Alberta Business Marketing

The Quest

In Newfoundland and Labrador, two of the things that travelers like to experience are icebergs and whales. Getting a photo of both together . . . well that could be a lifelong photographer’s quest and a Destination Marketing Organization’s dream.

This past weekend, my daughter Natalie got this photo of a Humpback Whale and Iceberg at Battle Harbour, NL.

Value of User Generated Content

With thousands of visitors pointing cameras at your destination, there is a much greater chance of getting the photography and video that sells the benefits of your region by looking at content created by your visitors.

This past weekend (on her spare time), Natalie and her boyfriend, Shaun McLeod headed off to Battle Harbour to see if there were any whales to be photographed. To our shared delight and amazement, Natalie and Shaun captured some of the best footage of whales I’ve ever seen including the video below!

NatalieLucier.com/WhaleVideo

As Natalie excitedly shared recently on Twitter and Facebook, the Youtube Video was featured on the National CBC News in Canada:

Next, Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism emailed to request that she blog about her experience and requested permission to feature the video on NewfoundlandandLabrador.com. Not surprisingly, the DMO is interested in getting full Rights to the whale video so they can cut and edit it and use it for advertising.

What’s it Worth?

Destination marketing organizations coming across video or photography that could be used to promote and market their region need to give serious consideration to the value of such content.

A few things that should come into the equation:

• How compelling is the experience in the video – does it convey the idea that I could be there too?
• How rare is the video or photo – are there others like it?
• Does it capture emotion?
• If you sent a photographer or videographer out to get the footage, could they reproduce it easily?
• How much would it cost to send a professional out to get the footage?
• Do you have exclusive rights to the raw footage so that you can use it in a variety of formats and integrate it with existing media?
• Does editing and branding the video with your brand benefit your organization more than just using the free embedded youtube version of the video
• How much does your organization currently pay for professionally produced media?
• How much did the content producer invest in equipment, time, travel, planning to get the content?
• What is the content worth to your DMO members? Will it result in new visits to your region?

So – What do you think the video is worth?

Links:

Folks who have attended Tourism Keys workshops or community Internet Marketing training might remember my daughter Natalie who has been working at Gros Morne National Park for the past year working on Web Marketing and new media projects.

Natalie shares her personal video and photography on NatalieLucier.com, a travel blog site and her Facebook Page.

btw, Natalie took the job in NFLD in part because of the opportunity to be close to whales! I’d say, she got pretty close.

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Tags: dmo, multimedia, photography, Video
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How many times have you heard "just google it"?  Google according to industry experts enjoys a comfortable 65% of the search market across the world, however a new search craze may just be on the horizon. Microsoft and Yahoo have inked a deal after 10 years of discussions, false starts, last ...

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Truly - it doesn't. Here's why....

I recently moderated the Direct Marketing Creative Roundtable on behalf of the CMA (and its Direct Marketing Council) at the Drake Hotel. We had a small but engaged audience - and 3 incredibly talented and diverse presenters: Mike Halminen, VP, Creative Director at MacLaren MRM, Clare Meridew, VP, Creative Director at Grey Worldwide and Tracy Coen, Senior Art Director at Rivet.

Mike spoke about how to use interactive design to increase engagement and ultimately, response. Think about the idea that will interest a consumer and incent response vs standard 'boiler plate', 'kill it and bill it' creative mentalities. Push the medium but stay true to accountability.

Clare spoke about how the online channel is a perfect medium for direct marketing in terms of insight gathering, quick results, ease of measurement and access to fast and efficient innovation.

Finally Tracy spoke of how to cut through the clutter by using emotion and impact in design. And staying true to our Council's philosophy of integration, demonstrated this using the most traditional of channels, direct mail.

All 3 creative hot shots showed great work that most importantly drove business results. And our audience asked many questions, probed through to understand original strategies and genuinely connected to the presenters and their material.

Small audience + big ideas = 1 great roundtable. Size doesn't matter.

Can't wait for next year.

Tags: Direct Marketing
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