House Bill 1221 affects how tourist development tax (TDT) revenues can be used, reallocating proceeds to property tax credits and eliminating the current funding levels for tourism-related activities – including tourist development councils.

It is followed by House Bill 7033, which expands the permissible uses of TDT revenues and removes the mandate that a specific portion of those be spent on tourism promotion.

What’s the impact?

The impact this will have on how Florida’s TDCs and DMOs operate – as well as on states that could follow suit – is significant. Passing of the bills will lead to a substantial reduction in funding for TDCs and allow for counties to redirect TDT revenues to other local needs. It will likely hinder marketing and promotional efforts that the organizations currently undertake to attract visitors, which in turn impacts the tourism industry’s contribution to the state economy.

The provisions could reportedly go into effect this year, which does not give the TDCs a long runway before the reallocation of revenue begins.

What’s a tourism organization to do?

It is more critical than ever for DMOs and TDCs to clearly demonstrate the economic impact of their activities on the communities they serve. In other words, what is the RODMO (“return on DMO”)?

Can the organization draw a clear line between promoting the destination and putting heads in beds, increasing visitation and visitor spend, job creation and tax revenue? This clear line could mean the difference in funding critical efforts to drive tourism or losing visitors to neighboring, more well-funded destinations.

Regardless of the outcome of the legislation, the stage has been set for a shift in how tourist development councils and DMOs need to be targeting visitors. With (potentially) less money to spend and greater scrutiny of how resources are allocated, it’s time to move from a reactive marketing strategy to a predictive one.

Just as the name implies, a predictive strategy leverages both visitor data and external factors to determine, i.e., predict, things like visitation, taxable revenue and occupancy rates. It’s a complex approach, but it’s achievable. And with marketing and promotional dollars at a premium, there is a critical need right now for smart possibilities.

With the structure of funding for tourism organizations in flux, at least in Florida, it’s time to figure out how to outthink, not outspend, the competition.

We are currently working with our hospitality partners to turn this market disruption into a competitive advantage. If you need help navigating what’s next, let’s discuss the possibilities.

The post ARE WE ENTERING A NEW ERA FOR DMOs? appeared first on Luckie.

The U.S. Civil Rights Trail won a gold International Travel & Tourism Award for “Best Regional Destination Campaign,” a first for a U.S. state tourism agency in the award’s multi-year history. Other nominees included campaigns from India, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

Luckie began strategic work on the campaign—which is a collaboration between 12 tourism agencies collectively known as Travel South USA—a year before it launched on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2018. The agency designed, built and developed content for the U.S. Civil Rights Trail website, which features over 100 landmarks in 15 states, 360-degree videos of destinations, 15 interviews with foot soldiers who were there during the Civil Rights Movement, more than 250 original and historic photographs, and 185 pages of content. 

Under the thematic umbrella of “What Happened Here Changed the World,” Luckie created an integrated marketing campaign to build awareness, generate interest and drive traffic to the site, utilizing consumer print, digital banners, video and television ads, broadcast sponsorships, paid social and trade publications, SEO, influencer marketing and public relations to the marketing mix. In less than six months, the program received 4.3 million impressions from media coverage, generated 119,000 social interactions, more than 17 million social impressions, nearly 1,000 video views on Instagram, and 119,000 website visits. To date the campaign helped generate over 1 million page views

“Three years ago when the National Park Service challenged historians to inventory surviving civil rights landmarks, Georgia State University found 100 in 15 states, which became the foundation of the trail,” said Lee Sentell, director of Alabama Tourism. “We’ve worked with Luckie from the very beginning to bring this amazing project to life. They helped us build a collection of transformational travel experiences that unite the most important destinations and sites in the Civil Rights Movement.”

“This program gives travelers and educators the resources to plan a one-of-a-kind excursion to the American South,” added Liz Bittner, president & CEO of Travel South USA. “The attention it received speaks to its significance as a platform to educate and inspire a new generation of global citizens.”

The international recognition from WTM London is the latest in a series of prestigious awards for the U.S. Civil Rights Trail campaign. It was chosen for a Mercury Award by the U.S. Travel Association in August and Luckie received a national Silver ADDY Award for the USCRT collateral last year.

“This campaign was a full-scale effort for Luckie and it’s been so successful because of our longtime partnership with Alabama Tourism and Travel South—this was a true collaboration from the ideation stage through execution,” said John Gardner, president of Luckie. 

“This was more than a client assignment for us, it was very personal,” said Ed Mizzell, executive vice president and managing director at Luckie. “Many events along what is now the Civil Rights Trail took place in our employees’ and partners’ communities; we are honored to play a part in helping families, educators and travelers from around the world experience history firsthand.”

Client team members include Alabama Tourism Director Lee Sentell and Travel South USA President & CEO Liz Bittner. Luckie team members on the account include, in alphabetical order, Mitch Bennett, David Brothers, Julia Cleveland, John Gardner, Mandee Harvey, Lizzie Holt, John Hunter, Karen Kizzire, Mary Lanaux, Ed Mizzell, Mary Catherine Molay, Lea Anne Newton, Tunde Noibi, Shari Wimberly, Mary Winslow and Miles Wright.

________

 About the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

The U.S. Civil Rights Trail is a collection of churches, courthouses, schools, museums and other landmarks primarily in the Southern states where activists challenged segregation in the 1950s and 1960s to advance social justice. Famous sites such as the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.; Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas; the Greensboro, N.C., Woolworth’s where sit-ins began; the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn.; and Dr. King’s birthplace in Atlanta, among others. The people, locations and destinations included in the Civil Rights Trail provide a way for families, travelers and educators to experience history firsthand and tell the story of how “what happened here changed the world.” For details about dozens of significant sites and to see interviews with civil rights foot soldiers visit CivilRightsTrail.com. 

About Luckie

With offices in Birmingham and Atlanta, Luckie is a full-service marketing solutions firm that fuses data, insights and artful communication into smart marketing solutions. The company’s client roster includes top brands in healthcare, tourism, and consumer packaged goods including GlaxoSmithKline, Regions Bank, Little Debbie, Express Oil Change, and Williamsburg, Va. Privately owned and fiercely independent for more than 65 years, Luckie is one of the top advertising agencies in the South.

The post Luckie’s Work for U.S. Civil Rights Trail Wins a Gold appeared first on Luckie.

Regardless of how you label your individual segments—corporate, leisure, meeting, bleisure, etc.—looking at guests based on usage habits, demographics and transactional data is a baseline of your sales and marketing strategy. No doubt you also track preferences, past behaviors, social media engagement, et al. to inform who you target with what message.

It’s a good approach, but it won’t deliver long-term results that impact sales.

Capturing the attention of today’s tech-savvy travelers requires a more dynamic, personalized approach. Right message plus right time plus right channel needs to be informed by the right data points. Just as mobile and voice technology have reshaped your guest’s decision-making journey, the data coming in from those sources needs to reframe the way you think about and communicate with traditional market segments. Digging deeper to uncover need states, interests and preferences—and layering that on top of demographics, behavior and engagement data—will give you the information you need to intercept guests at precise micro moments that influence their purchase decisions.

Google reports that 72% of travelers who research with their smartphones are looking for the most relevant information, regardless of the source. In other words, they’re more loyal to their need than to a particular hotel brand. This means you need to continuously earn your guests’ consideration in those key micro moments.

Reframing your targeting to meet guests on their terms will not only drive consideration, it will increase conversion by demonstrating how relevant you are to their needs. Here are four ways to enhance your data-driven approach.

Customize
Identify the micro moments from your data that uniquely fit your business, then leverage platforms such as Hulu and Philo to predictively deliver a relevant and impactful experience for your guests. Use of contextual marketing for audiences interacting with streaming TV content is a powerful way to deliver alternative creative, enticing users to click and view additional video content on your site.

Localize
Help win hearts and minds of guests by inspiring them to get more out of their travel experiences. Use technology and geo-specific content when guests are in-market: Send passes to the putt-putt course if it’s a cloudy day on the beach; push reminders to book tee times as guests land in the area; or invite them to a local event you know they will enjoy.

Personalize
Guests today demand solutions that drive their ability to build and control their on-site experiences across all your channels and platforms. In the past few years, this has been widely used to deliver guest preferences ahead of their stay such as pillow offerings or room selection via a mobile app. Millennial travelers view personalized experiences as a baseline expectation when choosing their favorite travel brands. Time to up the game and allow guests to control the temperature in their rooms via an app, or stream content on the in-room TVs.

Optimize
Leverage your data to enhance and expand your engagement with consumers across channels. Use digital pre-roll, display and paid social to leverage your campaign videos and drive engagement by inviting people to discover their perfect vacation or to choose which vacation type they’d like to see. The data captured will help drive optimization and retargeting as the campaign progresses.

There is nothing more constant in our industry today than change. The seismic shift in how guests plan travel requires a disruptive focus on their decision-making journey and experience. When you start looking at guests as they see themselves—as dynamic, multidimensional travelers, rather than segmented audiences—you will begin to capture the important micro moments that influence purchase decisions.

The post How to Target Today’s Tech-Savvy Travelers appeared first on Luckie.

The American Advertising Awards (ADDYs) are the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, attracting more than 40,000 entries through local AAF Club (Ad Club) competitions. The mission of the competition is to recognize and reward the creative spirit of excellence in the art of advertising.

In the category Out-of-Home & Ambient Media – Poster – Single Unit, Luckie & Co. and Alabama Tourism Department won Silver for their work related to the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, specifically for a print poster used to promote the trail at live events. A national Gold ADDY is recognition of the highest level of creative excellence, judged to be superior to all other entries in the same category. Entries that are also considered outstanding and worthy of national recognition receive the Silver ADDY.

Launched on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2018, CivilRightsTrail.com connects 14 states and over 100 landmarks of the Civil Rights Movement. The site functions as part travel planner, part history lesson and part catalyst for travelers who have a high interest in historical sites and families who want to add a meaningful educational component to their travels.

Conducted annually by the AAF, the national ADDY competition is the capstone for three phases of competition, starting with local Ad Club entries at which Luckie & Co. was victorious in the Georgia competition. Luckie also took home top honors in the regional District 7 ADDY competition in April, advancing from there for consideration to the national competition.

“This U.S. Civil Rights Trail initiative has been one of the most impactful our firm had ever worked on,” said Luckie & Co. President John Gardner. “Many of the major events along what is now the Civil Rights Trail took place in our home communities, and we are proud to help tell the amazing story that impacted a nation.

“While the work reflected Luckie’s creative talent, more importantly I believe it showed our humanity – rarely do you show work to your internal team and get a response that includes tears mixed with high fives,” added Gardner.

“This win marks the second national ADDY that Luckie has produced for the Alabama Tourism Department in three years,” said Lee Sentell, state director, Alabama Tourism Department. “Miles Wright’s brilliant art direction embracing Art Meripol’s creative photography truly captured the essence of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, and Luckie’s collaboration with us brings the drama of the civil rights era to life for countless travelers.”

Wright is senior art director at Luckie, and Meripol is an award-winning photographer based in Alabama.

About Luckie & Co.

Privately owned and fiercely independent for 65 years, Luckie & Co. is a marketing firm that uses data and consumer insights to solve its clients’ toughest challenges. With offices in Atlanta and Birmingham, the firm operates on a core belief that innovation and meaningful change come from a solid marriage of data science and creativity. Luckie’s client roster includes top brands in healthcare, tourism and CPG, including GlaxoSmithKline, Regions Bank, Piedmont Hospital, Visit Panama City Beach, Little Debbie, Express Oil Change, Alabama Power and Williamsburg, Va. Learn more at Luckie.com. 

About the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

The U.S. Civil Rights Trail is a collection of churches, courthouses, schools, museums and other landmarks primarily in the Southern states where activists challenged segregation in the 1950s and 1960s to advance social justice. It includes famous sites such as the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.; Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas; the Greensboro, N.C., Woolworth’s where sit-ins began; the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn.; and Dr. King’s birthplace in Atlanta, among others. The people, locations and destinations included in the Civil Rights Trail provide a way for families, travelers and educators to experience history firsthand and tell the story of how “what happened here changed the world.” For details about dozens of significant sites and to see interviews with civil rights foot soldiers, visit CivilRightsTrail.com.

The post Luckie & Co. and Alabama Tourism Department Share National Award appeared first on Luckie.

The American Advertising Awards (ADDY’s) are the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, attracting more than 40,000 entries through local AAF Club (Ad Club) competitions. The mission of the competition is to recognize and reward the creative spirit of excellence in the art of advertising.

In the category Out-of-Home & Ambient Media – Poster – Single Unit, Luckie & Co. and Alabama Tourism Department won Silver for their work related to the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, specifically for a print poster used to promote The Trail at live events. A national Gold ADDY is recognition of the highest level of creative excellence, judged to be superior to all other entries in the same category. Entries that are also considered outstanding and worthy of national recognition receive the Silver ADDY.

Launched on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2018, CivilRightsTrail.com connects 14 states and over 100 landmarks of the Civil Rights Movement. The site functions as part travel planner, part history lesson and part catalyst for travelers who have a high interest in historical sites and families who want to add a meaningful educational component to their travels.

Conducted annually by the AAF, the national ADDY competition is the capstone for three phases of competition, starting with local Ad Club entries at which Luckie & Co. was victorious in the Georgia competition. Luckie also took home top honors in the regional District 7 ADDY competition in April, advancing from there for consideration to the national competition.

“This U.S. Civil Rights Trail initiative has been one of the most impactful our firm had ever worked on,” said Luckie & Co. President John Gardner.  “Many of the major events along what is now The Civil Rights Tail took place in our home communities, and we are proud to help tell the amazing story that impacted a nation.

“While the work reflected Luckie’s creative talent, more importantly I believe it showed our humanity – rarely do you show work to your internal team and get a response that includes tears mixed with high fives,” added Gardner.

“This win marks the second national ADDY that Luckie has produced for the Alabama Tourism Department in three years,” said Lee Sentell, state director, Alabama Tourism Department. “Miles Wright’s brilliant art direction embracing Art Meripol’s creative photography truly captured the essence of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, and Luckie’s collaboration with us brings the drama of the Civil Rights Era to life for countless travelers.”

Wright is senior art director at Luckie, and Meripol is an award-winning photographer based in Alabama.

About Luckie & Co.

Privately owned and fiercely independent for 65 years, Luckie & Co. is a marketing firm that uses data and consumer insights to solve its clients’ toughest challenges. With offices in Atlanta and Birmingham, the firm operates on a core belief that innovation and meaningful change come from a solid marriage of data science and creativity. Luckie’s client roster includes top brands in healthcare, tourism, and CPG, including: GlaxoSmithKline, Regions Bank, Piedmont Hospital, Visit Panama City Beach, Little Debbie, Express Oil Change, Alabama Power, and Williamsburg, Va. Learn more at Luckie.com. 

About the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

The U.S. Civil Rights Trail is a collection of churches, courthouses, schools, museums and other landmarks primarily in the Southern states where activists challenged segregation in the 1950s and 1960s to advance social justice. Famous sites such as the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala.; Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas; the Greensboro, N.C., Woolworth’s where sit-ins began; the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn.; and Dr. King’s birthplace in Atlanta, among others. The people, locations and destinations included in the Civil Rights Trail provide a way for families, travelers and educators to experience history firsthand and tell the story of how “what happened here changed the world.” For details about dozens of significant sites and to see interviews with civil rights foot soldiers visit CivilRightsTrail.com.

The post Luckie & Alabama Tourism Department Share National Award for Advertising Excellence for U.S. Civil Rights Trail appeared first on Luckie.

When does the customer experience begin for today’s modern traveler? Here’s a hint: It’s long before the check-in time at their hotel and months before they attempt to cram two weeks’ worth of clothes into a carry-on bag. Today’s travelers are more connected than ever – to their phones, to each other, to their destinations. Brands now have an opportunity to form a deeper connection with consumers earlier in their purchase journey, enabling a more individualized travel experience. Here are six tips for mastering travel marketing in the modern world.

Optimize Traveler Data

Customers interact with dozens, if not hundreds, of sites, channels and platforms while planning and taking a trip. In fact, Hospitality Trends reported that Nielsen research for Google found that travelers spent an average of 53 days visiting 28 different websites over a period of 76 online sessions, with more than 50% of travelers checking social media for travel tips. What initially seemed like a clear-cut path to your consumer can become overgrown rather quickly. Especially when you layer in traveler types and occasion-based segmentation.

For this reason, brands should have a partner who is versed in data analysis and customer insights. Once you know when, where and how a customer is interacting with your brand, data can be optimized and made actionable by delivering engaging content that caters to your customers’ unique needs.

Harness the Power of Mobile

For today’s traveler, their next adventure is literally in the palm of their hand. According to Google Smarthink Insights, 40% of unique page visits to U.S. travel sites and 60% of destination information searches now come from mobile devices.

Whether travelers are using their phones to book a last-minute hotel, hailing an Uber car after touching down in a new city or browsing Yelp to find that great little hole-in-the-wall restaurant only the locals know about, it’s important that your brand is there for these moments with relevant content and on-demand functionality.

According to Google, 77% of people claim to use their smartphones for travel inspiration in their spare time – e.g., waiting, commuting, watching television, eating, etc. When customers are dreaming about travel, they haven’t committed to a date, destination or brand. The question then becomes how to use mobile to connect with a customer who doesn’t know what they want yet.

Utilize Multi-Media Channels

Travel businesses need multi-media channels like lazy Sundays need Netflix. According to Statista, by 2019, the online travel industry is forecasted to grow to 762 billion U.S. dollars. There is no question that today’s travelers desire the convenience and expediency of digital platforms and rarely utilize just one channel. According to Nielsen Research, the digital travel space worldwide will expand at an annual rate of 3.8% to reach $11.4 trillion. To reach potential visitors, brands must cast a wide net by not only utilizing traditional marketing but also keeping up with the latest market trends in SEO, UX and social media marketing.

Time for a Virtual Reality Check

Speaking of multi-media channels, travel marketing is an ideal space for utilizing modern mediums, such as virtual reality or 360 video. And when you are competing for a consumer’s attention in a very saturated market, it helps to stand out from the crowd. Even with today’s high-definition digital technology, 2D images rarely do travel destinations justice. Virtual reality gives potential travelers the opportunity to be immersed in the sights and sounds of travel destinations and better evaluate if the destination fits their needs. In fact, internal research at YouVisit has shown that 13% of people who experience a vacation in VR go on to either book a trip or get in contact with lodging or transportation companies.

Social Media Is a Must

In case you weren’t already aware, social media is a MUST for any successful marketing campaign. Instagram, for example, is one of the world’s largest and most active social platforms, with 700 million total active users. According to The State of Social Marketing 2017 Annual Report, 33.6% of marketers are now spending advertising dollars on Instagram, and that’s just Instagram. Facebook is quickly approaching 2 billion users, with 90.3% of marketers spending the majority of their social advertising dollars on Facebook.

But the days of sharing a Facebook post linking to an outdated landing page are over, especially for travel brands. Generation Y is the first generation to have spent their entire lives in a digital environment, they are the largest living generation in the U.S. and by 2017, they’ll carry the majority of the spending power. Your brand must meet their dynamically digital and immediate purchase patterns, or it will not be able to keep up with its competitors.

Incorporate Influencer Marketing

One study revealed that 84% of millennials and 73% of non-millennials are likely or very likely to plan a trip based on someone else’s vacation photos or social media updates. Most millennials aren’t loyal to any one travel brand or company and, regardless of age, consumers respond better to content coming from a relatable personality rather than a brand. For these reasons, influencer marketing has proved to be a successful strategy for many travel brands.

Take Notes From the Industry Disrupters

Spoiler alert: Simply talking about your brand on social media doesn’t intrigue the modern traveler. Airbnb is a great example of a brand that understands who its customers are and how to fuel their curiosity and passion for new places and cultures. Airbnb is one of the most active travel brands on YouTube, producing and sharing high-quality video content. The company empowers its guests and hosts to tell the Airbnb brand story, which is shared through millions of posts and pictures each day. On Instagram alone, it has more than 2.3 million followers. Behind the scenes, there is an elegant marketing machine at work, but from the customer perspective, Airbnb content is very relatable and authentic.

Curious as to how we approach travel marketing? Click here or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more.

The post Travel Marketing in a Modern World: 6 Tips for Success appeared first on Luckie.

Platforms are borrowing from one another, but they’re also consciously developing their own identities. These identities establish a difference between social channels by helping users know which features work best at various stages in the customer journey on a particular platform.

Pinterest vs. Instagram: A Visual Variation

It’s no secret that Pinterest has been distancing itself from other social networks, such as Instagram, over the past year. It has removed the “like” functionality and has actively positioned itself as a visual bookmarking site and under-the-radar search engine. Instagram, however, relies on traditional social networking features such as likes, hashtags, etc., to build its user base.

Both platforms are visual by nature, but one is more aspirational than inspirational, and that subtle difference is incredibly important for marketers to understand. On one hand, when looking at it from a travel perspective, Pinterest is more likely to be used when people are ready to search, plan and make decisions about where to travel. It is incredibly effective when it comes to driving traffic, and search capabilities can often rival behemoths like Google.

Instagram, on the other hand, is utilized when users want to elicit an emotional response from their friends or followers. The mental stimulation that comes from viewing inspirational images of an interesting location or a friend’s recent trip can be a primary driver in the travel space.

So when it’s time to plan for either platform, marketers should ask themselves what stage in the customer journey they should account for content-wise. Aspirational, or action-oriented, content that involves clicks, forms or landing pages – and that can be best utilized in planning stages – is better suited for Pinterest. Inspirational, or emotionally driven, content does well on Instagram. Once a user has had an experience with a location or organization, they are more likely to share with their friends on Instagram, rather than on Pinterest.

Curious as to how we approach content creation for the travel industry? Click here or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more.

The post How Travelers Use Pinterest vs. Instagram and Why It Matters to Marketers appeared first on Luckie.