Two things have had a great impact on the way that the Ole Seagull looks at the marketing of Branson. One was a primary finding of the Sterling Branding Study, initiated and paid for by the city of Branson a few years ago. That finding showed that the vast majority of the visitors coming to Branson loved “the product” and would return again.
To the Ole Seagull, “the product” is the total experience that Branson gives to its visitors. That experience is a mosaic with a constantly evolving combination of live entertainment, attractions, and exciting activities, lakes, natural beauty, lodging choices, dining, shopping etc.
Some might ask, “But don’t those things exist, to one degree or another in a lot of vacation destinations throughout the country and the world? What is it about Branson’s product that makes it unique?”
An Ole Seagull would suggest that what makes Branson’s product unique is the foundation upon which it is built and presented. A foundation built and presented on individual entrepreneurship, patriotism, family values, and the heritage and tradition of the Branson area that somehow become an integral part of the Branson experience most of our visitors have.
That ties directly into the second thing that impacts on the way the Ole Seagull looks at the marketing of Branson. The same Sterling study showed that “values” was one of the primary things that people identified with Branson. Folks, as good as Branson Landing might eventually prove to be for Branson, we could build two Branson Landings, neigh five Branson Landings, and they would not do as much for Branson’s brand as our values and the perception that our visitors have of them.
The Ole Seagull was privileged to observe the Branson Marketing Summit, held on Jan. 16 and 17. One of the first presentations covered the “intuitive brand truth,” that, “Branson is NOT Las Vegas or New York and Branson is NOT intimidating.” To that an Ole Seagull would say, “Amen, and the more we try to be like them or change ourselves or product to try to be attractive to the types of people that prefer Las Vegas or New York the more of ourselves and the very uniqueness that makes Branson what it is, we risk losing.
Where is the credible evidence that says Branson needed a new demographic or a new product? It’s interesting to note that although Branson’s percentage of first time visitors rose from 20.4 percent in 2003 to 23.3 percent in 2006 that Branson’s percentage of repeat visitors dropped from 79.3 percent in 2003 to 76.7 in 2006. What is bigger 2.6 percent of 76.7 or 2.9 percent of 23.3 and by how big a margin? In the opinion of an Ole Seagull, Branson’s prayer should be that the decline in the rate of return visitors is an anomaly and not the beginning of a trend.
