NATIONAL TRAVEL EXPERT TELLS TOURISM CONVENTION: "BURN BROCHURES AND GET VIDEO."

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.

My Day With Rachel Ray...

OVERNIGHT SUCCESS DOES NOT OFTEN HAPPEN OVERNIGHT

By Roger Rosenbaum

Marketing is the process of presenting a product or service to appeal to potential customers. Some product developers seek mass appeal, while others are happy with reaching a niche audience.

More than appeal, there must be real value in what you bring to the table. Value comes in many forms—cost savings, entertainment, information and making life faster, easier and better for those you hope to serve.

Building a long-term connection with customers is not a flash-in-the-pan proposition. Getting customers to know, like and trust your product or service often does not happen overnight.

Going from bright idea to blockbuster product or service takes talent and persistence mixed with plenty of patience. One perfect example can be seen all around us. No matter how hard you try, it is next to impossible to spend a day without seeing or hearing celebrity chef Rachel Ray.

The spunky chef has her own magazine, national TV show and a one-hour celebrity-flavored profile on E! True Hollywood Story. Not to mention her photo, which is plastered all over grocery stores and advertising for Dunkin’ Donuts.

As with most success stories, there are lean times. Perhaps this is when she did research on how to eat on $40 a day. The E! True Hollywood Story reveals that she was making $50 a segment cooking on local TV. Much of that money, according to E!, went to buying food to prepare on the air.

Vision, determination and seemingly boundless energy brought Ray from serving customers at a diner in Lake George, New York to entertaining millions of fans who tune into her show, read her magazine and by a multitude of products with her image on them. Ray’s rise to national stardom did not happen overnight.

This much I can confirm: After a long night of shooting a news story in Lake George, I pulled into a Warren County diner on a Labor Day weekend in the mid-1980’s. The diner staff must have seen the TV station logos on my car as I remember hearing a little buzz between the waitresses as to who was going to serve me.

I had not eaten in 12 hours when a waitress approached my table. My mind was set on ordering a ham and cheese omelet, but the waitress would not stop peppering me with questions about the television station and how to get on TV.

My immediate goal was getting food in my belly. Rachel’s goal was getting the scoop on how to break into television. She told me her plan of hosting a cooking show and wanted to know what steps she should take. It seemed like a far-fetched idea. At the time, I was scraping together a living shooting hard news stories. Most were of the spicy variety (fires and scandals) which are a staple of the local television news coverage. The idea that the station would pay for cooking segments seemed at the time to be half-baked. Ironically, the station where I worked had launched the career of another chef…Mr. Food.

Ray seemed unfazed by the reality of local broadcasting or its focus on the disaster de jour. Undaunted, the questions continued every time she approached my table. I gave her the names of key television station staff members on the chance she might turn unbridled ambition into something audiences cannot get enough of. She did tell me that she had a friend who knew someone in management at the station. She networked and made the right connections.

From the overnight shift at an upstate diner to national daytime television Ray continues to bring a lot to the table. Companies seek her out to promote their brands, products and television viewers want her recipes.

Sometimes products do not live up to their promise or to expectations. Rachel Ray is a rare example of what happens when dreams, tenacity and smart marketing are allowed to develop over time.

Roger Rosenbaum is the president of Rosenbaum Media Group LLC, a digital marketing communications company located in the Hudson Valley. RMG specializes in public relations, digital marketing and development of Web 2.0 content. He can be reached at: 845-943-5366 or info@rosenbaummedia.com.

BRANDED WEB VIDEO CONTENT BIG IN 2008

Web video has become desktop television. Sales and marketing teams can become today’s TV network programming executives, replacing traditional corporate “suits” responsible for shows like "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"

The web-based clip culture inspired by YouTube and Google Video has really paved the way for businesses to create their own high-quality content to help build the loyalty of current customers and educate new customers about the benefits of their products and services.

Digital web video can help sell, tell, educate, motivate, train and entertain. Think of it as your company’s own TV network available in offices and homes around the corner and the globe. Web video can be delivered in crystal-clear DVD quality with almost instant playback for offices and homes simply equipped with a high-speed Internet connection.

Effective web video can range from a single clip to a series to educational material presented in a documentary style. The options are endless.

FOCUS ON THE PURPOSE:

Web video must serve a real purpose with a result in mind. Do you want a viewer to place an order, forward the clip to a colleague, join a discussion or RSVP to a seminar or trade show? The ultimate goal for any website is to make the content and information so compelling that visitors feel they need to check in on a regular basis. Creating a community of people to participate on a regular basis can create a competitive advantage that is hard to beat.

High-quality production can be expensive. However, the good news in the Digital Age with nonlinear editing is that footage can easily be exported for use in many formats, including PowerPoint presentations or for convenient exhibition at trade shows. You can put the video on a SmartPhone, iPod or portable DVD player to show on sales calls.

BACK TO BASICS:

Developing a web video strategy requires teamwork. The information technology (IT) department staff can embed the content and marketing department or agency can develop a creative way to position the company.

It is wise to re-evaluate key questions: Who are we, what do we do, who do we do it for and why do we do it? And developing a new presentation is a good time to examine branding and marketing materials to see if they are up-to-date or if the desired response is achieved from them. Take it a few steps further: What are our distribution channels and what do our customers say about us? Think SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) marketing analysis.

MAKE A CONNECTION:

Digital web video is the most dynamic marketing tool created to date and there is certainly means and space out there for image-building campaigns, but many skeptical companies will be looking to justify the cost of production.

In some cases, it can be very effective to put clips of a telegenic and charismatic CEO on a website to showcase the company mission and goals (a la Steve Jobs), this should not be the only marketing effort.

The goal is to bring the company’s products, services, team and industry to life with compelling content. Customer testimonials can be powerful selling tools to help inspire confidence in your company.

There are fewer boundaries than in the traditional world of advertising when you paid for a thirty or sixty-second spot, though there are some limitations on the technology as well as conventional wisdom about the shrinking attention span of web surfers.

Web video presents a single very appealing aspect among the others discussed: accountability. You can track how many people viewed the video, how much time they spent on the site and what zip code they came from. You can allow viewers to rate or comment on the video.

Rosenbaum Media Group produced content for an Ulster County, New York client that lead to 50,000 views during a 30-day period, a very high number for a focused, regional campaign. It is very important to note that factors beyond web video (like a powerful website) also have a great impact on results of a campaign. The value you provide to your customers must be clear and presented in a way that is appealing and effective.

If you have produced a great web video that accurately and creatively positions your products and services, steps must be taken to properly package and promote the presentation. Special tags can be embedded so that the video comes up on web search pages (and there are methods available to optimize placement high up in search results). Another option is to embed the video clips in electronic newsletters to customers or news releases to members of the media.

Building buzz around your content is one sure-fire way to get it noticed. Writing a news release about the new content or create place the information in an RSS feed. The use of video is a clear signal that one-dimensional, billboard-like websites are a thing of the past. Welcome to the world of Web 2.0.

There is no question that you are smarter than a 5th grader. Now, let the world see it.

Roger Rosenbaum is the president of Rosenbaum Media Group LLC, a digital communications company located in Ulster County. Rosenbaum Media Group consults with clients to create premium digital public relations, marketing and Web 2.0 projects. He can be reached at: www.rosenbaummedia.com or 845-943-5366.

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Finding your marketing sweet spot

Just before Valentines Day, the timing was right to sell chocolates and loads of them.

A man set up a card table at 7 a.m. in a Hudson Valley business hoping to catch the attention of a large group of passersby. The presentation was colorful and selection was plentiful. You could say he had a lock on the lucrative market. Business should have been sweet, but instead it had gone sour. There was one major flaw with his marketing plan: He was selling to the absolutely wrong audience. The man had set up a mobile sweet shop at a busy gym during what is in essence rush hour.

It is true that the gym has 1,300 members, but the profile of a potential buyer was someone with a weight problem or someone with a vow to improve their health. Runners, weight lifters, and Spinners arrive at the gym at the awful hour of 5 a.m. to fight the battle of the bulge and ward off the winter blues.

Most passersbys consider it a show of strength to stare the candy down and ignore the sugar’s siren-song call. What could this wayward Willy Wonka have done differently to target this large group of potential customers? The most obvious answer is to think about what the target audience would want to have either before or after a workout. Perhaps sources of protein are the solution. But, the gym already does sell protein drinks and products, so they have the corner on that market.

While the term sweet spot originally came from sports (the spot on a club, racket, bat, etc., where a ball is most effectively hit.) it has a really nice ring around Valentines Day.

Perhaps this is too much of a hard-hearted evaluation of the candy man’s venture to capture chocolate loving customers. The sugar-laced scenario does beg an important question: Does your business set up shop in a high-traffic area appealing to the wrong audience? Does your company need an emergency SWOT TEAM? A wise tactical approach might include a thorough evaluation of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Most can benefit from this exercise to determine how their value proposition benefits customers.

Another business that has found their sweet spot is Live South. The real estate marketing company publishes a magazine, Living Southern Style, which showcases nearly 20 new residential communities. Company president Dave Robertson describes his high-end publication as a cash business. ”If communities don’t pay, they aren’t in the publication, which reaches a key demographic of buyers.”

Robertson has taken the time to carefully analyze his target audience. What’s more, he then takes his clients on the road. Live South puts on a real estate road show with the sales and marketing staff of each of the communities.

A recent event at the Hyatt Regency in Old Greenwich, Connecticut had an overflow crowd coming to kick the tires of upscale communities throughout Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and Florida just to name a few. Robertson understands that vacation and second homebuyers seeking warmer climates are currently located in the Northeast. Old Greenwich is not the only stop, so he cannot be accused of seeking customers in an affluent area who are in essence the cream of the crop. These shows also pull into Ohio, New Jersey, Boston and Washington, DC. They reach potential customers where they live and give Robertson’s clients hot leads of people seeking milder climates.

While this is a clearly smart strategy, Robertson’s website could reach the target audience on a year-round basis with digital video tours of each community. Not just overhead shots of sprawling southern golf courses, but real life interviews with current residents talking about what makes living in the community so appealing. These testimonials can showcase a lifestyle, which can be as important as the home a buyer will purchase. Customers want to imagine how a communities amenities fit in with their values and desire for relaxation and security.

In fact, a recent statistic in the New York Times stated that 80 percent homebuyers make purchasing decisions based upon Internet research and comparison-shopping. High quality web video can help communities seal the deal with customers.

There is no question that the photo-rich Living Southern Style magazine is a valuable sales tool for the communities it serves. The coffee table quality publication has a real place in an age of information overload.

Nonetheless, Live South is executing a marketing plan better than selling chocolates to the fit-conscious crowds. For all his heavy lifting, the Candy Man did not score one sale in a two-hour period. No one had the heart to tell him what he was doing wrong.

Roger Rosenbaum is the president of Rosenbaum Media Group LLC an Ulster County-based marketing communications company. He can be reached at: roger@rosenbaummedia.com