By Roger Rosenbaum
info(at sign)rosenbaummedia.com
"Burn your brochures!" declared network television travel editor and New York Times best-selling author Peter Greenberg at the 2008 New York Governor's Tourism Conference held recently at the Sagamore Hotel near Lake George.
Peter Greenberg offered a strong dose of tough love for those gathering to build statewide enthusiasm for the re-launching of the I Love NY brand.
At a general conference session Greenberg explained: "It is not about burning brochures in the literal sense. It's about burning the ‘brochure mentality.’ Being overly promotional is not going to win you any points with travelers."
Nor is he himself willing to route those materials to print, TV, radio or Internet outlets. Greenberg who provides content and news for MSNBC, CNBC, AOL and AARP magazine explained that slickly produced pieces in print, online or in video that he receives will only take an express route to the trashcan.
"Travel journalism is not an infomercial. People want independent evaluation," said Greenberg.
His reviews and coverage of properties, destinations and events can catapult little known travel ideas into national spotlight. "If a hotel says we have the best pool in the Western Hemisphere I show up saying, “Oh yeah, show me that pool.” But if they say we have a pretty interesting pool and we hope you look at it I say, “That's fair. Let me take a look at it."
Greenberg who was the senior travel correspondent for six years at the Travel Channel said that marketing professionals must learn to separate overtly promotional material from actual news. "You have to get rid of the hyperbole and you have to get rid of the absolutes terms, because the audience is so far ahead of you."
Greenberg is also author of The New York Times best-selling series, The Travel Detective, which uncovers secrets the airline, hotel, cruise and rental car industries don’t want consumers to know.
Rather than focusing on what is in the best interest of a resort or destination the focus should be on how the information is newsworthy and impacts travelers.
Greenberg bluntly told the audience that regions, tourism offices and resorts seeking coverage really must have their own high quality video footage. Without this professionally shot footage these locations are “dead in the water.”
He said that footage known in the industry as "b-roll" is absolutely essential to have ready to ship to media outlets. He explained that most of his appearances on NBC rely on what is known as "cover footage." Greenberg said that the network is not going to send out a crew to tape the top five roller coasters in the country. They will rely on high-quality footage provided by the theme park. The same rules about overly produced marketing material apply to this type of footage.
Greenberg has received many awards for his work including a national Emmy. He explained that a videographer with news experience really should shoot the footage.
Providing cover footage to a TV station or network allows producers to have eyes and ears at a location or region. "No video means no TV coverage. This is the reality of our medium," said Greenberg.
Greenberg said sales and marketing videos need to be produced and shot differently from b-roll footage. "We will not put on a video brochure. A sales and marketing tape has no presence on or place on any news show. Every network, thankfully, is looking at travel as news,"he said.
News outlets don't need super models in the shots or a stylist to arrange the flowers, according to Greenberg. He said that there are a lot of great videographers, but few with the experience to know what a network show is looking for. "You would be shocked to know how many tapes I see that have a 'star' filter on throughout most of the shots. This is a production effect that has no place on a newscast," he said.
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Roger Rosenbaum has shot and edited footage airing on ABC News, CNN, CBS News, CBS Sports, The Weather Channel, USA Network and Telemundo. He has produced b-roll footage that has aired in New York, Albany, Chicago, Portland, Memphis and Houston.
Roger Rosenbaum is president of Rosenbaum Media Group LLC, a New York state-based digital communications company, specializing in tourism and real estate public relations, marketing and digital video production. He just launched a company called PR4RESORTS.COM.
