TRAVEL WISCONSIN NEWS
January 6, 2005
In this issue:
Important Survey Opportunity!
The Department of Tourism is currently exploring several new technology-related marketing initiatives, many of which would be geared toward providing cost-effective online co-op opportunities for members of the Wisconsin travel and hospitality industry. To help us gauge the potential effectiveness of and interest in these programs, we're asking you to take 5-10 minutes of your time to complete a brief online survey. Your responses are of paramount importance to our planning efforts, and will shape our policies as we move forward.
Top Stories
Travel News Briefs
- Free Wisconsin Birding Guide Highlights Northwoods Hot Spots
- Urban Ski Conference Coming to Lake Geneva
- Events and Destination Calendar to Entice Multicultural Travelers
- Travelers Urged To "Fly Wisconsin"
- Outdoor Writers Coming to Wisconsin in 2005
- WACVB Presents 2004 Wisconsin Tourism Trailblazer Awards
- Upcoming Tourism Council Meetings
Travel Wisconsin News Features
- Media Leads
- Marketing Tips: Planning, Analysis Keys to Effective Media Buying
- Travel Tracker: What Do You Know About Generation Y?
- Technology Tips: It's E-mail Address Harvesting Season
- More Technology Tips: Keyword Purchasing Programs
Wisconsin Tourism: Take Center Stage
Inspire yourself. Give a boost to your business. Share and gain insight. The 2005 Governor's Conference on Tourism, scheduled for March 6-8, will provide you with three days of dynamic programming, invaluable networking and a wealth of motivation that will gear you up for the Spring season.
Join us in Madison as we kick off the 2005 tourism conference with an opening night extravaganza at the new Overture Center for the Arts. Following the opening reception, get involved with two days of education, including sessions on: Rules, Regulations & Challenges of Email Marketing; Finding Your Niche in Marketing; Online Customer Service; and How to Work Effectively with Your Local Media.
Simon T. Bailey, our keynote for Monday morning, will provide you with the tools to take an introspective journey and provide the impetus to Dream Big. Doug Lipp, our keynote presenter for Tuesday morning, will help you to identify the unique cultural, linguistic and physical needs that your customers and employees want in their products and services with the Changing Face of Today's Customer.
All this and more is being planned for the 2005 Governor's Conference on Tourism. Registration materials are currently available. We look forward to seeing you in Madison at the Monona Terrace Convention Center, March 6-8.
WIGCOT Lodging
If you haven't already made your lodging arrangements for the 2005 Governor's Conference on Tourism, room blocks are being held at the following hotels:
The Madison Concourse Hotel - (800) 356-8293 $99 flat rate - Concourse Rooms $129 flat rate - Governor Club Rooms (King Only)
Best Western - The Inn on the Park - (800) 279-8811 $79.00 flat rate
Hilton Madison Monona Terrace - is currently sold out. For a listing of other accommodations, please call the Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau at (800) 373-6376 or visit their website.
If you have any questions on the conference or any information provided in this e-mail, please contact Dawn Aspenson Zanoni at 608/266-3978.
For future conference information, log on to www.wigcot.org.
Tourism Budget Priorities Could Affect Wisconsin Film Office
One alternative plan to help ease an anticipated $1.6 billion state budget deficit would include closing the Wisconsin Film Office, according to state Tourism Secretary Jim Holperin.
"Governor Doyle asked each agency to review their budget line by line to identify possible savings," Holperin said. "His instructions emphasized the importance of maintaining vital state services and high priority programs essential to each agency's mission. We have followed the Governor's directive, determining that a high visibility promotional campaign is a top priority for the tourism industry and for our Department."
Holperin emphasized it was too early to say whether the Department's recommendations would end up in the Governor's budget, but said he felt those who depend on Film Office services needed to know about the budget review process now underway.
"It's all a matter of priorities in very trying fiscal times," Holperin concluded. "Everyone needs to do their part to eliminate the state's deficit without raising taxes -- and for the Department of Tourism that may mean closing the Wisconsin Film Office.
Holperin said if the film office is forced to close the earliest date for ending the service would be July 1, 2005.
Winter Ad Campaign Debuts
In time to capitalize on the first snowfall of the season, the Department's winter ad campaign hit the airwaves and media pages in Wisconsin, Chicago/Northern Illinois and Minneapolis/St. Paul. The campaign sells both the inside and outside story of winter, highlighting not only snow activities but other sports, performing arts, indoor waterparks, and most of all, relaxing with friends and family in Wisconsin's winter playground.
The media plan is timed to reach both early and last-minute planners, as well as allowing for maximum flexibility to react to weather conditions. Thirty-second television ads will target the Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Milwaukee markets, while 10-second television spots also will run in Chicago. Additional ads will run on Discover Wisconsin, Outdoor Wisconsin and Water & Woods TV shows.
In addition to daily newspapers in all markets and the Shepherd Express, winter enthusiast magazines Cross Country Skiier, Illinois Snowmobiler, Iowa Snowmobiler and Minnesota Snowmobiling will run display ads. Editorial, ads and links running on Startribune.com, Chicagotribune.com, Jsonline, Lake-link.com and TrailLink.com have been updated to reflect our winter message. View samples from the Department's winter ad campaign online.
Wisconsin in the Spotlight
Wisconsin made international, national and regional headlines this fall.
- House on the Rock and Laura Ingalls Wayside and Cabin garnered coverage in a weekly Japanese magazine produced by Shogakukan, Inc. This comprehensive magazine, the largest in Japan, features political, economic, social, entertainment and sports happenings. The article was the result of a press trip organized through the Mississippi River Valley Commission and the Department.
- Wisconsin's fall color season, although just two months long, scored 45 stories on fall color in newspapers in Wisconsin alone. All the articles referred travelers to travelwisconsin.com and/or mentioned the availability of the Fall Sampler guide.
- The charming Lowe's Creek Tree Farm in Eleva was the subject of a major holiday feature in Midwest Living's December issue after the Department helped the magazine with research last fall.
- The Travel Channel's show "Road Trip" received a hand from the Department for a segment on I-94 between Minneapolis and Chicago that aired October 8-9. "Road Trip" made stops in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Dells and Baraboo's Circus World.
- The Department provided information for a Wisconsin sidebar to the article "Head to the Hills for the Holidays: 4-Getaway Vacations" in the December issue of Chicago Amateur Athlete.
- Madison's Overture Center got a plug in Travel & Leisure's "Artbeat" section.
- Freelancer Martin Hintz gave Wisconsin's cranberry highway lots of coverage in a recent issue of Trailer Life. Wisconsin Dells and the Original Wisconsin Ducks were also featured in the issue.
- Freelance writer, Arlene Becker, is now writing driving tour stories under the title of "Wandering the Midwest" for the Journal Sentinel's transportation section. Her first two stories covered the Door County peninsula and the Kohler area.
Free Wisconsin Birding Guide Highlights Northwoods Hot Spots
The new Great Wisconsin Birding and Nature Trail Guide: Lake Superior/Northwoods Edition is hot off the press this month. The first of five highway-based viewing guides, this free publication includes driving directions, maps, bird and wildlife descriptions, as well as contact phone numbers and websites for 87 of Northern Wisconsin's birding hot spots and waypoints.
Printed in an easy to handle, travel-friendly 6- by 11-inch format, the 72-page, full-color guide includes information gathered locally from the Wisconsin DNR and U.S. Forest Service. Each site, nominated locally and evaluated as part of the regional project, will be marked with the program's distinctive Sandhill Crane logo.
The second edition, set for release in late 2005, will highlight the Mississippi/Chippewa Rivers Birding and Nature Trail. The two initial guidebooks will be followed in successive years by Lake Michigan, Central Sands Prairie and Southern Savanna Trails editions.
Urban Ski Conference Coming to Lake Geneva
Wisconsin's inaugural Urban Ski Summit will be held in Lake Geneva on January 14-16. The three-day weekend event, which encompasses the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday, will feature activities that pamper, entertain and inspire from skiing, of course, and personal spa appointments to Greek step shows and stepping to the oldies. The Urban Ski Summit is being supported by the Department of Tourism in conjunction with DCT Sports Marketing and Entertainment with the help of Creative Marketing Resources, the Wisconsin Department of Tourism's multicultural marketing agency. It is designed to introduce targeted multicultural travelers to winter travel and recreation options in Wisconsin.
"It's great for them to come to Wisconsin because we have an opportunity to showcase the state to people who've never been here," said Wisconsin Tourism Deputy Secretary Genyne Edwards. "Hopefully, it will inspire participants to plan their own winter events here."
Events and Destination Calendar to Entice Multicultural Travelers
The snow is flying, the kids are antsy and the work is creeping out of your briefcase. Then just across the room a hot-tub beckons, or the slide of a water park teases you out of your seat to reach for a glass of wine next to that fireplace … these images that put potential travelers in Wisconsin destinations are the impetus behind the multicultural outreach calendar. The calendar is another component of this year's heightened emphasis on reaching out to multicultural travelers.
Wisconsin is "All That, and Then Some," as shown on a calendar featuring destinations ranging from pampering suites at the American Club in Kohler to the beautiful Lake Superior backdrop of the Apostle Islands in June. Each month introduces a new destination and a list of multicultural events being celebrated around the state. It is being distributed via radio giveaways in Milwaukee and Chicago, along with distribution through targeted multicultural community groups. Partners are being sought for future destination marketing and event listings.
Travelers Urged To "Fly Wisconsin"
In a move designed to draw travelers from Chicago's overcrowded O'Hare Airport, the Department created a new "Fly Wisconsin" marketing initiative to encourage air travelers to use Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport as a convenient and low-cost alternative. With competitive airfares, easy access from Interstate 94 and less-congested terminals and air traffic, Mitchell Airport is an attractive substitute to the O'Hare, which has been facing federal pressure to reduce flights at the congested airport. In addition, the new Amtrak station opening at the Milwaukee airport this year will allow travelers to reach downtown Chicago by train in 70 minutes, comparable in time and cost with a cab ride from O'Hare.
The multi-media advertising and public relations campaign targets northern Illinois air travelers with 10-second TV ads inviting fliers to "fly Milwaukee's Mitchell International" and visit their website, www.avoidthechicagoordeal.com. The spots are incorporated in the Department's existing campaign with footage provided by Midwest Airlines. Print ads appearing under the Department's co-op advertising banner and weekly radio events broadcasts on Journal Radio Network will compliment the TV ads. Public relations plans include media outreach and an article planned for Midwest Airlines' in-flight magazine.
Outdoor Writers Coming to Wisconsin in 2005
Madison will play host to approximately 1,000 members of the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) June 18-22, 2005. For Wisconsin's travel and hospitality industry, this is a rare opportunity to showcase our outdoor recreation for the nation's best outdoor writers, editors, book authors, broadcasters, photographers and more. The Madison CVB is coordinating statewide familiarization trips for OWAA attendees, giving the members a chance to take advantage of the seasons, sports and recreation of most interest to them.
To participate in a fam trip, forms for industry partners are available by contacting Tourism Development Specialists Kit Sorenson or Ruth Goetz. The OWAA local committee will sort through the proposals and create a final list of about a dozen spectacular trips around Wisconsin. We hope you will take advantage of this significant opportunity to bring these writers to your areas. Deadline to return the forms to Cara Scholke at GMCVB is Jan. 1, 2005. Feel free to contact her for more information at 608/441-3957.
WACVB Presents 2004 Wisconsin Tourism Trailblazer Awards
The Wisconsin Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (WACVB) has named Herb Kohler, Jr. as the recipient of the 2004 Wisconsin Tourism Trailblazer award for his role in promoting and advancing Wisconsin's tourism industry.
During the 2004 Wisconsin Fall Tourism Convention in Racine Nov. 12, Department of Tourism Secretary Jim Holperin presented Kohler Company Group Vice President of Hospitality and Real Estate Alice Eland the award on Kohler's behalf.
Tourism organizations also receiving Wisconsin Tourism Trailblazer awards for their marketing and partnership efforts were:
- Wisconsin's Northwest Heritage Passage for promoting local artists and growers in nine Northwestern Wisconsin Counties through a map directing tourists to participating businesses.
- The Greater Milwaukee CVB for "Watch Milwaukee Grow", a tradeshow marketing initiative designed to increase awareness of five new tourism products in Milwaukee.
- Hayward Lakes VCB for developing a new, user-friendly website - www.haywardlakes.com - that offers database-driven administration to easily update information, add more scenic graphics and track usage.
- WI Dells VCB for Outstanding Use of Technology for implementing an E-guide program for self-selecting customers. Since launching, the E-guide customer database has doubled.
- Great Wolf Lodge for a unique partnership with Fort McCoy, in which the lodge offered a one-night stay to Fort McCoy soldiers who served, or are scheduled to serve, in Iraq or Afghanistan. Operation Family Fun brought 412 soldiers and 1372 total guests to the resort last May.
This year's awards were sponsored by Chicago Tribune and Potawatomi Bingo and Casino.
Upcoming Tourism Council Meetings
The Governor's Council on Tourism is scheduled to meet January 19 at 10 a.m. in Madison. Watch for updates on other Department meetings in the next Now You Know.
Media Leads
Shaye Hall at Bus Tours Magazine is seeking press kits and other information for attractions, lodging and dining appropriate for group tours. Bus Tour Magazine targets motorcoach tour planners in the USA and Canada. Contact Shaye at 815/946-2341.
The brand new Asian Wisconzine hits newsstands January 2005. This all-inclusive magazine will provide a forum for ideas, stories and events that revolve around Asian American communities. Special sections will include arts, travel, sports, entertainment and events in the greater Milwaukee and Madison areas. Send your information to Heidi Pascual, 1509 Martin St. #5, Madison, WI 53713. Visit www.asianwisconzine.com for more information.
The motorcycle enthusiast website, www.motorcyclegoodies.com, is seeking travel information to run under a special travel feature page. Information can be sent to Jodi Lipson, INB Publications/Internet Media Service, 1 W Deer Valley Road Suite 300, Phoenix, AZ 85027-2133 623-581-5900 ext.244.
Kyle D. Goldie is writing a travel guidebook for the student-budget traveler, emphasizing nightlife. He would like to receive informational packages, brochures or literature. Mail to Kyle D. Goldie, The World Scene, 12717 60th Avenue West, Mukilteo, WA 98275.
TRAVEL TRACKER: 
What
Do You Know About Generation Y?
According to the 2000 Census, Wisconsin is home to approximately 1.2 million people considered Generation Y - those born in the 1980s or later.
American youths age 8 to 21 have $211 billion in spending power, according to the latest projections based on results of a nationwide survey of the Generation Y population. Fifteen percent of youth spending is conducted online and boys are more comfortable with e-commerce - they spent 1.7 times as much as girls.
The leisure activities of this generation also differ from those of their boomer parents. A key characteristic of this generation is a love for risk-taking. A study conducted in January 2002 among 14,276 Americans nationwide by American Sports Data, Inc., showed the largest gains in sports participation have come from the new "extreme" sports, which have been dubbed "millennial," "alternative," "new age," and "action" sports.
Some of these sports include skateboarding(+73%), artificial wall climbing (+57%), wakeboarding (+38%), paintball (+30%), and snowboarding (+25%). Although there has been a slight decline in traditional pastimes (baseball, basketball or touch football), overall, team sports (including the trendier activities such as soccer, Lacrosse and fast-pitch softball) continue to garner the most followers.
Wisconsin is no stranger to extreme sports. Focus group research several years revealed the Department's need to let this generation know more about winter opportunities in our state. As a result, several winter television advertisements featuring Gen Y'ers snowboarding on one of Wisconsin's premier half-pipes were produced.
But Gen Y'ers aren't just children. J. Walter Smith, a managing partner at Yankelovich Partners Inc. specializing in generational marketing, says "most marketers perceive this generation as kids and when you do that you fail to take in what they are telling you about the consumers they're becoming." Smith goes on to say, "this is not about teenage marketing. It's about the coming of age of a generation."
Marketers who have been able to capture Gen Y's attention took their message to the places where they congregate: The Internet, extreme sports tournaments, or cable television. And the types of messages used have changed, according to James R. Palczynski, who is a retail analyst for Landenburg Thalmann & Co. and an author for YouthQuate, a study of young consumer trends. According to Palczynski, "the old-style advertising that works very well with boomers, ads that push a slogan and an image and a feeling, the younger consumer is not going to go for."
Lalia Rach, New York University associate dean at the Tisch Center for Hospitality, said the dusty marketing strategies used to attract travelers in the past need to be refreshed. "If the young people watch commercials, it's only to laugh at them," Rach said. Traditional marketing - pretty pictures - may work for older generations, but not for the latest crop of tourists.
Take a good look at your website and ask yourself if it appeals to a generation that is constantly online. Keep your messages concise - think like Generation Y -- and take your message to where they congregate.
To read more on the changing face of our target market as shared at the WCVB Convention in Racine, go to Twentysomethings Seen as Future of State Tourism, by Sheila Lalwani (Milwaukee Journal, 11/12/04).
Marketing Tips: Planning, Analysis Keys to Effective Media Buying
Wisconsin Department of Tourism's primary media strategist, Aileen Thorne of Boelter & Lincoln, gave industry members a blueprint for effective advertising media planning at the WACVB Fall Tourism conference.
While cautioning that "there is no magic formula," the first consideration in any campaign, she noted, is to decide its objectives. Are the advertisements intended to be broad, brand-building tools, or elicit an immediate and measurable response? The answer to this key question will influence the rest of the planning process. Thorne encouraged listeners to examine the "Four W's" of who, what, when and where - specifically, who is the target market, what is the best message, when should the advertising take place and where does it run?
In understanding the "who" question, Thorne recommends considering a wide variety of data, including trade journals, professional research done by media vendors, focus groups and conversion studies. After developing a clearer picture of their target consumer, the next step is to analyze the creative design and type of media to be used, since these two factors inherently influence each other.
For example, radio is obviously not a good medium for visual images, nor is it an ideal tool to drive calls to a toll-free number. It is, however, an excellent way to reach specific age groups and impulse consumers - travelers who might take a spontaneous end-of-summer trip, for instance. On the other hand, magazines, newspapers and television (broadcast and cable), work well for visual messages.
Television typically reaches the largest audience, is the most intrusive and works well for both branding and response campaigns. However, the audience is older and somewhat downscale, while production costs are fairly high.
With its plethora of channels, cable television can be highly targeted to specific lifestyles or demographic groups. It also can be purchased to reach smaller geographic areas than a standard TV market. Like broadcast, cable can be used for both branding and direct-response purposes. However, it is more expensive than broadcast television on a cost-per-thousand basis, and like "regular" television, production costs can be fairly substantial.
Perhaps the most widely used media in the travel/tourism industry, newspapers reach an educated and affluent audience and are very good for response-oriented advertising. However, their audience tends to be male and older, they have a limited market reach and a short shelf life compared to magazines. Thorne cautions industry members to avoid mistaking readership information for true circulation data and also to analyze all aspects of their potential return on investment (ROI) before making a decision. For example, a newspaper published near a hotel or resort might not be as good a choice for promoting overnight stays as one in a city several hours away.
Magazines have a longer shelf life and can reach specific audiences. Like newspapers, they attract educated and affluent readers, and also tend to be good branding vehicles. However, they can be relatively expensive and, because of their lead times, are not good tools for advertisers looking for immediate response. With all print vehicles, Thorne cautions potential advertisers to consider editorial relevance, advertisement positioning within the publication (and page), visual clutter and how much readership is within the advertiser's target market or segment.
As with magazines, out-of-home advertising (which includes billboards, transit boards and airport/mall/stadium displays) works for many branding campaigns. It's not good for direct response, however, nor is it ideal for complex messages - since the average viewing time of an outdoor board is 2.5 seconds. A relatively untargeted medium, it is perhaps best used for giving directions ("exit at Hwy. 12…") and for reinforcing simple messages seen in other media.
The newest form of media discussed was online marketing, which can be highly targeted, used for branding or response campaigns and has the unique benefit of linking to an advertiser's website. To take full advantage of this, though, advertisers must have links to engaging, interactive sites.
Technology Tips: It's E-mail Address Harvesting Season
The Department has doubled its number of e-mail newsletter subscribers since the beginning of the year, and they've done it with the help of a pair of online leads "harvesting" programs.
In the spring of 2004 and again in this fall, the Department worked with a group of sites to offer Web users one of our free electronic travel guides. By December, more than 140,000 online consumers will have responded to these offers by submitting their email addresses and, in the process, joining our e-mail newsletter list. These customers come from all around the country, and they have each "raised their hand" and asked to receive Wisconsin travel information. Early customer feedback and research shows that at least 30% of these people have traveled to Wisconsin since receiving their travel guides.
Online leads purchasing should not replace your efforts to register users directly through your website or call center. However, they offer many benefits as a complementary tactic. Primarily, e-mail harvesting provides opportunities for organizations to reach out and make offers to new customers that may be outside of their traditional geographic markets at a much lower cost than with traditional mass media. Keeping these customers opted in to your email newsletter program only magnifies how affordable technology marketing programs can cultivate lifetime value from a new set of consumers.
If you are interested in learning more about online leads purchasing programs, please contact Renea Dettman or John Kuehl at the Department.
More Technology Tips: Keyword Purchasing Programs
One of the newer and most welcome developments in the arena of e-marketing has been the proliferation of "PI" - or "per inquiry" - programs. While traditional media sells advertising space based primarily on an estimated number of gross impressions, PI programs are priced instead solely on the number of customers or prospects actually delivered to you. This is a profound advantage over traditional media considering their measurability, and these programs typically feature surprising affordability.
The most direct example of a PI program is a part of search engine marketing (SEM) and involves placing small text advertisements in search engine results. This is also commonly known as keyword purchasing (for another example, see the story on e-mail harvesting). We've all seen these ads when using Google or Yahoo!; they appear as "sponsored links" above or to the right of the actual search results. For marketers, the process for placing these ads is relatively simple. You enter a bid to have your ad appear when a user searches for a particular keyword or group of words. The bid is determined by competition for a certain word or phrase, and you are billed for that price only if a prospect clicks on your ad - in other words, you only pay "per inquiry".
In most cases, bids of less than 30 cents per click will be enough to make your ad the first one listed, depending on which keyword(s) you are targeting. In fact, in the Department's experience, bids of 12 cents per click are the norm. That means for the cost of one 2-column by 5-inch B&W ad in the Chicago Tribune, you could deliver more than 18,000 consumers directly to your website.
To have your ad visible on the search engine results pages, even if a consumer chooses not to click through on your link, also creates thousands of gross impressions for your ad/product, and at no cost to you.
True, not all search engine users click on or even read sponsored links. Some find the ads to be a useful way of getting information on products or services they're looking for, while others think the ads are obtrusive and simply ignore them. For marketers, the debate is irrelevant because you're not penalized if someone skips past your ad. You only pay when someone identifies him or herself as being interested in whatever it is you have to offer by clicking off to your site. Again, imagine if you only had to pay for your newspaper or magazine ad based on how many people actually read and took action on it?
There are a number of considerations involved with implementing keyword purchasing programs, and there's a certain amount of time involved in managing them properly. However, as the dozens of Wisconsin travel and hospitality businesses involved in PI programs can attest, the results easily speak for themselves. To find out how you can get started in keyword purchasing, contact Renea Dettman or John Kuehl at the Department.
