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Home My WebLink About12-08-2016 Minutes Addendum Marketing Plan 2017 and Beyond Purpose An organization benefits from a marketing plan in order to evaluate the variables that impact the operation, allow for the plan’s implementation, measure results and make adjustments to achieve specific marketing goals. Market Research, Discovery and Sources of Information This Plan is constructed using all available data and research from The City of Auburn combined with external discovery by Apex Media. The primary sources are:  LTAC and ATB member survey responses  Hotel Realty NW and TIP Strategies reporting  Web statistics  Meetings with key stakeholders  Your current marketing campaign Our Joint Venture The preparation of The Plan is a joint venture between The LTAC and Apex Media. The City of Auburn must take the steps necessary to implement The Plan on a timely and scheduled basis in accordance with Apex’s recommendations. Situation Analysis Auburn’s position as one of Washington’s oldest cities is both a strength and a challenge as rich heritage also brings aging infrastructure, which may contribute to a perceived lack of civic pride. The City of Auburn is home to five high profile attractions, which are the primary drivers of tourism visits to The City. With competitively priced hotel rates, Auburn is poised to attract business and leisure travelers who are seeking affordable, centrally located accommodations. In order to effectively sell Auburn Tourism, it is absolutely essential that the committee and stakeholders are committed to cohesive marketing and outreach efforts. Auburn Tourism’s Current Position Statement Indoors and outdoors, there is something for everyone to do in Auburn. Visitors can enjoy exceptional shopping and places of interest; exciting entertainment and nightlife; outstanding performing arts and concert venues; downtown area retail and restaurants; exhilarating outdoor experiences; first class thoroughbred horse-racing and top-ranked golf courses. Brand Pillars Key attributes to be incorporated into your marketing messaging o Heritage Auburn’s rich heritage is the backdrop for modern-day experiences, shopping, dining and accommodations. This pillar is best conveyed via long and short form videos in the tradition of those we have shown you in previous meetings. o Location, Location, Location Auburn is perfectly situated in the foothills of Crystal Mountain and Mt. Rainer, 15 minutes from Sea-Tac; a 20-minute train ride to downtown Seattle and a 15-minute drive to Tacoma. o Indoor and Outdoor Attractions Indoors: Outlet Collection, Muckleshoot Casino, Emerald Downs, performing arts centers, downtown retail, restaurants and 530 rooms in 7 hotels Outdoors: An extensive parks and trails system, golf courses, White River Amphitheater, Pacific Raceways, Emerald Downs and relative proximity to Mt. Rainer and Crystal Mountain SWOT Analysis Each of these SWOT items should be addressed and potentially incorporated into brand elements such as copy points for TV, radio and display platforms in order to highlight your strengths and minimize or mitigate weaknesses. Strengths  5 unique and exciting major attractions  10 major employers within city limits  Proximity to Crystal Mountain, Mt. Rainier, Downtown Seattle and Tacoma  Sounder rail service  Extensive parks, trails and inviting outdoor spaces  Marquee annual events such as Veterans’ Day Parade and NHRA Drag Races Weaknesses  Lack of “emotional investment” in the city by residents  Scarcity of banquet and meeting spaces  Difficult traffic conditions relating to attraction activities  Proximity of rail and the associated noise Threats  Regional competition from Seattle, Tacoma, Puyallup and Kent for the same “pool” of visitors  Increasingly longer area drive times Opportunities  Increasingly longer area drive times  Growing south-end populations  Position as “base camp” for one of the region’s biggest attractions: Mt. Rainier  Increasing enthusiasm for marketing among LTAC members Economic and Environmental Factors  10 major employers within city limits  Puget Sound region’s economic stability  Reduced area unemployment rates  Downtown security and criminal activity  Homeless population  Difficult regional traffic conditions  Proximity to Asia  Proximity to Sea-Tac  Increasing Sea-Tac traffic  Growing south end populations Objectives of your 2017 marketing plan o Increase hotel occupancies and generate greater revenues for tourism marketing o Encourage sustained, year-round visitors by promoting shoulder and peak season periods o Increase lengths of stay by converting business and school sports visitors into tourists Market Segments Through the information gathered during discovery, we have established several market segments to whom we recommend your marketing efforts be targeted:  Seattle-area (King and Pierce Counties) women ages 25-54  City of Auburn Residents  Portland-area women 25-54  Spokane-area women 25-54  Drive only business travelers  Fly and drive business travelers  School Sports Travel Planners We believe the primary market segments around whom to develop your 2017 strategy are Seattle-area women between the ages of 25 and 54 and City of Auburn residents who are your best potential advocates. The strategy we deploy now may be used as a template should we choose to expand to other markets and/or market segments. Strategy Increase occupancies during peak and shoulder seasons with an aggressive advertising campaign to target and reach your primary market segments as identified through marketing survey responses, Hotel Realty and TIP Strategies reporting, web statistics, stakeholder meetings and your current marketing campaign Tactic 1 Brand Refresh New web site New tourism Logo Long and short form videos Tactic 2 Digital Marketing Key digital findings: o 70% of your site visits happen on mobile (rather than via desktop or tablet platform) o The top 4 pages viewed are: Tourism home, Holidays in Auburn, Events and Santa Parade and Tree Lighting* o The top “affinities” of your visitors are: movies, cooking, shopping, television, news “junkies” and entertainment & celebrity news o The vast majority of your site visits are originating in Seattle and cities to the south: Seattle (40%,) Auburn (10%,) Artondale (6%,) Tacoma (6%) and Federal Way (5%.) Your digital strategy will be focused on increasing and converting site visitors to heads-in-beds by increasing your digital effectiveness with paid and organic web search, retargeting, digital display and on-line video. o Adword/Keyword advertising will optimize your rankings with travel, lodging and attraction-related searches. We want to make sure tourism is being seen in all relevant searches, so we will continue to refine and optimize your search keyword list. o Retargeting is single most effective form of digital advertising and maintains your top of mind position after visitors leave your site as travel-related decisions are being researched and made. o Data-driven display advertising in the form of in-banner video and video pre-roll will maximize display ads on sites that appeal to your site visitor’s affinities as described above. Tactic 3 Television Advertising We will evaluate the entire television market and recommend specific networks, programs and geographies that deliver your target customer at an efficient cost. The goals of television advertising are:  Connect the Auburn tourism brand with the most popular programs among your targets  Maximize reach  Deliver your message with significant frequency We’re proposing a cross section of times and we also consider content, in the event that certain programs afford ideal platforms for your campaign objectives. We’ll use the data afforded by Google Analytics to gain further insight into your target customer beyond search habits. The “affinities” of your target customer as mentioned above and as follows: movies, cooking, shopping, television, news junkies, entertainment & celebrity news. This information allows you to efficiently and effectively reach them when selecting display and television networks. Cable television advertising will be “geo-targeted” to the Seattle Metro and south to Tacoma on networks that reach your ideal customer. The networks recommended will connect you with the “affinities” of your marketing target as identified via Google Analytics Network Program Days of Week Time Travel Channel Various Monday-Sunday 5a-M Bravo “ “ “ CNN “ “ “ E “ “ “ Food Network “ “ “ Fox News “ “ “ MSNBC “ “ “ Local Broadcast TV Station programming that connects your message with your primary market segment Channel Program Day(s) of week Time KOMO Seattle Refined Friday 1130-N (ABC) AM News M-F 5-6a Weekend News Sa-Su 8-9a KING New Day Northwest M-F 11a-N (NBC) Evening News M-F 5-6p KIRO Entertainment Tonight M-F 7-730p (CBS) 11p News M-F 11-1130p KCPQ AM News M-F 5a-9a (FOX) 11p News M-F 1130p-1a Tactic 4 Radio Advertising Radio advertising affords you the ability to target a specific market. You are experiencing this benefit first-hand with your current campaign on Warm. o Top “terrestrial” stations that connect your brand with your ideal target at all times of the day to capture those listening at home, in their cars and/or at work.  KRWM Warm 106.9  KPLZ, Star 101.5  KHTT Hot 103.7  KQMV Movin’ 92.5  KBKS Kiss 106.1 o Pandora targeted to your target markets in Seattle Metro, South King and Pierce Counties Tactic 5 Social Media The primary benefit afforded by social media is to reach your targets within their social networks. We will create and manage native posts, creating compelling content that invites sharing and will make and maintain connections between The Auburn Tourism brand and your target. Our goal with social is to deliver professional, meaningful posts that generate maximum shares and likes. The other prong of our social goal is to offer responsive, respectful replies to fans’ comments and/or compliments. The implementation of a robust social media strategy will be very beneficial for the tourism brand as you continue to establish 1-to-1 contact between tourism, potential visitors and City residents. Budget Strategy and Sample Timeline The critical basis for any marketing strategy is the development of a budget. Once the budget has been established, Apex Media will make priority recommendations as to how that budget is best invested. In our estimation, your budgetary priorities in order to Increase hotel occupancies and generate greater revenues for tourism marketing are: 1. Brand/logo refresh 2. Website rebuild 3. Creation of a tourism video 4. Search marketing 5. Display marketing 6. Broadcast advertising 7. Social media ********** Next Steps December 9-January 8 Brand refresh and site rebuild continues Production, messaging and creative decisions are developed Q1 Ski and Stay campaign is developed January 9 2017 Media RFP’s are issued January 16 Ski and Stay Campaign begins February LTAC Meeting Annual Plan Presentation