Montana Branding Initiative
Uncovering Montana's Brand
In the spring of 2006, Governor Schweitzer challenged the Tourism Advisory Council (TAC) to develop a brand for Montana. During that meeting the Governor noted that the moniker "Treasure State" originally referenced our resources below the ground but today's Montana has a host of treasures above the ground as well.
Based on this recommendation from the Governor and as part of Montana's statewide Tourism and Recreation 5-Year Strategic Plan the TAC formally accepted the Governor's challenge during the October 2006 TAC Meeting and directed the Montana Office of Tourism of the Department of Commerce to implement a brand development process.
The Montana Office of Tourism officially embarked on this brand process in the summer of 2007. The purpose: to uncover the essence of Montana.
There are a lot of organizations promoting Montana as a vacation destination. And a lot of money is attached to those efforts: to the tune of $76 million, according to Montana's Tourism & Recreation Strategic Plan. The budget of the state tourism promotion office, Montana Office of Tourism, makes up 12 percent of that. And while tourism is the state's second-largest industry, its marketing budget continues to lose ground not only in nationwide rankings, but among its chief competing states (states of the Rocky Mountain west).
It's an increasingly competitive marketplace. We have less money but need to do more. We've got to leverage our resources. The more promotional dollars we can get to speak the same message, the more powerful our message will be.
It is through Governor Schweitzer's request that this process is taking an active role in unifying our state, local, private and tribal marketing partners to strengthen Montana's image.
Agreeing on what that message should be was the hard part. It must make Montana uniquely special from any other destination—not just in the United States, but across the globe. A great deal of research has been conducted and countless hours have been spent collecting stakeholder input.
The goal was to produce a brand for Montana—one that speaks for Montana as a vacation destination. However, it's likely that elements of this brand will go beyond tourism—and the lessons we learn may have the potential to serve a wide range of Montana industries.
We're appreciative of Governor Schweitzer's initiative and the statewide community involvement we've received throughout this process: we believe we've created a brand that's strong and true.
While you're here, you're invited to learn more about this project and how you can help put the Montana brand to work.BRAND TOOLS
Brand Book 1: Discovering the Montana Brand
Brand Book 2: Using the Montana Brand
Brand Book 3: Defining the Winter Experience
For more information on this branding project, contact Katy Peterson, Consumer Marketing Manager, 406-841-2870 or kapeterson@mt.gov.
TOURISM & BRAND WORKSHOPS
The Montana Office of Tourism (MTOT) will be hosting tourism and brand workshops throughout the state in the coming months. The free workshops are an outreach effort to assist communities in bolstering their ability to attract and retain visitors to their area.
The workshops will include an overview of MTOT’s efforts in supporting and promoting tourism both statewide as well as in the featured community, in addition to a brainstorming session to discuss how the host area can draw more visitors annually.
MTOT is launching its inaugural tourism and brand workshop, entitled “Coming Together to Expand Montana’s Tourism Story,” in the Bitterroot Valley on Friday, February 3, 2012. It will be held at the Bitterroot River Inn Conference Center in Hamilton from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. There is no cost to attend, however, for planning purposes, interested parties are requested to pre-register for the workshop. Please RSVP to Carmen Levick at MTOT at (406) 841-2873 or at bit.ly/BitterrootRegistration.
The Montana Office of Tourism plans to bring the workshop to areas throughout the state, customizing the content gathering and brainstorming session to each location. Please contact Pam Gosink at pgosink@mt.gov if your community is interested in the team coming to your town to work together to “Expand Montana’s Tourism Story”.
For more information on the workshops, visit www.montanatourismnews.org or view the recent press releases on the workshops at 2012 Press Releases.
