Client: Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts

New Valley Logo Gets Positive Reviews

By: Marcia Blomberg
Sunday, May 15, 2005

Most strangers believe the Pioneer Valley is in Oklahoma.

Room occupancy trends are down overall.

And perhaps worst of all for a drive-to destination, gasoline prices are up.

While the obstacles to boosting the Pioneer Valley's tourism industry are great - note also that the valley is surrounded by powerhouse destinations like Cape Cod, the Berkshires, and Maine - the region's tourism leaders have a new weapon in the battle to lure visitors here.

Earlier this week, the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau unveiled a new logo and positioning line that came out of the research by a Tennessee marketing firm as well as design work by two local marketers.

The new graphic will help potential visitors understand, at the very least, that the Pioneer Valley is in Massachusetts.

That's a good thing, since 95 percent of the people surveyed around the U.S. had never heard of the Pioneer Valley and guessed that it must be in Oklahoma, Arizona or Utah.

Hence, the new logo - replacing "The Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts" in a long oval, with the words "more to explore" underneath - is a map of Massachusetts with the Pioneer Valley marked in blue. The title is "Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley."

Underneath the map is the tag line: "Arrive Curious. Leave Inspired."

The concept of a map in the logo was well-received at its unveiling Tuesday, with several marketing and chamber of commerce officials giving it a thumbs up.

Nora T. Maroulis, director of marketing and development for the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, said she believes the new logo and tag line will work well with the variety of attractions in the valley, and said she intends to use the new material in her marketing materials whenever possible.

Noreen Tassinari, director of marketing at the Eastern States Exposition, said Big E marketing materials will also display the logo when possible.

"I think the logo is quite wonderful, for a number of reasons. I think it's a huge step forward in creating a cohesive identity for our region," Tassinari said.

But a persistent critic of the Economic Development Council's decision to hire an out-of-state firm to research the region's tourism industry and develop a brand identity said the new logo and tag line are "embarrassing."
"There's no style, no taste, no smarts," said Darby O'Brien, owner of Darby O'Brien Advertising in South Hadley. The valley has and is drawing more creative and sophisticated people to move here all the time, "and all we continue to do is dumb down the valley."

North Star Destination Strategies, of Nashville, Tenn., reviewed about 3,500 addresses from local lodging records and concluded that about 45 percent of the valley's visitors come from demographic groups that have high household incomes, relatively conservative values and are married couples with children.

Allan W. Blair, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts, said he loves the new "arrive curious" tag line because of its versatility, and rejected assertions by O'Brien and others that it's too bland and generic.

"(It) can be used by our educational institutions, by our museums, Six Flags, the (Basketball) Hall of Fame .... Everyone can adapt that, one way or another."

John W. Coull, executive director of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, said he believes the tag line is flexible enough to work even with an exhibition next year of Dutch art and culture at 10 museums in Hampshire and Franklin counties.
"We need to tie so many different things together with this line, and it needs to work," Coull said.

The logo was designed by John C. Hentz from Design and Advertising Associates, after the tag line emerged as the "overwhelming" favorite of marketing professionals around the country who reviewed eight selected by the Economic Development Council's tourism committee.

Harlan E. Spotts, a professor of marketing at Western New England College in Springfield, said the logo with its playful-looking fonts is likely to be successful in conveying the idea of fun to potential visitors.
"It's not a science. There's a lot of art to it," Spotts said. "You can get 10 designers in a room, and they'll have 10 different opinions about how you convey fun."

Mary Kay Wydra, president of the visitors bureau, noted that the research done by North Star was necessary so decisions could be made "based on the facts. We're all very proud of the Pioneer Valley. We wanted to leave emotion out of the decision-making."

North Star's research confirmed that a vast number - 43 percent - of the visitors to the Pioneer Valley are from Boston or New York, markets where the visitors bureau wants to concentrate its advertising spending.

The Nashville company also found that the Pioneer Valley has a good "conversion" rate - meaning that many of the people who inquire about coming here, actually do visit.

Visitors surveyed also noted some of the valley's unique attractions, including historic "firsts" like the invention of basketball and volleyball and the Indian motorcycle, according to Jeremy Griggs, vice president with North Star.

The strategy is to connect the spirit of innovation to the Pioneer Valley's assets, converting potential visitors' perceptions from pioneers in covered wagons to pioneers who break new ground in their field.

That spirit of innovation "translates to the positioning line," Griggs said.

Craig T. Rydin, chairman of Yankee Candle Co. and chairman of the Tourism Committee of the Economic Development Council, said that North Star's surveys of actual visitors showed two dominant perceptions of the valley - as the location of a list of attractions, including Six Flags, Yankee Candle and the Basketball Hall of Fame - and as a "serene, pastoral" area.

Now that the research is done and the logo and positioning line have been developed, the hard work begins, Spotts said.
"The proof is going to be in what happens now," Spotts said. "Ultimately, whether or not a brand succeeds depends on the support you give it."

The EDC and visitors' bureau are lobbying state legislators to return funding for the state's 13 regional tourism councils to the $8 million level that had been cut down to $6.9 million for the current fiscal year Wydra said.

Blair said the Economic Development Council is also lobbying for another $150,000 in state funding to help launch the new brand with an aggressive marketing push.

"When you have a new logo and tag line, you've got to work extra hard to get it out there in front of people so it catches hold," Blair said.

For the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, the visitors bureau has a budget of $240,175 to advertise for leisure travelers, plus $207,271 to advertise for meetings and conventions.

Wydra agreed it's critical to advertise aggressively.

"It's that much more competitive out there now. We need our region to rise to the top in the consumer's mind," she said.
Wydra said a print advertising campaign will be launched later this month, starting with the Hartford Courant's guide to summer activities, followed by a 10-page special insert to run June 12 in the Boston Globe's suburban editions, reaching about 250,000 households.

Janet Unger of Northampton, who has her own marketing shop, wrote the copy to be used on the four-color ads.
The copy plays on the two distinct allures of the valley, and is headlined "Attractions. Distractions. Your choice."
One page is designed to accommodate two photos, one of an attraction - like kids upside-down on a roller coaster - and a "distraction," like a photograph of fall foliage in the valley or some other pastoral view.

The new logo and tag line are likely to spur renewed enthusiasm among the valley's hospitality firms, Blair said, with more participation by those companies in the visitors' bureau's co-operative advertising.

"That will give us the economic punch to get the ads out in front of more people, hopefully resulting in more visitors, more quickly," Blair said.