be used to determine a community’s readiness for tourism growth.
The Future of Travel as a Brand: Emerging Sentiments Posing Challenges: Erin Francis-Cummings’ presentation urges us to look five years into the future of our destination in regards to the green energy movement that is sweeping the globe. She focuses on examining the contrast of generations’ perceptions around the impact of travel on the environment.
Becoming a Shared Community Value: Bill Geist of DMO Pros talks about elevating the importance of tourism in our communities. He explains why it should be a shared value like any other municipal services.
Tracking Results From Integrated Campaigns: Julie Gilbert of Destination Niagra uses their 2019 campaigns as an example for how you can measure impressions, clicks, and even hotel bookings as a result of integrated campaigns. She also talks about leveraging this strategy with local events to create a powerful synergy.
Understanding Facebook Advertising for Destination Marketing: Camille Zess and Jess Reilly of Break the Ice Media took audience members behind the scenes to see how they run successful campaigns for their clients.
If you weren’t able to take part in the amazing Destination on the Left Virtual Summit, don’t fret! You can still watch all of the presentations on our website. Just purchase an all-access pass by visiting www.destinationontheleft.com/summit and enjoy! Otherwise, keep an eye out for an upcoming announcement for our next summit in Spring 2020. We hope you can join us.
Resources:
- Email: nicole@breaktheicemedia.com
- Website: www.destinationontheleft.com/summit
- Website: https://breaktheicemedia.com/
- Twitter: @Break_TheIce
- Facebook: @BreakTheIceMedia
Brook grew up in Norfolk, NE and moved to Casper in 2015. During her time here she has fallen in love with the people of Casper and the sense of community. Brook is the CEO at Visit Casper and her favorite part about her position is continually forming strategic partnerships with fellow community members and working together to come up with creative solutions for impossible problems. When she’s not at work you can find her out for a run, reading at the beach, or planning her next adventure. Brook is also a big fan and attendee of many of the events that go on throughout downtown, and says her favorites are the 5150 Feast and 5150 Festival, which take place every year in August.
In this episode of Destination on the Left, I am joined by Brook Kaufman, CEO of Visit Casper. Brook shares her story and discusses the role of DMOs in the community. She explains the challenges Visit Casper has faced, and how her team overcame them with creativity.
What You Will Learn in This Episode:
- Brook Kaufman’s story and her role as CEO of Visit Casper
- What Brook is doing to set Casper apart from other destinations
- “The One-and-Only” campaign and the inspiration behind it
- How Brook uses creativity to solve impossible problems
- The lessons Brook took away from Visit Casper’s role in preparing the town for an influx of visitors due to the eclipse
- How Brook overcame the challenge of building credibility and authority for her organization
- How Visit Casper collaborates with its competitors
Visit Casper
When Brook Kaufman joined the team at Visit Casper, she was already an accomplished entrepreneur and a strong leader. But, sometimes we stumble upon the greatest opportunities by pure chance. Brook fell into the travel and tourism industry and her career turned into a burning passion. She quickly grew into her role embedded herself in the community, taking a holistic approach to destination marketing and making every move with the big picture in mind. Now, she is tackling some of our industry’s most difficult challenges with creativity, passion, and a collaborative spirit.
The One-and-Only
Brook approaches destination management with greater goals than heads in beds. Everything that comes out of Visit Casper is created with the best interest of its residents and visitors at heart. It is the reason Brook and her team have spent the last four years building credibility and authority, earning them an equal seat at the table in local government. The DMO is playing a much larger role in the community, which is reflected in its work. Campaigns like “The One-and-only” are industry-recognized and best-in-class. Visit Casper’s creative work has stabilized the brand and brought consistency to all channels. Brook is doing everything in her power to help set Casper apart.
You’re Only Less-Than Until You’re Not
Brook says she uses creativity to solve impossible problems and creativity, which is often the best approach in our industry. When you look at her accomplishments like tackling the influx of visitors for the eclipse, it becomes apparent that we all need to have more pride in what we get to do. We are not party planners for second-rate agencies that waste taxpayers’ dollars; we are an integral part of every community. You’re only lesser-than until you’re not, so acknowledge your value! If you are interested in hearing the insights and stories from Brook’s role as CEO of Visit Casper, check out my podcast episode, The One-and-Only Casper, with Brook Kaufman.
- Twitter: @VisitCasper
- Website: www.visitcasper.com
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As the U.S. managing director for China’s largest independent advertising agency, Humphrey Ho helps American brands reach their ever-growing base of Chinese consumers. Spearheading the opening of Hylink‘s American headquarters in Santa Monica, where he resides, Ho has scaled the operation up to 40 employees and secured the company’s key spots with industry leaders like Brand USA and Hawaiian Airlines. In September of 2018, Ho successfully launched Hylink’s subsidiary, Hylink Travel, a Shorty Awards-winning agency specializing in social and digital campaigns for travel brands.
Mr. Ho has been featured in various publications, with recent examples like The Drum, Digiday, AdWeek, Buzzfeed, and Ad Age. Mr. Ho was named a finalist for Digidays 2019 Future Leader award and was also tapped by Forbes magazine as one of the top 8 Asian-Americans Shaping the Travel Industry.
In this episode of Destination on the Left, Humphrey Ho is back to give us a detailed look at the data and tracking methods used to target the Chinese market. He explains data-driven marketing and how it differs in each segment of the travel and tourism industry. He describes the difference between branded and performance campaigns, and how to measure their effectiveness with new tools.
What You Will Learn in This Episode:
- How different segments in travel and tourism look at data and rationalize their performance
- How data-driven marketing is used with U.S. brands in the Chinese market
- The new ways DMOs are accessing and leveraging data to reach Chinese travelers
- Why DMOs are putting a lot more effort into brand love as they target China
- The challenges DMOs face when targeting multi-cultural audiences
- Hylink Radix and why you should be using it
Leveraging Data to Reach the Chinese Market
Back in episode #151, Humphrey Ho took us on a deep dive into the evolving Chinese travel market. He discussed the drastic shift in Chinese travel behavior, the opportunities amidst political turmoil between the U.S. and China, and the multi-destination collaborations that have successfully targeted the Chinese market. In this episode, Humphrey gives us a detailed look at the other side of the coin. He explains data-driven marketing and how it differs by segment. He describes the difference between branded and performance campaigns, and how to measure their effectiveness.
Measuring Effectiveness in China
For DMOs, the user demographic is changing and visibility is becoming more of a challenge in the Chinese market. When a DMO runs a campaign targeting Chinese travelers, it directly affects their partners too. As a result, DMOs are using data like traditional brand marketers to forecast all of the implications and the campaign’s overall effectiveness. DMOs have a responsibility to figure out what their brand means to the Chinese and it is more important than ever before to remain in-market. By accessing and leveraging data in new ways, DMOs are becoming more effective in doing so.
- Twitter: @hylinkdigital
- Website: https://hylinkgroup.com/
- Hylink Radix?
We value your thoughts and feedback and would love to hear from you. Leave us a review on your favorite streaming platform to let us know what you want to hear more of. Here is a quick tutorial on how to leave us a rating and review on iTunes!: https://breaktheicemedia.com/rating-review/