5 Minutes With...: Branding Atlanta

Marketing guru tackles city’s image and aims to unite private-public entities in one message.

March 2, 2008

Atlanta Woman: What is Brand Atlanta?
Melinda Ennis-Roughton: Brand Atlanta is the consolidated marketing effort for our city, designed to attract consumer tourism and economic development. Since tourism is the second largest economic driver for Atlanta, this initiative is critical. In our case, "branding" is simply the communication of Atlanta's most compelling, differentiating assets into one consistent, motivating message.

AW: How is this campaign different from the previous ATL campaign?
Ennis-Roughton: Our current campaign is targeted to young professionals (25-44) and empty nesters for weekend getaways. Research shows us that these targets are our best opportunity for success. Millions of young business travelers pass through Atlanta's airport each year. If we can get them to add a day to their trip or bring a spouse, friend or partner along for a long weekend, that has huge potential for positive economic impact. Also, Atlanta's best-scoring attributes are dining, shopping, the arts and festivals. We truly have lots of things to do that people elsewhere just aren't fully aware of. Our brand positioning statement, which is the basis for all our communication, conveys that. But it also focuses on our critical brand differentiation compared to competitor cities like Chicago, Philly, etc.– that Atlanta embodies the warmth and welcoming spirit of the South.

AW: It seemed that the ATL campaign was deemed as appealing to African-Americans. Was that a true perception? How does the new campaign slogan and direction unite the white and black sections of Atlanta?
Ennis-Roughton: The message that the city was opening many great new assets, which was delivered via thefirst phase of the campaign, successfully reached all residents, with local awareness very high. More recently,we tested the next phase of messaging that I described above, along with the current theme line, "City Lights, Southern Nights," among more than 2,400 respondents in the Northeast and Southeast U.S. as well as here in Atlanta. Naturally, we tested this among all of our key demographics, including African-Americans. In testing more than 16 themes, there was an enormous consensus among Northerners and Southerners, and among black and white audiences, that this was the most motivating and evocative for Atlanta. That doesn't mean we will use it forever. But our research tells us it's the best and most effective theme line to use now. At the same time, our brand positioning will remain constant no matter what the theme line within our advertising may be.

AW: What is the secret to a successful private-public partnership?
Ennis-Roughton: The success of any partnership is demonstrating mutual respect and trying to understand the position of the group or person you are dealing with – walking in their shoes a bit. Once you understand their point of view, you will find the common ground where success can be achieved.

AW: Why have a coordinated effort instead of various entities marketing themselves?
Ennis-Roughton: Clear, consistent communication about what you are, whether you are a person, a product or a city, is critical to defining who you are and what you have to offer. Without that, you have a "house of Babel," with no one able to communicate anything effectively. The other clear benefit is the synergy that comes from communicating together, which translates into an incredible efficiency in spending. Separately, the arts, restaurant, retail and attraction communities of Atlanta can only communicate in a limited way. But working together, and by harmonizing with ongoing Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau messaging, we can collectively build a powerful, consolidated brand message.


AW: Does Atlanta have enough attractions to encourage visitors to prolong
their stay?
Ennis-Roughton: Absolutely. We have an incredible local history based onthe division and disaster of the Civil War and the hope and glory of the civil rights movement. These things are all around us in the same way the story of American Independence is found in Philadelphia. There's the KingCenter, the Carter Center, the Civil Rights Walk on Auburn Avenue ... the list is endless. There is no better arts center in America than the Woodruff and our exclusive Louvre arrangement. And it's only gotten so much better for family attractions, from Fernbank to, of course, the Georgia Aquarium. We're even showcasing the Muppets here at the Center for Puppetry Arts. I used to live in England and have taken visitors all over Atlanta. They are always astounded by all there is to do and the loveliness of this city. I found that when I lived in London, Londoners were very blasé about their own great city –and I think it's the same story with Atlantans.

AW: What are the marketing points in this campaign?
Ennis-Roughton: Our brand positioning is that "Atlanta offers visitors muchmore than they expect, combining the youthful energy and amenities of a world-class city with the welcoming spirit and warmth of the South."

AW: How much does the campaign cost, and who pays for it?
Ennis-Roughton: The campaign we are running will be on cable TV in Chicago, D.C., and Jacksonville, Florida, our No. 1 drive-in market, and national print publications such as Conde Nast Traveler, Travel and Leisure, Delta Sky, and Essence. We are also spending about a third of our budget on Internet marketing, which overindexes in use by 113 percent with our target audience and is where 70 percent of travel decisions are now made. Our total campaign is about $2.3 million. Brand Atlanta is funded via a combination of the hotel/motel tax and the car rental tax. So we are basically reinvesting a very small portion of the $43 million in revenues that the city garners from tourism and visitors, not [from] local taxpayers.

AW: How will you judge its success?
Ennis-Roughton: We have metrics set up for every medium we are using in order to measure brand impressions and impact. At the end of the day, our overall effect will be measured by an increase in overnight leisure visitors, as measured by the hospitality industry monitor D.K. Shifflet & Associates. In fact, by the end of 2006, during the first full year of Brand Atlanta, overnight
leisure visitors increased 10.7 percent.

AW: What can we expect in the future?
Ennis-Roughton: We want to expand our communication efforts, particularly on the Internet, which offers us the opportunity to market globally. (For example, Atlanta.net, which is already the premier site for both residents and visitors to use, will continue to be expanded and enriched for all audiences.) We believe Atlanta has a huge, untapped international tourism business because I can tell you, people over there just don't know who we are. But our accommodation, dining and retail prices are lower than New York's, which is marketing heavily in Europe. You can fly direct from Hartsfield-Jackson to 80 international destinations – and we believe Atlanta offers a great experience for international tourists and is a gateway to other treasures in Georgia including the barrier islands, the Okefenokee, etc.

AW: Tell us about your background.
Ennis-Roughton: I am the sole owner of an Atlanta-based marketing firm, Melworks, with clients including Sylvan Learning Centers and Emory Healthcare. I also served as chief global marketing officer for Church's Chicken, with responsibilities for international marketing, including opening the China market in Shanghai. I've also been a senior executive at several Atlanta advertising agencies, working on everything from hotels to health care. From 1983 to 1993, I was with the national headquarters for Arby's Restaurants, where I became the first female vice president and, eventually, senior vice president. I've lived in Atlanta 27 years with the exception of a three-year period, from 1998-2001, when I lived with my husband and two sons in East Horsley, Surrey, near London. During that time, I was a freelance writer, marketer and a typical English housewife.

AW: What is the key to a successful marketing campaign?
Ennis-Roughton: I believe you have to do your homework, which is lots of research, to get a thorough understanding of what consumers think of you and want from your experience. You cannot market based only on what you want to say about yourself. The message must be based on what people believe as well as like about you. If they don't believe it, it doesn't matter how many times you say it.

AW: Do you get tired of having the AJC in any article about you and the campaign note that you are married to Bert Roughton, one of its managing editors?
Ennis-Roughton: After 26 years of marriage, we are both pretty well coated in Teflon.