In June, the Flagstaff Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) launched a new marketing campaign and redesigned website to promote Flagstaff to potential visitors. Utilizing research and focus group input, the CVB designed the new campaign to highlight the seasonality of the destination, evoke emotion, feature a wide variety of activities found in the area and focus on the overall Flagstaff experience.
With the new campaign, the CVB staff wanted to capture and translate the “Flagstaff vibe” to consumers, enticing them to visit Flagstaff. Highlights of the new campaign include an updated logo with a stamp effect, a distinct color palette to represent each season of the year and photo rich advertisement design featuring quirky headlines.
The new advertisement headlines and messaging are flexible for all markets and can be easily adjusted based on placement. For example, in the Phoenix Metropolitan market, the new Flagstaff ads will read: “If you were an egg, you’d fear no sidewalk,” or “Out of this world, but not out of the way.” In Southern California, consumers might see the broader reaching message: “If you were a dog, you’d wag your tail off.” For certain international markets where Route 66 is a popular attraction, the ad will read, “If you were a kid again, you’d need your mother road.” The creative team at the CVB continues to brainstorm new headlines and is considering a future social media campaign where users could create and submit headline ideas.
The new campaign debuted with advertisement placements in Flagstaff’s target markets of Arizona, Southern California and Las Vegas, and uses a variety of media including traditional print, online, outdoor and television commercials. On Wednesday, June 5, the campaign literally rolled out around Phoenix in the form of light rail train and city bus wraps.
A goal of the new marketing campaign is to drive more potential visitors to the www.flagstaffarizona.org website where they will find useful information to assist with planning a visit. Since the website is the primary call to action in the campaign’s advertisements, the site received a fresh look and increased functionality so it can serve as the premier resource on visiting Flagstaff. The redesigned website is more interactive and features increased content including a destination blog, frequently changing homepage highlights and four unique pages that explain the Flagstaff visitor experience in each of the four seasons. The creative campaign slogans are also found on the headers of each section of the website, to reinforce the brand message.
The new marketing campaign imagery has been applied to the CVB-managed Visit Flagstaff social media accounts and the new website directs visitors to engage with Flagstaff on Facebook at facebook.com/flagstaffarizona, Twitter as @VisitFlagstaff, Instagram as Visit Flagstaff and Pinterest at pinterest.com/VisitFlagstaff .
As the City of Flagstaff’s destination marketing division, the CVB is tasked with promoting Flagstaff as a year round destination and creating an annual marketing plan to guide these efforts. This new marketing campaign replaces a campaign that was launched in 2008 and has performed extremely well over the last few years. FBN
By Joanne Hudson
CVB Public Relations Specialist