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And so begins vacation season for American families. Most of the extra-curricular activities of June and July for the kids are wrapping up and it's a mad dash to cram in that vaca before school starts.
On this Music Friday, it's one of my favorite summer vacation songs.
This is Breaking Southwest and "Breathe."
Crank it Up!
If you're going to lose a destination asset...this is the way to do it.
The iconic tree from the film "Shawshank Redemption" was toppled in a thunderstorm last week. Located near the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield OH, it (along with the jail) had become a significant attraction for Richland County and the region.
And, through its demise, the tree has produced millions of dollars in earned media value for the still standing movie site and the destination. The New York Times, CNN, hundreds of local newspapers, TV and radio stations from all over the nation carried the story...along with media outlets in Japan, the Netherlands, Hungary, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and countless more.
If you're gonna lose an iconic attraction...this is the way to do it.
Dollar Shave Club burst onto the men's grooming scene four years ago with a YouTube video in which company co-founder Michael Dubin used one of George Carlin's 7 words to extoll the quality of his blades. To date, that video has scored over 23 million views.
Last week, Dollar Shave Club was purchased by Unilever for $1 Billion. Yes, with a "B."
We were doing some follow up research the other day, putting the finishing touches on a destination assessment for a client. As we were polishing the section on lodging options, we decided to add TripAdvisor ratings to each hotel's description.
One didn't have a TripAdvisor rating. And, that's not because it's new.
So, we hit a couple other links to see if we could find anything on the property other than our own drive by experience.
And, look what shows up in my Facebook feed the next morning. An encouragement to book said hotel from Hotels.com.
Yeah...you're smart.
But...you're dumb.
Terri was doing what Terri does...networking with DMOpros around the country, when she shared a conversation with our friend Steve Halloran at Visit Anchorage. He was bragging on his niece, who is the bass player for a "little" band that's getting some serious attention.
As in appearances on the Today Show, The Late Show and others...and a YouTube videos with millions of views.
If you haven't already discovered Lake Street Dive (or, even if you have), you gotta check this group out.
Steve suggested "Hell Yeah." Terri, in turn, fell in love with "Walking On Broken Glass."
But, on this Music Friday, we're lovin' the cover of the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back."
With over 3.9 million YouTube views. Whoa...
Depending on your destination, recent findings from PhocusWright's latest consumer travel insight (and shared by TravelSmart News) are either good or bad.
Last year, only 26% of U.S. leisure travelers chose their destination based on a prior experience, down five points from 2014. For those destinations that depend on repeat visits, this increase in our collective search for bucket list satisfaction can't be good. For those hoping to lure travelers that had once found their favorite place, it's all good.
One thing for sure...it's only get harder to compete for the hearts and wallets of tomorrow's consumer.
Delta announced last week that it will be slowing growth in order to maximize existing routes....which, for a business, makes perfect sense. You can achieve revenue growth by limiting supply. Less wear and tear on equipment and staff, more revenue as supply is constrained. Smart.
Except, for the rest of us...this ain't good.
What happens when a $375 round trip ticket becomes $675? What happens to the middle class family of four heading off for a vacation? More importantly, what happens to potential corporate and association conference attendees that can't submit such a fare and expect approval?
It's a smart move for Delta in the short run but, like my Thursday post, does it kill the golden goose in the pursuit of short term profit?
We'll see.
Cheap Trick was onstage at Summerfest when it happened. I was in the midst of a workshop with a client when Terri texted me the news.
Kirk (Wheel) Dyer had passed.
The Road Manager for Cheap Trick. The Event Manager of the Taste of Madison. And, a friend with who I had sadly lost contact over the years.
As our friend Tom Tueber posted, Kirk was the inspiration for the character they call "The Wheel" in the movie "Almost Famous."
You want a sense of the man, it's so worth a watch.
But, he's likely best known as the booming voice that kicks off Cheap Trick's "Live at Budokan" album.
Larger than life and caring as could be.
The gentle giant is, at long last, at peace after a lengthy, valiant battle with cancer.
On this Music Friday, we offer up an audio track that I'm guessing only a handful of friends have ever heard. Trick was working on a track called "Rock and Roll Tonight" that ended up on the "Busted" album. As they worked to perfect it, they let Wheel take the mic.
The result is pretty cool...and a wonderful tribute to the man. And, I love that he biffs the last verse. Always makes me smile.
Thanks for the memories, my friend. Stir things up in heaven, ehh?
Satellite Radio's offer of commercial-free music didn't kill Terrestrial Music Radio...but it certainly dented it, along with other disruptive plays like Pandora and Internet Radio.
No, what will kill Terrestrial Music Radio has just begun...and the deed will be done by the end of this year (or at least the poison will have initiated its slow, fitful death).
It will be the toxicity (and tonnage) of political ads that will cause all but the most unresourceful music lover to abandon the cacophony of childish name-calling, mud-slinging and outright lies that will blanket every commercial break. And, when December rolls around and advertisers realize nobody's listening anymore, they'll take their media buys elsewhere. And, when their ads go elsewhere, there'll be nobody left to cover radio's payroll and operating costs.
The folks at SiriusXM must be down right giddy at the prospect of how unlistenable Terrestrial Music Radio will become in the weeks ahead.
A large convention is coming to town. Not your town...but one close by.
You, naturally, try to come up with a way to lure attendees to your community. But, they're kinda busy...going to sessions, sponsor events and seeing the sights of the big city. Like they're gonna take time out to secure transportation to drive an hour to visit your town.
Yet, we often see Destination Marketing Organizations expend resources to poach these delegates, to little success.
But, Lee Tasseff and his crew at the Mansfield/Richland County OH CVB are operating from a different mindset as the Republican National Convention descends on nearby Cleveland. They will be deploying targeted digital advertising to mobile devices during the convention to hip visitors to the Shawshank Redemption movie sites in Richland County, including the Reformatory that served as "home" for the movie.
But, they (smartly) aren't anticipating a lot of visitors during the RNC. After all, it's a working convention and many people attending the event will be too busy to travel to Mansfield at that time. So, the goal of the campaign is to broaden the city's exposure in hopes of getting people to come back later.
They're betting (as is the Cleveland DMO) that people will be so impressed with Cleveland, that they'll return for leisure pursuits. And, the CVB promotion is banking on reminding convention-goers to consider Mansfield the next time they are in Cleveland to make a trip out of the city to see the Shawshank Trail.
Brilliant.
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