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Laughing at ourselves: Tourism humor that works

Since writing a few posts on the “Not in Columbus” convention and tourism campaign, I’ve found myself in an ongoing offline debate about what works and what doesn’t in tourism advertising. Since I have little or no experience in the category, I’ve been educating myself the blogger way: search, click and play.

No question, it’s a tough business. Glamming up the decapitated mountains of West Virginia, differentiating one artsy desert community from another, making even a big-ass mall seem like a destination.

It’s no wonder we want to laugh at ourselves.

But doing humor well…. That’s tough. The campaigns that do it well deliver three key things consistently:

1. Communicate a vibe, a personality of the place
2. Quickly transition from a self-effacing laugh to the good stuff
3. Make it easy for you to see yourself in them (either in the story or in the place)

My two favorite examples of campaigns doing it well couldn’t be more different:

Minneapolis' Unconvention Campaign.
Sponsored by the city's groundswell - a group of independent organizations, businesses and people - and centered on the playing host to the Republican convention, this integrated print and Web campaign is laugh-out-loud funny and still delivers on all the criteria above.

 

See the full campaign

Maine's "It's Got to Be Maine" Campaign

Sure, it's one thing to do independent well. But, what about official advertising? The kind that has to go through channels and committees and compromises?

I like Maine's campaign because it survived the gauntlet relatively intact. It pokes a little fun at the state, but in a personal, inside-joke kind of way. And, once its campy humor stops you, the fast-paced montage communicates a wholly unexpected vibe. WKB Spier produced this campaign. You can see more examples in "the work" section of their Web site.

cBus Syndrome: When your client has low self-esteem

Last Thursday, Experience Columbus invited me and 60 of my fellow bloggers to check out their newest tourism and convention campaign: Not In Columbus.

First, let me say -  it was a very well-conceived effort.

• Right people: Columbus is home to a really diverse group of Gen Ys and Xers who love the city. They blog, network and otherwise talk in just about every medium there is. Engaging them (um, us) to preview pro-Columbus propaganda is a great fit.


• Right partners: All local agencies and others (Creative: engauge; PR/Social: FahlgrenMortine; snacks and treats: Jenis; swag: Skeened)


• Right process: Over the last few months, a number of Experience Columbus staffers and leaders have started following me on Twitter. And presumably reading local bloggers. They've interacted with the community and gotten to know us.


• Right presentation: Pete McGinty - VP of Marketing - was tasked with talking to the bloggers. He  brought us in on the process of developing the campaign before the big reveal. He was happy to tell the back story and answer questions.

Which brings me to the unasked question: Can we see the other 23 concepts that hit the cutting room floor?

Ok, here's the setup:

Pete starts off by taking us inside the process. He holds up a board titled Challenges:

• No one outside Ohio knows us
• And, we don't have anything our competitors don't have

Sure, he couched it in it's not really that bad. But, the POV still seemed to be that we're somewhere between milk toast and total suck.

The agreed upon solution to this mediocrity morass was to have a little bit of fun; to make fun of ourselves.

Then the campaign was unveiled: Not in Columbus.

It's a collection of light-hearted videos, print ads and tShirts that point out some of the iconic things you can't do in Columbus and then pays it off with the variety of things you can do. It's a teaser, a page-turn stopper. If it works.

An example:

Browse the tees. Watch the videos. Download the print ads.

If there's one thing we've done plenty of in this town, it's make fun of ourselves. The variations on Cow Town alone are uncountable. It's part of cBus Syndrome: the ability to live in a vibrant, growing city and talk about it like it's a pile of cow crap.

And a campaign like this one feels like only more of the same. We're the marketing equivalent of the fat guy at the party making jokes about his girth so that the girls won't look at him with pity.

Oh, except, we only think we're the fat guy. We're actually the totally ripped hot guy who just has really  low self esteem.

If I were to re-invent this campaign, what would I talk about? What are the reasons to come to this city?

#1 for me: Columbus is a destination city for creative people. You're basically guaranteed to be rubbing elbows with an artist whether you're shopping the North Market or noshing on Hyde Park steaks.

Proof points:

• Robust creative economy
• Affordable, eclectic neighborhoods (i.e. places for artists to live)
• Groundswell of independent art activity
• Slew of professional arts organizations (from museums to the ballet)
• Nationally-known arts festivals - art fest, comfest
• Tons of programs and outlets for individual artists - from live/work spaces to monthly art sales and gallery hops
• Huge local music scene
• Nationally-recognized chefs
• Passionate foodie community

(Think you can't market that? Look at Toronto, Minneapolis, Portland)

#2 Ok, don't like that first one? How about the vibe? Columbus has this totally open, do-your-own thing vibe. The kind of city that has cool things to do at every level of hip. The kind of city that would produce the largest privately financed redevelopment project in the nation The kind of city that would have the country's third largest gay population and still almost go red in the election. The kind of city that would have multiple boutique and gallery districts - just to house that army of entreprenuers who feel like they have the right foundation to take the big risk.

(Think you can't market that? Look at Jamaica, Boulder, the other Portland)

#3 Still searching? Ok, how about we're a Big 10 town. And, we're home to the second largest college population in the country (behind Boston). That's exciting sports. A young, engaged population. And, all the cheap fun a college town has to offer.

(Think you can't market that? Ok...someone will have to help me here. You know Advergirl and sports. Like fish and bicycles.)

Anyway, my point is - Columbus has lots of compelling marketing messages. If we could just get over the cBus Syndrome and take an honest appraisal, I think we'd all see what the bloggers you invited over already see.

It should always be...

This EASY to use a press room:

The media room for Andy Beal's Radically Transparent offers enough content to power six news articles, four custom reviews, a buying decision and an ongoing relationship.

All in one place. All super easy to navigate.

This FUN to watch a branded video:

AKQA and Cake really fundamentally get it. It being social media and brands. You have to be able to take liberties - with yourself, your culture and your customers. You have to be able to delight and entertain and be completely different than a 30 second spot.

Little escapes the snark of this video from Pot Noodle. A piece that 200,000 people have already watched this month.

This PERSONAL to watch a recruitment video:

When Molly posted this video on Twitter, I had to ask her if it was sanctioned or organic ... the very simple delivery is so brimming with personality and conversation that I couldn't imagine it making it through any agency's self-marketing process.

But, somehow it did.

And, the simplicity of it - from an agency that COULD do anything - might just make it even more compelling.

This SIMPLE to share information:

Speaking of Twitter, I've been logged on for the past two days reading some of your favorite bloggers cover Ad Age's Digital Marketing summit in real time.

The posts include verbatims, analysis and a little argument. It's addictive.

This OPTIMISTIC to profile an audience:

After it sat for months on my teetering bedside stack of good intentions, I've finally picked up RenGen and dug in. Definitely my favorite industry book of this year... as much for its optimism as its smarts and illustrative examples.

Martin connects the dots from our creative and intellectual selves to a theory of renaissance that will define a generation.

Friday afternoon fun

A few things to lighten your afternoon... if the agency beer cart isn't quite enough.

An object lesson on why people don't trust advertising:

 

And, a few interesting projects from ad people who moonlight as real people:

• IADBIC: The Creative Director at Barefoot is the mastermind behind these wacky poems riffing on advertising. A little fine art meets our art. What was that quote that used to hang on my office wall ... something like welcome to our everyday struggle between capitalism and grace.

Steve's looking for submissions - so, grab your fountain pen and your issue of Ad Busters and get to it. Here's a little inspiration from his site:

"Where I will spread this couplet on spaceships and title it:
Flirt.
Taxi. Or
Atomic Burrito."

• Indexed: Copywriter turned comic Jessica Hagy recently published her first book of clever (sometimes zany) Venn diagrams. I just got the book in the mail - and, it's fab, but there's lots to enjoy on demand, too:
  • The Indexed Blog
  • Jessica guest blogging on Penguin Books
  • And, her Change This Venn manifesto

My faves:

I'd Like To Make Weekend Plans With You (and your husband)

Perhaps in agency life - more than in other work venues - the feeling that most of the social activities going on around you are equal parts exciting and exhausting is at times ... well, stalling. So thanks to The Bullshit Observer for this hysterical morning treat of old people like me socializing couple-style.

Miller brand wins with 'second tier' media

After rejecting Miller Lite's Bud-mocking spots in 2005 over fear of offending the bigger beer sponsor, the Super Bowl ad sales division got smart and locked in exclusivity with the King. Now only Anheuser Busch can show its sweaty bottles during the game. But, that hasn't stopped Miller's pesky harassment of big brother's ponies and puppies on the big day.

This year, Miller showed its contrarian side - buying out all the non-Super Bowl inventory to catch viewers who might be channel surfing during cut #7659 to Payton Manning shaking his head at Eli. Then, layered it on the next day with full-page print ads in major newspapers offering to by Bud a beer for their Super Bowl commercial 'win' (a better beer that is) and with some great online snark, like this YouTube video featuring the Miller High LIfe delivery man commenting on the big game ads:

As Bud's product development, packaging design and advertising continue  up-market, appealing to a somewhat more discriminating drinker (uh, beer consumer), Miller Lite heads down-market toward the blue collar beer of choice. And, fiesty really fits for these second place suds. Up with the Miller.

Mail on Sunday: Lessons in the viral spoof

Great forward from local copywriter Steve Post:

Couple of great reminders in this ad:

• Cliches work famously in viral marketing - especially when they add a fresh twist (the remote control cars were a delight when paired with the lap dogs)


• As a culture we are perpetually uncomfortable with the too serious. It's why Saturday Night Live has survived longer than many of my readers have been alive - we like to make fun of war movies and awkward family events and coming-of-age boys earnestly playing guitar in the basement and ... it's a simple formula that can be executed very well (and, of course, very badly)
  


• I think this particular video has the strong possibility of breaking into the 'email forward' set. Those folks who don't read blogs, but will forward pictures of adorable dogs, warnings about the latest credit scam and 101 Ways to Know You're from Boston. If I can be a bit irreverent (and potentially outright inappropriate) for just a moment ... to crack the code of the emailers, you've got to make them laugh or make them pray. And this is a great laugh.
  

Finally, British humor I actually get.