May/June
2001
Branding
America's Byways
by Sharon Hurt Davidson
"Like
a Pointillist masterpiece, such as Georges Seurat's 'A Sunday on La
Grand Jatte,' where every point of paint is controlled and focused
toward creating a single image, your brand accumulates power and your
customer relationships gain depth through the coordinated effort of
your entire organization."
- Prophet Inc., Chicago, Ill.
|
The
Needles Highway is a 14-mile (23-lilometer) section of the
Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
The Highway winds through magnificent rock formations, called
"needles." Peter Norbeck, conservationist, governor,
and U.S. senator, loved the pristine beauty of the pineclad
mountains with their dramatic granite pinnacles, and he
chose the routes of the Iron Mountain Road and the Needles
Highway on foot and horseback to ensure that the natural
features would be preserved. |
|
Branding
products has become a critical business strategy in today's market.
Brands differentiate a product, pre-sell a product, and "guarantee"
the product.
Without
a brand, bottles of brown liquid sit on the grocery store shelves.
With a brand, bottles of Coca-Cola sell at a fast rate and at a premium
price.
Without
a brand, scenic byways are just so many designated miles of road.
With a brand, America's Byways become "America's storyteller"
- roads that connect us to the heart and soul of America.
The byway
community asked the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) National
Scenic Byways Program (NSBP) to take the lead in developing and building
a brand for the collection of nationally designated roads. Attendees
of the 1999 National Scenic Byways Conference articulated, through
focus groups, that National Scenic Byways and All-American Roads needed
an "umbrella" and an image under which they could be marketed
as a collection.
The byway
community was looking for a brand. It was clear to the byway representatives
that a coordinated and organized national brand effort has a much
stronger appeal than the appeal of an individual byway.
For the
past year, FHWA has been researching, defining, and beginning to build
a brand for the collection of roads that have been designated by the
Secretary of Transportation as National Scenic Byways and All-American
Roads in recognition of their archeological, cultural, historic, natural,
recreational, and scenic qualities. There are 72 such designated byways
in 32 states.
|
Visitors
get out of their vehicles for a closer look at some of the
"needles" along the highway. |
|
To be designated
as a National Scenic Byway, a road must possess at least one of
the six
intrinsic qualities. The significance of the features that contribute
to the distinctive characteristics of the corridor's intrinsic qualities
must be recognized throughout the multistate region.
To receive
an All-American Road designation, a road must possess multiple intrinsic
qualities that are nationally significant and contain one-of-a-kind
features that do not exist elsewhere. The road or highway must also
be considered a "destination unto itself." That is, the
road must provide an exceptional traveling experience so recognized
by travelers that they would make a drive along the highway a primary
reason for their trip.
These
designated roads are now called "America's Byways." An advertising
agency was hired to work with a 17-member "marketing project
group" that represented the byway community, including state
departments of transportation, state scenic byway coordinators, byway
leaders, marketing contacts, state tourism offices, federal land management
agencies, FHWA, and the National Scenic Byways Resource Center.
Why
are brands so important in today's market?
A brand is not a logo, symbol, ad, spokesperson, or jingle. A brand
is everything that an organization wants people, especially their
target markets, to feel and believe about its product and services.
It is an asset that can be measured and leveraged. The America's Byways
brand has been developed as an umbrella for the collection of nationally
designated roads - the product. Everything we do reflects on the brand
and has the ability to build it or compromise it.
In today's
market, multiple products exist to serve similar purposes. People
are looking for shortcuts in making decisions. Brands help them do
this. Brands instill a distinct image, feeling, and value in the minds
of consumers. With four coffeehouses on one block, why do people choose
Starbucks? Why do people pay top dollar for Nike Air Jordans when
Brand X shoes may be perfectly suitable for their needs and cost less?
Because Starbucks is a known entity, and Nike makes them feel good.
Successful brands create loyal customers.
America's
Byways have a competitive advantage because the roads in the collection
are designated as the "best" by the U.S. secretary of transportation.
The essence of America's Byways is that they are not just miles of
highway that someone somewhere has labeled "scenic"; it
is the interpretation of each road that makes them America's storyteller.
And this leads to the brand's positioning , which is the perception
of the brand in the mind of the travelers. Byways need to become known
as the means to connect with the heart and soul of America.
|
Mount
Rushmore is the most famous attraction along the 66-mile
(106 kilometer) Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway. Almost 3 million
visitors each year make the pilgrimage to view the memorial
to presidents (from left) George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,
Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. |
|
Why
is a brand important to America's Byways?
"Travel is part of the American psyche," according to the
Travel Industry Association of America (TIA).
Not only
is travel a part of the American psyche, but travel is also a part
of the growing economy. Communities along the byways are looking to
America's Byways as a tool to gain a bigger piece of the pie. The
majority of the byway communities are located in rural areas. Obtaining
national recognition and exposure provides an opportunity for both
tax revenue and employment.
Americans
spent $424 billion on travel away from home within the United States
in 1998, and this spending generated additional indirect and induced
sales of $565.3 billion. In addition, international visitors spent
$71.1 billion in the United States, generating indirect and induced
sales of $94.8 billion. Direct travel expenditures generated $77.1
billion in tax revenues for local, state, and federal governments.
This 1998 figure is $14.9 billion higher than just three years ago,
according to TIA. America's Byways are well positioned to tap into
the travel market.
Byway
communities will experience increased sales and tax revenue from their
visitors, and this will lead to a growing local tourism economy to
serve the visitors. Travel and tourism in the United States directly
generated more than 7.5 million jobs in 1998, and 1 million of these
jobs were generated by international tourism. An additional 9.4 million
jobs were supported by indirect and induced sales, resulting in a
total of 16.9 million jobs, according to TIA.
The
Power of a Brand |
While
brands exist as objective entities, "brand equity"
resides only in the minds of consumers and key influencers.
The power of a brand is when it reaches brand equity - the ability
to shift demand in the minds of consumers.
The brand equity formula is BE = SA + PQ + SD. That is, brand
equity equals strategic awareness (the presence of the brand)
plus perceived quality (the promise of the brand) plus singular
distinction (the positioning of the brand).
Source:
David A. Shore, Ph.D., Associate Dean and PricewaterhouseCoopers
Director, Harvard University
|
How
are America's Byways preparing to get a piece of the pie?
The marketing project group identified the following marketing goals
going into the 12-month brand development process:
Build an over-arching brand for the designated roads.
Increase awareness.
Drive traffic.
Boost visitor spending.
Support individual states' tourism efforts to market nationally
designated byways in their state.
Support the individual byway's efforts.
Foster local economic development.
Build understanding and support among all the constituencies.
The first
step for FHWA and its partners was to work with the advertising agency
|
The
Big Sur Coast Highway, California Route 1 from Carmel to
San Luis Obispo County line, follows 72 miles (116 kilometers)
of the most spectacular shoreline along the Pacific Coast.
Views include rugged canyons and steep cliffs, granite shorelines,
sea lions and other marine life, windswept cypress trees,
and majestic |
|
to develop
a strategic brand analysis. As much as we knew in our gut that scenic
byways could play a critical role in fostering local economic development,
it was necessary to define the product, its audience, and how to connect
one with the other. The results of the analysis included a synthesis
of our strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities; the threats facing
the brand; the brand opportunities and limitations; branding tools;
an advertising approach; brand architecture; and naming recommendations.
Successful
brands touch people at a functional and psychological level. The brand
chart was developed as part of the strategic brand analysis process
with the marketing project group. (See table 1.) The brand chart helps
us to order the relationship between these functional and psychological
levels - the more cohesive and complementary the elements, the more
potent the brand. The chart has two columns, one for the travelers
and one for the industry stakeholders. The two different audiences
interact with the brand in very different ways. The audiences intersect
in attributes, personality, and essence, but diverge in benefits and
values.
The America's
Byways brand chart is one piece of the overall strategic brand analysis.
The analysis was the first step in a process that included two phases
of research to validate our conclusions: a benchmark national awareness
study of the byways brand and positioning and testing through focus
groups.
Sally
Pearce, the scenic byways coordinator for the Colorado Department
of Transportation (DOT) and a participant in the marketing project
group, explained, "I especially liked the process in which FHWA
pulled together a group of representatives from a wide variety of
organizations, such as state DOTs, state Tourism, local byways, federal
agencies, fun people, marketing specialists, etcetera. They walked
us through a series of exercises aimed at getting down to the real
heart of why we're all working with scenic byways. At times, there
were tough questions to answer, and the process took quite a bit of
time, but we really were able to come up with the brand essence of
the program - America's storyteller. The brand gives us a sense of
direction at the state level for not only our nationally designated
byways but also the other state byways to help focus our efforts on
the idea of telling our stories. In Colorado, the scenery is a given;
it's the stories that make the byways special."
|
For
Byways' Travelers |
For
Byways' Stakeholders |
Attributes
|
Collection of diverse and eclectic places, each of which has its
own story to tell.
Certified as "the best."
Unhomogenized, slower paced travel. |
Collection of diverse and eclectic places, each of which has its
own story to tell.
Certified as "the best."
Unhomogenized, slower paced travel. |
Benefits |
Surprises and delights.
Pre-screened and qualified.
Rediscovery and connections. |
Marketing leverage.
Access to federal funds.
Validation. |
Values |
Patriotic.
Enriched.
Adventuresome. |
Important.
Empowered.
Impassioned. |
Personality |
Ruggedly handsome, authentic, multifaceted, individualistic, popular. |
Wise, supportive, connected, instructive, concerned for the environment,
and a proponent of economic development. |
Essence |
America's storyteller. |
America's storyteller. |
What
did the research tell us?
The benchmark national awareness study was conducted to measure current
levels of byway awareness, interest in using byways, travel motivations,
and the best option for naming and marketing the byway experience.
Both a national telephone survey and a series of six focus groups
in three cities were used to explore these issues. Some of the findings
include:
Predictably, given limited marketing done in the past, awareness and
familiarity with this program is relatively low. Currently, about
a quarter of the traveling population (26 percent) claim awareness
of the National Scenic Byways Program. Yet, only 2 percent say they
are very familiar with the program, and 20 percent say they are somewhat
familiar. This suggests that few people have a strong understanding
of the program and the type of experience it offers.
The low level of familiarity was reinforced when respondents
were asked about specific byways. Only the Blue Ridge Parkway and
Route 66 earned more than 1 percent "top-of-mind awareness."
Even when aided, only 14 percent indicated an awareness of the Blue
Ridge Parkway. Other All-American Roads garnered from 3 percent to
13 percent in awareness. More marketing and communications will be
necessary to educate potential travelers about National Scenic Byways
and All-American Roads.
One of the most positive findings from the research is that
there seems to be a large potential user base. The majority of people
(76 percent) like to take the more interesting route, rather than
the quickest. In addition, 57 percent are very likely to take a scenic
or historic drive at their vacation destination, and 14 percent often
take driving trips with no set destination. Overall, 14 percent of
travelers are currently heavy users of scenic byways, and only 16
percent are non-users.
The largest group of users claimed a willingness to sample
the byway experience at their destination. As such, one way to increase
awareness of these routes is to promote them in key travel destinations,
and then, use the opportunity to educate travelers to the range of
options available. Cooperative efforts with key destinations along
the routes, including the use of direct mail, could be effective.
Effectively marketing this program requires an understanding
of what motivates travelers and what makes a vacation special. The
most important features for travelers are relaxation, scenic beauty,
and a variety of things to do. Yet, different people have specific
preferences relative to their vacation experiences. An analysis of
preferences identified six groups of visitors: outdoor enthusiasts,
history buffs, perpetual shoppers, variety seekers, classic relaxers,
and children-oriented.
Two segments seem to be the best targets for this program -
outdoor enthusiasts and history buffs. These two groups comprise 35
percent of the traveling population and, therefore, are a significant
target audience. Their preferences are somewhat different. Consequently,
the marketing efforts should be targeted specifically to each group.
Benefits
of a Successful Brand |
A
successful brand-building strategy can lead to many benefits.
A successful brand can be an organization's greatest asset.
Because 70 percent of customers want to use a brand to guide
their purchase decision, a successful brand may lead to very
successful byways. Some benefits of a successful brand include:
Leveraging power.
Cooperative marketing/promotional ventures with desired
partners.
Loyalty drives repeat business (repeat byway travelers).
Strong brands allow for greater shareholder and stakeholder
return (economic impact on byway communities).
Brand-based price premiums allow for higher margins (packaging
your byways experience).
Strong brands lend immediate credibility to new product
introductions (new designations).
Strong brands embody a clear, valued, and sustainable
point of differentiation relative to the competition. (Travelers
will always choose America's Byways and not other packaged routes.)
The more loyal the customer base and the stronger the
brand, the more likely customers will be to forgive the company
in the event of a mistake. (A bad byway experience, such as
many road construction delays during their travels, will be
forgiven.)
Brand strength is a lever for attracting the best new
byways.
|
Outdoor
enthusiasts are generally young, and they like outdoor recreation,
water activities, natural beauty, and adventure. They are interested
in byways and the natural activities and opportunities they offer.
This group will not only travel along byways, they will also want
to stop and enjoy the activities and facilities along the way. This
group is relatively active, and they get their information from television,
the Internet, and magazines.
History
buffs are the largest segment, comprising 20 percent of the traveling
population. This group likes a variety of traveling experiences -
especially scenic beauty, historic sites, museums, cultural activities,
and educational experiences. This group tends to take fewer trips
than the average traveler, but the trips are generally longer. This
group likes scenic byways on the way, as the focus of the trip, or
at their destination. This group is mostly older and includes a significant
number of retirees and couples traveling without children. They look
for travel information in magazines, newspapers, brochures, and billboards.
This group is probably the traditional audience for America's Byways.
One of
the goals of this research was to identify a name to use in promoting
the nationally designated byways. The goal was to have an umbrella
identification to promote both All-American Roads and National Scenic
Byways. A number of options were considered including America's Best
Byways, America's Honored Byways, National Heritage Byways, and others.
The name that seems to be the best option is America's Byways.
This
name generates positive images among consumers and can be used to
develop the desired imagery of the program. "America's"
connotes the heritage and history of the country as well as the scenery
and beauty. "Byways" denotes a route that is off the beaten
path - one that will offer a more leisurely, relaxed pace. This name
is generic enough that it can apply to the wide range of routes that
are part of the program.
The best
marketing concept to promote the byways is: "Before there were
interstates, there was America. It's still there." This concept
clearly suggests to consumers that they should leave the interstates
and experience a different type of trip/travel. Consumers indicated
that the idea of finding America was appealing and generated a host
of positive imagery. They could imagine themselves getting off the
beaten path and finding unusual and even unique sights, sounds, and
experiences. This concept resonates with consumers and yet will allow
the development of a clear and differentiated brand.
Other
research involved the beginning of more conclusive research regarding
the byway visitor profile. The methodology was the prizm cluster or
"geodemographic" analysis of those people requesting maps
through FHWA's scenic byways Web site and the toll-free telephone
number.
A prizm
cluster analysis is a lifestyle-based segmentation system first developed
by Claritas, a marketing research firm in Arlington, Va. The analysis
involves the use of zip codes to deduce similar habits and characteristics
of a group of people, including lifestyle, purchasing preferences,
and media consumption. The basic premise behind this methodology is
that "birds of a feather flock together."
Prizm
classifies neighborhoods through dozens of surveys and demographic
data, such as U.S. census data, demographics on new-car buyers from
R.L. Polk, television-viewing habits from A.C. Nielsen, and consumer
buying patterns from Mediamark Research and Simmons Market Research
Bureau. The results of the prizm cluster analyses show that the group
of people who request maps is fairly homogenous and prosperous. Some
of the characteristics of this group include:
They are 45 to 64 years old.
They have a household income of $60,000 to $70,000.
They go online with ease.
They are fitness-oriented and travel extensively, including
visiting foreign countries.
They shop at quality stores, such as Nordstrom, Ann Taylor,
Banana Republic, and Eddie Bauer.
They buy new high-end performance cars.
They enjoy fine spirits and wines.
They also enjoy their homes (including tackling remodeling
projects) and working in their yards.
On TV, they watch sports; late night shows (e.g., Leno, Letterman,
O'Brien); long-term hits (e.g., Frasier, Friends); and higher end
news programming.
They listen to news, talk, classical music, and contemporary
music on the radio.
They read business weeklies and high-end dailies, such as the
Wall Street Journal.
Their magazines include travel, culinary, shelter, sports,
and computing titles.
While
this information is helpful for strategic planning to identify potential
byways travelers, it still does not give us a quantitative look at
who is actually traveling the byways. This research has yet to be
conducted.
In
the End
After many months of meetings, conference calls, e-mail, and telephone
conversations, FHWA's National Scenic Byways Program and the byway
community have developed a brand for the collection of nationally
designated roads. Based on research and consumer confirmation, the
collection is now called America's Byways. Some key decisions and
products from the process include:
"America's Byways" is the umbrella name to promote the collection
of All-American Roads and National Scenic Byways.
The comprehensive brand-building strategy (marketing plan)
for America's Byways.
The best marketing concept to promote the byways is "Before
there were interstates, there was America. It's still there."
The America's Byways tagline should create a customer-focused
statement that holds a promise and extends an invitation.
The new America's Byways logo.
One of
the most time-consuming and challenging parts of the process included
the development of a new logo representing America's Byways. The logo
is a critical piece of the overall brand. Leveraging the power of
the "America's Byways" brand includes maintaining its identity
through clear and consistent messages.
One of
the challenges was attempting to create a logo that meant everything
to everyone and every road. However, just as the differences among
America's Byways are one of its greatest strengths, it proved to be
one of the group's greatest pitfalls. It just was not possible (or
logical). Therefore, the marketing project group stepped back and
set some priorities and criteria. The logo should:
Identify/designate/distinguish that America's Byways are special.
Invite travelers.
Convey "American."
On Oct.
27, 2000, FHWA posted the new America's Byways logo on the Web site
for the byways community to view and make comments. FHWA created four
versions to accommodate various applications. Also, the logo was sent
to the state coordinators, byway leaders, and marketing contacts via
e-mail.
FHWA
received an overwhelmingly positive response to the new design. For
example, Dave Fasser, New York scenic byways coordinator, said, "The
logo exceeded my expectations." Dennis Cadd, the coordinator
for California, described the logo as "being right on target."
"The
new logo is building recognition for the entire national program and
for the Meeting of the Great Rivers Byway," said Doug Arnold,
marketing contact for the byway and a member of the marketing project
group. "It differentiates us from many other 'scenic routes'
and validates us as a bona fide national treasure. Is it important
to us? Consider that the state of Illinois now devotes a distinct
chapter on America's Byways in their new visitors guide, and all communities
along the five Illinois byways are distinguished with the new logo
as a highlight feature."
Internet
Resources on Branding |
BrandKnowledge
www.brandknowledge.com
BrandKnowledge provides a discussion of historical changes in
marketing and branding with news, links, chatroom, and member
services.
ClickZ
Network
www.clickz.com
ClickZ Network is an online publication with an extensive archive
of articles on various branding information.
Prophet
http://prophet.com
Prophet is a consulting firm providing brand-leadership, brand-driven
growth, and e-business services. Online white papers and several
other sources listed.
The
Brand Report Newsletter
http://ashtonadams.com
|
What's
Next: Building the Brand
Each All-American Road and National Scenic Byway has an investment
and direct interest in the America's Byways brand. FHWA believes each
national designated byway should take every opportunity to participate
and share in its movement toward traveler recognition and loyalty.
FHWA is committed to working with America's Byways to build and manage
a successful brand identity.
Brand-building
includes every implementation of the brand. It is not just focusing
on the brand image, but knowing the role of the brand in driving choice.
It is not just about advertising, but consistently managing the brand
at all interactions with the customer. It is about not only communicating
with customers, but also ensuring that the brand influences customers,
byway representatives, byway businesses, and public officials. Building
a brand affects every aspect of the byway, including the corridor
management plan and the investment strategy. Total integration is
the key.
While
we continue to build the America's Byways brand, FHWA will also be
continuing to build the collection of America's Byways. Nominations
for another round of national designations will be accepted by FHWA
in the winter of 2002, and the designations will be announced in summer
2002.
The designation
event in 2002 will provide an important opportunity to kick-off the
brand. Marketing the collection, however, is only one piece of the
brand-customer relationship. Marketing puts a face on the brand, making
a set of promises. It is up to each one of America's Byways and everyone
involved to keep the brand promise through every contact with customers,
creating a positive brand-customer relationship. Our relationship
with the byway traveler as a result of their byway experiences is
the true test of a successful America's Byways brand.
Sharon
Hurt Davidson is the marketing manager for FHWA's National Scenic
Byways Program. Her responsibilities include all brand management,
marketing, promotion, and public relations activities for the program.
Additional activities include providing technical assistance to a
number of states regarding a $25 million annual grant program. She
was formerly the program manager at the West Virginia Division of
Tourism where she developed the state's scenic byways program. Prior
to that, she worked on community-based economic development strategies
as part of a W.K. Kellogg Foundation initiative. She has taught courses
on women's studies at West Virginia University and served on the faculty
at the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. She
is a graduate of West Virginia University with a bachelor's degree
in English and a master's degree in liberal studies. She has participated
in Kellogg International Leadership Program activities and the Ms.
Institute for Women and Economic Development, and she has been a speaker
at numerous conferences and seminars.
For
more information on America's Byways and the National Scenic Byways
Program, visit the Web site at www.byways.org
or call 1-800-4BYWAYS.
Other
Articles in this Issue:
5-1-1: Traffic Help May Soon Be Three Digits Away
Using
the Dynamic Modulus Test to Assess the Mix Strength of HMA
The
ITS Public Safety Program: Creating a Public Safety Coalition
Handling
the Worst Crash Ever in Virginia
Moving
Ahead - The American Public Speaks on Roadways and Transportation
in Communities
Branding
America's Byways
Travelers
Seek Byway Experiences
National
Work-Zone Awareness Week Commemorated Across the Nation
Work-Zone
Traffic Control: Survey of Contracting Techniques