Selling Albuquerque: What's the Duke City's "unique selling proposition? The city's visitors bureau and its new ad agency think they have it. Encouraging tourism is the objective

New Mexico Business Journal, Dec, 2001 by Bob Cochnar

MARKETING A CONSUMER ITEM like Cheerios or even Microsoft Windows XP is a relatively simple task when compared with selling a city to potential tourists. Cheerios is a packaged product and there are some fundamental rules to follow; software is a slightly different challenge, of course, but at least the potential customer base is evident. But a city?

It also helps when you've got hundreds of millions of dollars to spend to position your product in the marketplace. Both General Mills and Microsoft, to continue with the examples cited above, have bundles of cash to spread around, and they do they ever. When Windows XP was released a few weeks ago, only hermits and dedicated Luddites may not have heard about it.

But if you're a city, like Albuquerque, and have $300,000 or thereabouts--not very much--in which to mount a print campaign that is intended to increase tourism in a significant way, you have a few impediments to overcome, especially when other cities of similar size-- the competition--are perceived to be awash with funds.

Nevertheless, McKee Wallwork Henderson, a fairly new Albuquerque advertising agency with only a nodding acquaintance with the tourism game, last year pitched the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau for the account--and got a three-year contract. Now what?

What McKee Wallwork knew was that the ACVB, not surprisingly, wanted a campaign that, according to Mary Kay Cline, the bureau's president, "would not only capture the attention of a lot of people but would also capture the flavor of Albuquerque." Which is, she admits, a tall order. Unfazed, the agency first gathered reams of information from ACVB staff and members and then hired Decision Analyst, a Dallas research firm, to conduct an online survey of potential visitors. Steve McKee, the agency president, emphasized several points:

* We cannot be all things to all people.

* It doesn't matter what we (agency people) think.

* It doesn't matter what you (ACVB staff and members) think.

* It only matters what they (potential visitors) think.

Sounds fairly basic, but as Cline says, "each of us comes with our own opinions about things and, as the agency people discovered, we aren't bashful about sharing them."

The agency understood from the beginning that whatever campaign emerged would have to be directed to the general tourist audience, as defined by the research, as well as to the much smaller but equally important meeting-planner community.

Primary research included questions about how Albuquerque is perceived. This turned up some words worth noting: sunny, beautiful, fun, a place to go, laid back, clean, hot, safe, arts and culture. And which cities is Albuquerque most like, respondents were asked. The resulting list offered some directions: Santa Fe, Tucson, Phoenix, El Paso, Flagstaff, San Antonio, Austin, Colorado Springs, Amarillo, Scottsdale were several. Being compared with Santa Fe, Flagstaff and Austin was one thing, but Tucson, Phoenix and Amarillo? Yes, the weather is warm during the long summer but one can't really fry eggs on the pavement, which is not necessarily the case in those Arizona burgs.

Just to be sure about perceptions, the researchers asked respondents to agree or disagree with a set of statements about the city More than half agreed that "Santa Fe is extremely appealing to me," "The climate is the same as Phoenix and Tucson," "Albuquerque offers the same thing as Santa Fe." And a minority agreed that "Spanish is the primary language" (30 percent) and that "the water may not be safe to drink" (20 percent), which suggests a certain confusion between New Mexico and that sovereign nation immediate to the south.

Cluster analysis led the agency to divide the huge tourist universe into four categories, each of which were given fairly fishy names:

* On the hook--fans of Albuquerque who are mostly likely to visit.

* Sniffing the bait--people who have a positive view in general, but also have some misperceptions that make them hesitate.

* Carp--people who simply do not understand or appreciate Albuquerque's appeal.

* Out of range--people who are not easily categorized as either liking or disliking Albuquerque.

Fortunately, nearly 59 percent safely fall into the "on the hook" or "sniffing the bait" categories; they became the campaign's target market. Its characteristics include:

* Over age 35

* Household income over $50,000

* Slightly skewed toward women

* Travel for leisure three times a year

* Well-traveled

* Sophisticated, but not spoiled

* Will stay two to four days or more

* Plan ahead more than most travelers

* If they have been to Albuquerque before, they are more likely to return

* They are more likely to be "early to bed, early to rise"

* They're more offbeat than mainstream

* They're more spontaneous than scheduled

* They view Albuquerque as most like Santa Fe, Tucson and San Antonio

Another fascinating bit of research revealed that the potential Albuquerque visitor prefers Sedona over Nantucket or Williamsburg, Napa County over Palm Springs or Hollywood, New Orleans over Washington, D. C., or Scottsdale, San Francisco over Orlando or Tucson, Aspen over Las Vegas or Chicago, Tahoe over Branson or Austin, and Santa Fe over San Diego or New York.