THE BATTLE FOR ATTENTION

By Charles-Eric Vilain XIIII,
Managing Director of the Lille Convention Bureau (France)

When I recently went to the DMAI’s (Destination Marketing Association International) 94th Annual Convention I was inspired by “The Future Study of Destination Marketing: Tradition, Transition and Transformation”, a major study conducted by the DMAI Foundation. The study provides a Strategic Framework for all DMO’s to plan for the future of their destinations. Three key strategic themes emerged from this study: relevance, visibility and value proposition. In addition to the three key themes, eight globally–focused “super trends” surfaced. One of these “super trends is “The Battle for Attention”.

Our world is changing extremely fast. Can you believe that less than 15 years ago only a very few people had heard of the internet? Can we imagine our world and our industry without it today? Our world is getting totally global. We buy clothes through the internet in the US, we chat with friends in Singapore, we sell on e-bay to someone in Sweden, and we receive our e-mails on our Blackberry during our holidays in Marrakech. It’s gone so far that we now communicate almost exclusively by e-mail, even with our colleagues in the same office.

But this means that we all receive a huge amount of information from all over the world and most of the time way too much. It’s getting too noisy. We can find everything, but how valuable is this information? What kind of information can we trust? Who can we trust? And this is the same with the information we want to give. Does it still have some impact? Are we still credible? The battle for attention is open!

We will have to work even harder to be heard through the noise of an increasingly crowded and complex marketplace. In order to win the battle you need to be strong. You need to develop a strong brand and an attractive image adapted to your audience but in line with what you deliver. Once you get this you need to make sure that all your partners are talking the same language. This is essential.

There are many tools available if you want to be seen: advertising, sponsoring, PR, newsletters, internet, mail. None of these are better or worse than the other but remember: in order to be seen and recognized your audience must have seen you at least 7 times. The battle is hard and you’re not alone!

Internet today is becoming the most efficient, but also most widely used tool to get yourself seen. It’s a great way to give a lot of information, to be close to your audience in order to deliver a personal message. But how do you make sure they will find Make your message authenticyou? And once they find you, how do you make sure your audience is receiving the right message? How do you make sure they will trust you?

If you want to be seen, make sure they will find you on Google in the top 6 on the first page.  Once they find you, make your message clear and simple. People don’t read long text and want to find the information they’re looking for easily. Use the latest technology. Your message needs to be true. They have to trust you. Show you’re supported by everybody. Use testimonials. Give the word to the users. Look at the success of Tripadvisor. They love to hear what other users say. Show you’re environmentally friendly. Make your message authentic. Use user-generated videos.  YouTube has become the 5th most visited website in the world in only 2 years’ time. 42% of the users are between 35 and 54 years old. People want to think that it looks and feels real. There is no need for high quality. Make your sites alive. Use video podcast and change it every month. Use social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace and so on as a recommendation. And finally look at your statistics. How can you improve the various pages. Who goes to which page?  A good and interactive website will certainly increase your awareness and will certainly result in more business.

Another tool to make you stronger is partnerships. Partnerships help you to be seen more often by reducing your costs. Co-branding with big names makes your name bigger. Look at Best Cities, where all these individual major cities create an even stronger image by presenting themselves together.

Also working with the press is essential. It’s the best way to extend your budget. It gives you great exposure and again, creates a trust factor. Certainly these days, with the economic crisis, you have to be trusted in order to get some business. Look at the fashion world; even with this crisis, luxury goods are still doing well.
In our global world we now have the chance to be seen by many more people. If you want to survive in this huge jungle, you don’t have to say you’re the best, but others have to say you’re the best. Are we not in the hospitality world?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charles-Eric Vilain XIIII,

charles.eric@meeting-lille.com

Charles-Eric is active within the meetings industry for 20 years now.
He’s a destination marketeer for more than 16 years, first for the Brussels Convention Bureau (Belgium) and since almost 2 years as Managing Director of the Lille Convention Bureau (France) where he’s setting up a totally new structure.

He’s been an active Member in various Meeting Industry associations such as MPI and DMAI

1. President of the MPI Belgian chapter 2001-2002 where he doubled the membership in 1 year time.
2. Has been a nominee as  MPI Chapter leader of the year 2001-2002
3. Member of the jury of various famous awards like the 1st EIBTM Awards and is still the chair of the MPI Belgium Meetings Industry Awards.
4. Co-Vice Chair of the European DMAI Advisory board

Member of the board of various associations like

1. An annual charity event
2. Active within the local city community
3. Founder member of the Belgium and European Croquet Federations

Speaks fluently different languages such as French, Flemish and English
Active sportsman: Hockey, golf, skiing, climbing and croquet.
Points of interest: politics, discovering different cultures, music, Theatre, new technologies

Married since 1994 and  a proud father of a son (Alexandre – 10 years) and a lovely daughter (Laure-Anne – 7 years).