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Tourism expert to help Rapid City find its brand
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FarkRAPID CITY – Rapid City is a great place to live, work and play. It has historic architecture, Western heritage and outdoor sports. It has unique shops and a variety of restaurants.
Guess what? Just about every town west of the Missouri River can make the same claims. In fact, many towns are making those claims. To stand out, Rapid City needs to be different.
“You must jettison the generic these days,” tourism expert Roger Brooks said. “Don’t be all things to all people. Find your niche and promote it like crazy.”
That was the point Brooks made during his presentation Monday morning at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. About 300 people attended the workshop.
Brooks’ company, Destination Development, has been hired by the Rapid City Convention & Visitors Bureau and area businesses to help the city develop a brand identity that sets it apart from the other 1,500 American cities trying to become tourism destinations.
During Monday’s presentation, Brooks didn’t talk much about Rapid City’s prospects for a brand identity. That will come later, he said. He spent most of the four-hour meeting talking about other cities that have found success – or failed to find success – in branding themselves for tourism.
The most vivid example is Las Vegas. More than a decade ago, the longtime adult playground saw increasing competition as gambling became legal in 48 states. Las Vegas casino owners tried to cater to family entertainment, to become all things to all people. But places such as Orlando were already doing a good job as family destinations, and Las Vegas suffered.
A few years ago, Las Vegas went back to its Sin City roots, and launched its “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” marketing campaign – one of the most successful in advertising history. Today, 37 million people a year visit Las Vegas, and room revenues on the Strip are at an all-time high.
A successfully branded tourist destination should have an icon, a lure and more than one diversion. For example:
n Oatman, Ariz. – A small town that offered Old West sightseeing, staged gunfights and oddball gift shops. But it also had wild burros that wandered the streets, mooched food from tourists and entertained the crowds. Brooks helped Oatman make the burros the town’s icon. The experience of feeding them became its lure. And the shops and restaurants became very successful diversions for tourists.
n Carson City, Nev. – The capitol city was close to Lake Tahoe. It had its share of history, museums and outdoor recreation. But it also had nine very good golf courses. Brooks helped the city promote the golf courses as the “Devine Nine.” The courses became the icon, golf became the lure, and the restaurants and shops became the diversions.
n Ashland, Ore. – The former timber town focused on its summer Shakespeare festival, turning it into a nine-month event that fills four theaters.
n Round Rock, Texas – The town just outside Austin set out to become the Sports Capital of Texas. It promoted its 12 tennis courts, 15 baseball fields, its inline skating parks, its disc golf courses and the Triple A Dell Diamond baseball stadium as the center for team sports in Texas.
n Jackson, Wyo. – With Brooks’ help, the town narrowed its focus to become a place to find Western art, and went so far as to rearrange its downtown to group the galleries together. Today there are 85 Western art galleries in Jackson.
Brooks outlined some of the challenges for Rapid City. Mount Rushmore National Memorial is both an icon and a lure, but it’s not in Rapid City. And the City of Presidents project in downtown Rapid City would more likely be a diversion rather than a lure.
Brooks would like to hear suggestions from Rapid City residents who have ideas about how what type of brand identity the city could develop. He can be reached at TheTeam@destinationdevelopment.com.
Michelle Lintz, head of the Rapid City Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Brooks and his team at Destination Development will look at the feasibility of each idea over the next several weeks. During the week of Dec. 3, the team will look at an initial brand idea with a local committee to refine the brand and look at related visual materials and marketing ideas.
On Jan. 8, Brooks will return to Rapid City for a public meeting to develop an action plan for Rapid City’s brand identity. By early February, a development plan should be established, Lintz said.
“We are so fortunate to have so many diversions,” Lintz said. The challenge will be to narrow the focus and find a single niche to promote.
Contact Dan Daly at 394-8421 or at dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com
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