What's in a name? The Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau is embarking on a project to define what makes C'ville, C'ville.
The purpose of the branding initiative is to target the ideal Charlottesville visitor. The bureau will use the information to market the City to those travelers, which will earn more return on investments for the City, Bureau Director Mark Shore said.
"We want to answer the question: What is the visitor coming for?" Shore said. "We want to create a refining statement of what Charlottesville is to those visitors, providing a consistent message."
In order to create a brand, a Bureau selection committee considered seven proposals from companies. The committee members selected North Star Destination Strategies to conduct research that will primarily focus on garnering information on visitors from hotels' databases. The total cost of the program is $58,000, Shore said.
Darden Professor Marian Moore sat on the selection committee that hired North Star Destination Strategies, Shore said.
"It was great to have someone from the academic side," Shore said. "Her knowledge of research and branding was a real asset."
North Star Destination Strategies was selected because the company has had a high success rate, specializes in small to medium size cities and the company backs up its product with a three-year follow up, Shore said.
North Shore CEO Don McEachern said North Star's specialization in communities like Charlottesville allowed his company to win the bid from the bureau committee members.
"We have research, strategy and creativity all in one program for branding communities," McEachern said.
The findings will allow the Bureau to determine the characteristics of Charlottesville visitors, such as their buying patterns and magazines they read, Shore said.
"We want to find out, who is that ideal visitor?" Shore said.
The results of the research will enable the Bureau to better direct its advertising efforts to retain current visitors and attract more travelers. Targeting visitors is an important initiative because travelers generate about $8 million in local sales tax, restaurant tax and hotel tax, Shore said.
"We operate with a very limited adverting budget," Shore said. "We want to make sure we are reaching visitors who will bring the highest economic improvements for community."
The branding initiative will include many elements of Charlottesville's personality such as the City's great collection of presidential history and a thriving arts and entertainment sector, Shore said.
"The brand is the promise," Shore said. "It is a little bit intangible. It is not really creating but identifying what is it we convey. We want to stay on target with that message. What's the promise we've made?"
McEachern said the creative process will begin after the research has been collected.
"We will boil down the research to an essential message or brand strategy based on all the research," McEachern said. "A brand is what people say about you when you are not around."
A proportion of those visitors who boost the local economy are University students' families, Shore said.
"Students' parents are captive visitors for four years," Shore said. "They have a significant economic impact."
McEachern said he agreed University students and their parents will contribute to the branding initiative.
"We will be incorporating the University at about ever possible step," McEachern said. "Its impact in community is tremendous and it will be represented in just about every aspect of the research."
North Star also will use the information from the research to begin the creative process of appealing to the visitor, deciding how these travelers would like to see Charlottesville's publications and the city's overall look. North Star also will research Charlottesville through posing as tourists and interacting with the community, Shore said.
The research is set to be completed by the end of September, and the brand itself will be introduced in late January of next year, Shore said.
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