Client: Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Hattiesburg CVB to Receive 2003 TTRA South Central Research-In-Action Award

By: Thomas E. Van Hyning, President-Elect TTRA South Central States Chapter

The purpose of our four-state Chapter’s Research-In-Action Awards Program is to recognize successful tourism promotion, advertising and development activities in which tourism research has played a significant role.

Applicants must benefit from this successful venture, but the research can be done by another entity, e.g., an ad agency, a market research firm. Guidelines for the 2003 Award stipulated that the Final Research Report be published after April 30, 2002. This article focuses on the Hattiesburg CVB award-winning effort.

Background Information

In May 2002, the Hattiesburg CVB hired North Star Destination Strategies of Nashville, Tennessee as their Research and Analysis Firm. North Star had a track record of providing small-to-mid-size CVB’s with research, strategy and creative, with remarkable success rates. But before going any further, here is some background information on Hattiesburg and how the city/area and its Tourism industry have evolved.

Hattiesburg was settled in 1880 by Captain William Hardy, who was surveying for the Gulf & Ship Island Railroad. It was incorporated in 1884 and named Hattiesburg, in honor of Captain Hardy’s wife, Hattie. Some five years later (1889), the Hattiesburg area (Richburg) hosted the last bare-knuckle heavyweight title fight won by John L. Sullivan—the champion—over Jake Kilrain in 75 rounds.

Hattiesburg, located in both Forrest and Lamar counties, eventually became known as the “Hub” due to its geographic location and proximity to New Orleans, Mobile, Biloxi-Gulfport, Jackson and Meridian. The Hattiesburg Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) was created in 1994, including Forrest and Lamar counties. Effective June 2003, the Hattiesburg MSA was redefined to include Forrest, Lamar and Perry counties.

Hattiesburg’s CVB was formed in late 1990, a time when Brett Favre was completing his collegiate football career for the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Golden Eagles. The CVB’s mission was defined as and continues to be to introduce new dollars into the Hattiesburg economy through increased short-term visitation and overnight stays. Local tourism attractions in 1990 were the local zoo, a state park, a canoeing outfitter, two local colleges/universities and a handful of hotels and locally owned restaurants. A 10-year strategic plan was developed by the CVB in 1993 to market and promote the area and its attractions.

Growth and Development Leads to Updating the 1993 Strategic Plan

Hattiesburg began golf package marketing in 1994 and hosted Olympic athletes from Kenya and Malawi in the summer of 1996 to assist in their preparation for the Atlanta Games. A state-of-the-art Convention Center opened in July 1998; it hosted the September 28-29, 2000 TTRA SC Annual Conference with a record TTRA SC attendance of 124—26 USM students and 98 others, including speakers, moderators and a spouse.

It was in 2001 when Hattiesburg CVB staff began to identify and evaluate research firms capable of analyzing past and present Tourism Development activities of the CVB. This firm would assist the CVB in identifying key markets and external factors to grow tourism’s impact for the next decade. The May 2002 contract agreement between the CVB and North Star resulted in 16 months of market analysis, research and evaluation. This research included Vision Surveys, Visitor Origin Surveys, Inquiry Origin Surveys and Visitor Perception Surveys. A key component was a PRIZM analysis making use of Claritas data.

Birds of the Same Feather Flock Together

PRIZM Profile reports enable clients to analyze the PRIZM Cluster profile of customer groups or prospective customers in detail, e.g., users of a particular product, households sharing given demographic characteristics or lifestyles. They identify groups of PRIZM Clusters (neighborhood types) on which to focus a marketing program. Sixty-two PRIZM clusters run the gamut from the four clusters of the T1 - Landed Gentry Social Group, located far outside major metropolitan areas in the U.S., to U2 – Urban Midscale, or five clusters comprising middle-income, urban fringe neighborhoods in America’s major metro areas.

The 62 PRIZM clusters are grouped by Quintile. Hattiesburg’s top 10 visitor clusters account for about 40 percent of its visitors. They include God’s Country (Group T1), Norma Rae-ville (Group T3), Scrub Pine Flats (Group R3) and seven others. God’s Country are well-educated professionals or white-collar managers from dual income households centered around family and outdoor activities. Their age groups are 35-44, 45-54 and 55-64. Scrub Pine Flats tend to be older (55+) African-American Farm Families living in the coastal flatlands of the Atlantic and Gulf states from the James to the Mississippi Rivers. Norma Rae-ville comprises young families in bi-racial towns centered in the South with below average household income and education.

According to North Star Destination Strategies’ May 28, 2003 Hattiesburg BrandPrint report, “Although there is some variation among Hattiesburg’s top clusters, the commonality is that many of them have a lower-income lifestyle, have relatively conservative values and are married couples with children.”

North Star took the PRIZM analysis a step further by grouping each cluster into one of four quadrants: core, expansion, conversion and non-target. This Game Chart Plan focuses on core clusters more likely to visit Hattiesburg than the U.S. population. North Star found a large proportion of customers in these clusters’ households as “more likely than average” to be visitors. Expansion clusters are those “more likely to visit Hattiesburg than the U.S. population” and consist of a relatively small percentage of visitors. Conversion clusters consist of a significant proportion of visitors, but are less likely to visit Hattiesburg. Non-target clusters comprise a relatively small percentage of visitors and are not as likely to visit Hattiesburg.

PRIZM analysis reports have lifestyle characteristics about Hattiesburg’s visitors. With an Index of 100 being average and over 100 more likely to do/take part in an activity and 100 less likely, North Star found:

Illustration 1: Lifestyle Characteristic Index for Hattiesburg, Mississippi Visitors

Four Lifestyle Characteristics (Over 100)

Four Lifestyle Characteristics (Under 100)

Krystal Hamburgers, 1/month

Go to College Football, 1/month

Chick-Fil-a, 1/month

Member, Church Board

149

140

132

124

Casino Gaming, Lake Tahoe,1/yr.

Spanish/Latin Music, 1/yr.

Disneyland, California, 1/yr.

Any Six Flags, 1/yr.

Visitor Origin and Inquiry Studies

Approximately 4,500 zip codes from Hattiesburg lodging records were collected by North Star. Each zip code was geocoded (assigned) to a Designated Market Area (DMA). DMAs, as defined by the TV-rating company, A.C. Nielsen, consist of a group of counties unified by a common TV broadcast coverage. Four Mississippi DMAs are Jackson, Biloxi-Gulfport, Columbus-Tupelo-West Point and Hattiesburg-Laurel.

Just over 30 percent of Hattiesburg’s visitors came from the Hattiesburg-Laurel (12.5%), Jackson (11.6%) and New Orleans (6.6%) DMA’s. Another 17.5% comprised visitors from Memphis, Biloxi-Gulfport, Atlanta, Mobile-Pensacola and Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Arkansas (roughly 3-4% apiece). The Birmingham (Alabama) and Columbus-Tupelo-West Point DMA’s rounded out the Top 10 Visitor List for Hattiesburg.

Some 1,500 zip codes from Hattiesburg inquiry records were collected by North Star with the zip codes geocoded. Hattiesburg’s Top 10 Inquiry Markets were Hattiesburg-Laurel, New Orleans, Jackson , St. Louis, Columbus-Tupelo-West Point, Biloxi-Gulfport, Chicago, Baton Rouge, Birmingham and Memphis.

Vision Survey Study

North Star analyzed 36 qualitative surveys completed by Hattiesburg stakeholders. One of the Vision Survey questions was: If Hattiesburg were a person, who would this person be? A mini-profile follows:
Age: 45-young enough to be energetic and want more for the future, but old enough to have a wise understanding of the past.
Marital Status: Married because this person is committed to family and cares for his/her spouse; settled and committed.
Children: Yes, 2 to 3 because he/she is family oriented and has found a good place to raise children.
Occupation: Sales or middle management—likes people/is committed to making customers proud.
Wardrobe: Casual; khakis and golf shirt so that anyone around feels accepted; can dress up or down; comfortable and relaxed.
Personality: Likeable, intelligent, conservative and friendly; accepts all walks of life and cares for the welfare of everyone.
Current Issues: Education needs for children, fast growth of community, the economy.

Another Vision Survey question—linked to branding issues—was: In the context of Tourism, what does Hattiesburg aspire to be? Key summary responses included:

A destination point for families.
A large community with a small town atmosphere.
A cultural and education mecca.
A recreation (golf) area.

Visitor Perceptions Study

North Star consultants conducted about 25 in-depth interviews with Hattiesburg visitors. The phone interviewees, comprised persons from within a two-hour drive of Hattiesburg (inside the Region) and over a two-hour drive from Hattiesburg (outside the Region). Illustration II compares and contrasts the feedback of the “closer in” visitors (within a two-hour drive) to those “further out” (over a two-hour drive) in terms of Visitor Motivation, Brand Awareness, Brand Perception and Brand Personification.

Illustration II: Visitor Perceptions for Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Component	Visitors Within the Region	Visitors Outside the Region
Visitor Motivation	Going to a USM game, e.g., football. Have family in the area. Shopping, movies, a nice dinner.	On a business trip. Passing through (stop on the way). Visiting friends and relatives.
Brand Awareness	USM, medical facilities, restaurants. Intimately familiar with Hattiesburg.	College town, medical facilities. Hattiesburg-low level of awareness.
Brand Perception	Friendly, welcoming, nice people. Almost like home, like family. Easy to get to and affordable. A great community-nice-friendly.	Aside from golf, do not know what is available for recreation. Would think the area is very lovely… just passing through; stayed 1 night.
Brand Personification	Female, older, motherly. Drives a Chevy car—practical. Like a mother—can go to her for anything you need.	Believed Hattiesburg would be relatively young (due to growth) and be casually sophisticated—he would wear jeans and a coat/tie with them.

SWOT Summary

Hattiesburg’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT)—based on the analysis of visitor
and stakeholder data—were grouped as follows by North Star:

Strengths

Golf.
Friendly environment.
Plenty of outdoor recreation available.
Socially conservative, family oriented community.
Easy to get to from surrounding areas.

Weaknesses

No dominant attraction identifier for tourists.
Unsightly property.

Opportunities

Positioned as a great stopover place to spend a weekend…that is close by.
Appeal to families that want to get away from the “fake” family destinations.
Embrace the surrounding areas to emphasize affordable outdoor recreation/historical appeal.
Capitalize on the personality of Hattiesburg.

Threats

Lack of awareness outside of the region.
No perceived value as a destination from visitors.
Competition from gulf cities.

Brand Strategy and Message

Upon completion of the Analysis Phase, North Star worked with the CVB to devise a brand strategy and message targeting Hattiesburg’s key tourism markets. Components of these research-based strategies included the development of new CVB logo and tag line, as well as market-specific advertising campaigns. Short and long-term business building ideas were identified to grow specific market segments and increase Tourism-generated dollars in Hattiesburg.

Hattiesburg’s geographic market segments were positioned in three areas: Primary—markets within a two-hour drive of Hattiesburg; Secondary—the state of Mississippi; Tertiary—the Southeast Region. About half of the DMA’s visiting and inquiring about Hattiesburg are within the Primary Market. The brand strategy differentiated Hattiesburg from surrounding markets while remaining true or relevant to its core visitor base. Hattiesburg was positioned as follows:

Hattiesburg provides families with an easy, affordable, outdoor-oriented, fun getaway.

But further differentiation was needed, since there are other small-to-medium size destinations claiming to be fun, affordable, family-oriented and so on. This is where “HH” (“Humanizing Hattiesburg” not Households for those market researchers/number crunchers with visions of HH Per Capita Income) comes in.

The “humanization” of Hattiesburg came down to Hattie. Hattie-related thoughts and emotions included personal, warm, colloquial, inviting and transcendent of race. Hattie, standing alone, alerts visitors that Hattiesburg is affordable, real and family focused. Moreover, it can provide marketing-related opportunities in other markets such as reunions, group meetings and amateur sports events.

Hattiesburg: Stay with friends

Hattie became Hattiesburg’s new “star”/spokesperson based on case study information at the TTRA South Central States Chapter Annual Conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Friday, September 26, 2003. Don R. McEachern, President, North Star Destination Strategies, highlighted some of his firm’s work for Mobile, Alabama; Augusta, Georgia; and Hattiesburg, in this session. Don may have taken a personal interest in the Hattiesburg project since he does have an aunt named Hattie.

About two-and-a-half weeks later, I attended the Hattiesburg CVB Marketing Summit at their Lake Terrace Convention Center. It was clear from the handouts and presentations that the implementation of specific programs based on the May 2002 – September 2002 project began immediately. Some of the new programs included development and operation of a Housing Bureau, Red Carpet Services (meeting planner, family reunion, military reunion, and fraternal event assistance programs), a new advertising campaign targeting markets identified in the research, as well as specific Internet marketing activities.

Some ads with Hattie quotes were in the Hattiesburg Summit handouts:

“The best way to enjoy nature is one hole at a time.” - Hattie
“It’s hard for a family to drift apart when they’re sitting in the same boat.” - Hattie
“Around here, we treat every team like the home team.” - Hattie
“Combine a modern convention center with small-town hospitality, and the results are anything but conventional.” - Hattie

Some Final Thoughts

Hattiesburg CVB and Convention Center officials took a long-term, proactive approach in a culture and industry that is driven by short-term “bottom line” indicators. The Hattiesburg CVB management team acted quickly on the study recommendations unlike some clients throughout the U.S. in Tourism and other industries who are adversely impacted by red tape/chain of command issues, among other issues.

A key component—for the Hattiesburg CVB—to use the data collected during the project’s Research Phase is the opening in February 2004 of the Hattiesburg Visitors Center, adjacent to the Lake Terrace Convention Center. This facility will be the only constructed, in-state, regional Visitors Center in Mississippi and will provide visitors with specific information, services and products identified from the research project.

Hattiesburg Tourism officials deserve credit for thinking “outside the box” as well as for making Marketing Research a top priority. Richard (Rick) Taylor, Executive Director of the Hattiesburg CVB and Convention Center, was a TTRA South Central States Chapter Board member in the mid-1990s. Patrick Bell, the CVB’s Tourism Director, made a Sports Marketing presentation on September 28, 2000 at the South Central States Chapter’s Annual Conference hosted by the Lake Terrace Convention Center. Kristie Godwin, the CVB’s Marketing Director, attended the August 2003 Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations (ESTO) Conference in Asheville, North Carolina during the final phase of the North Star Project.

The author wishes to thank the management and staff of the Hattiesburg CVB including Rick Taylor, Patrick Bell and Kristie Godwin for facilitating various documents, including the Hattiesburg PRIZM Analysis and BrandPrint reports prepared by North Star Destination Strategies, Nashville, Tennessee.

For further information on Hattie, please contact Rick Taylor, e-mail: rtaylor@hattiesburg.org; Patrick Bell, e-mail: pbell@hattiesburg.org; Kristie Godwin, e-mail: kgodwin@hattiesburg.org.