Laurie Paolicelli, director of the Orange County Visitors Bureau and Stephanie Perri, account manager at Clean Design, made a presentation to the Economic Development & Public Policy Committee on the new marketing campaign, "The Edge of the Triangle."

2. Chapel Hill/Orange County
Visitors Bureau
Mission Statement
Position Chapel Hill and all of Orange County as a desirable
place to visit and host a meeting or conference with
careful consideration to the needs and assets of the Orange
County communities.
Engage in a variety of activities that will result in increased
hotel bookings, rental of area meeting facilities, visitations,
increased occupancy tax receipts and visitor expenditures.

3. OBJECTIVE
OCCUPANCY RATE 61.4% +4.4%
ADR $101.19 –3.3%
source: 2010-2011 Annual Report and Strategic Plan Overview

4. What have we been up to?

5. assignment
• REVIEW EXISTING MARKETING PLAN
• KEY STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS
• DESIGN & MESSAGING AUDIT OF EXISTING MATERIALS
• SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT
• TARGET AUDIENCE ANALYSIS
• COMPETITIVE / COMPARATOR ANALYSIS
• TOURS OF DESTINATION

6. Interviewees
JIM NORTON MARK SHERBURNE
CEO of Downtown Chapel Hill Partnership General Manager of Aloft
CATHERINE LAZORKO ANTHONY CAREY
Public Information Officer, Chapel Hill General Manager of Siena Hotel
GREG OVERBECK ROSEMARY WALDORF
Partner Chapel Hill Restaurant Group/Spanky’s Town of Chapel Hill co-chair for 2020 Vision Plan
ERNEST DOLLAR LYDIA LAVALLE
Chapel Hill Preservation Society Director Carrboro
DAVID GEPHART JACK SCHMIDT
Chair, Visitors Bureau Sales Director, Carolina Inn
LINDA CONVISSOR JAY PATEL
UNC Community Relations General Manager Franklin Hotel
STEVE BRANTLEY AARON NELSON
Orange County Economic Development CEO of the Chapel Hill Carrboro Chamber of Commerce
KAREN MOOSE DEHART LEE PAVIO
NC High School Athletic Association Emeritus Member of the Board
MISSY JULIAN FOX JIM WARD
UNC Visitors Center Director Chapel Hill Carrboro Town Council and Visitors Bureau Board

7. What challenges do we need to overcome?

8. challenges
“I think we might be a one trick pony – UNC and nothing else.”
“ ou have a little of everything here. Pinehurst is
Y
golf, Wilmington is beach, Asheville is Biltmore,
Orlando is Disney. UNC is our Disneyworld.”
source: stakeholder interviews

9. challenges
“ e are perceived to be a sleepy little southern
W
village, we are a dynamic growing community.”
“Our message has been diluted in the past.
We have been doing three towns for the price
of one and it dilutes the message.”
“Because we have so much, we can lose focus.”
source: stakeholder interviews

10. What do we have going for us?

11. “Great name recognition. For a town of 60,000
people it’s amazing that no matter where I go,
people have heard of Chapel Hill.”
“Our reputation precedes us. Internationally
people come here because of our reputation.”
source: stakeholder interviews

12. What is the primary
reason people visit?
{
UNC
SPORTS EVENT
DESTINATION
HOSPITAL
VISIT FRIENDS FAMILY

13. Where are our opportunities for growth?

14. opportunities
“We need more mid-week business.”
“Summer off-season”
“We need mid-sized group travel.”
“Conferences are key.
That should be our focus.”
source: stakeholder interviews

15. 2012
Marketing Focus
mid-week
group sales/meeting
mid-week
business traveler
summer leisure

16. Who can we target for business?

17. New Passionate Wide-Eyed
Recruits High-Tech Eager
Young, adventurous Young, enthusiastic travelers Young, open-minded
source: Industry News July 2011, HospitalityNet.org

18. Who can we target for summer getaways?

19. Trendsetters Sophisticated Squires
Young, progressive Cultured, artistic
ESRI MARKET SEGMENTATION

20. COMPETITION

21. Competitive audit
• MESSAGING AUDIT
• DESIGN AUDIT
• SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT
• MEDIA SPEND AUDIT
• CREATIVE AUDIT
• COMPARATOR AUDIT

22. positioning matrix
Progressive
Asheville
Durham
Raleigh
Charlotte
Greensboro
Relaxing Dynamic
Beach
Pinehurst
Charleston
Savannah Williamsburg
Traditional

23. positioning matrix
Progressive
Asheville Chapel
Durham Hill
Raleigh
Charlotte
Greensboro
Relaxing Dynamic
Beach
Pinehurst
Charleston
Savannah Williamsburg
Traditional

24. POSITIONING

25. positioning
A process by which an
image or identity
is created in the
mind of the target market
for a product or company relative to
the competition.

26. personality
sophisticated trendy welcoming
progressive
youthful
stimulating energetic
accepting independent
vibrant green creative educated

27. the alt-southern
scene
Chapel Hill isn’t a typical southern town and it
certainly isn’t mainstream. Instead, it’s filled with
people and places that are part of an emerging
culture. It’s a trend-setting playground full of sights,
sounds, and tastes that make it the kind of place
that authors, musicians, and artists call home. It
thrives on being edgy or even experimental. Long
before they became the norm, local bookstores,
eco-friendly markets, gourmet coffee houses, and
a live music scene could be found here. Visitors
with a taste for the kind of culture that sets the
tone for the rest of the country will be pleased
with themselves for discovering Chapel Hill.

28. CREATIVE

29. eXPLORe
the edge
—of The —
tRiangLe
Travel to the fringe of mainstream
when visiting North Carolina’s
Research Triangle. Chapel Hill’s
sites, sounds and tastes are
worth discovering. VISITCHAPELHILL.ORG

30. tune into
the edge
—of The —
tRiangLe
There’s nothing mainstream
about the Chapel Hill, Carrboro,
Hillsborough area. From independent
bands to one-of-a-kind events,
explore our side of North Carolina’s VISITCHAPELHILL.ORG
Research Triangle.

31. unwind
on the edge
—of The —
tRiangLe
Make your trip to the triangle complete
without a detour to the Chapel Hill area.
Here you’ll find friendly baristas, cozy beer
gardens, a one-of-a-kind music scene and more.
VISITCHAPELHILL.ORG

32. eXPLORe the edge —
oF the
— tRiangLe
[ ATTRACTIONS ] [ EVENTS] [ DINING ] [ WHERE TO STAY ]
Travel to the fringe of Copy to represent greek text deliverable. Copy to represent greek
mainstream when visiting for this project headline. text for this project. This text is only for
North Carolina’s Research This text is only for position and not position and not for final deliverable.
Triangle. Chapel Hill’s sites, for final deliverable. Copy to represent Copy project. Copy to represent greek
sounds and tastes are greek text for this project. This text is text for this project. This text is only for
worth discovering. only for position and not for final position and not for final deliverable.

33. MEDIA

34. Target Audience
LEISURE BUSINESS
= explorers

35. Channels
BUSINESS LEISURE
1. ORGANIZATION 1. SEARCH ENGINE
2. SEARCH ENGINE 2. FRIENDS FAMILY
3. FRIENDS FAMILY 3. META-SEARCH
4. META-SEARCH 4. TRAVEL SITES
5. TRAVEL SITES 5. REVIEWS ON SOCIAL SITES
Source: The Center for Hospitality Research • Cornell University

36. Media mix
Digital
Online search
Print

37. Geographic focus
Primary focus
Secondary focus