Branding a Tourist Destination: the Cayman Island case study ...

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makes one feel. And finally, allow value to be inferred. The focus on price points may not communicate valueas well as the focus on experience.Taking all the above information into consideration, Chowder Inc. developed the following marketingcommunications strategy statement: “The Cayman Islands is an intriguing, casually sophisticated, caring andresponsible destination that stands for self-made success and family values: delivering genuine experiences thatleave visitors feeling rewarded and creating lasting memories.” They segmented the market by season anddefined three segments: (1) year round, household income of $175,000 plus, adults age 35 – 64; (2) highseason, household income of $300,000 plus, adults age 35 – 64; and (3) summer / shoulder, household incomeof $100,000 plus, adults 25 – 54/64.The creative criteria that were established for the new communications campaign included the need tobe evolutionary and not revolutionary. This meant that Chowder Inc. would continue or relate back to the splitpage design of the 2004 “Close to home. Far from expected.” campaign as well as keeping this as the tagline.The campaign would also retain the iconic wave image and include stunning visuals with even more affluentappeal while considering making the three islands more prominent. The results of this campaign have yet to bemeasured but the Cayman government and Chowder Inc. have high expectations.Branded ContentChowder Inc. considers itself as a creative content agency that is devoted to the creation of originalcontent for advertising and entertainment. They have applied the concept of branded content to many of theirclients’ marketing communications strategies. Branded content, also known as branded entertainment is arelatively new form of advertising medium that blurs conventional distinctions between what constitutesadvertising and what constitutes entertainment. Branded content is essentially a fusion of the two into oneproduct intended to be distributed as entertainment content, albeit with a highly branded quality. Chowder Inc.has developed four programs as the Cayman Islands’ branded content strategy; (1) Cayman Islands Sea Schoolwith SpongeBob SquarePants; (2) National Football League (NFL) Cayman Challenge; (3) 2006 NFLQuarterback Challenge from the Cayman Islands; and (4) Stay Focused.In 2004 and 2005, children’s television giant, Nickelodeon, partnered with the Cayman Islands tocreate an on-island “sea school” for children visiting during summer vacation. Cayman Islands Department ofTourism licensed the use of SpongeBob SquarePants to promote the program and drive families to the islandsduring the traditionally slow summer period. The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism in 2004 formed apartnership with the National Football League to produce the hour-long NFL Cayman Challenge, pitting 8 NFLplayers against each other in a series of competitions on Grand Cayman. The program aired repeatedly on theNFL network and served as a 60-minute television commercial for the Cayman Islands. In 2007, the NFLQuarterback Challenge from the Cayman Islands was meant to build on the success of the NFL CaymanChallenge as the Cayman Islands agreed to host a skills competition featuring some of the NFL’s bestquarterbacks and receivers. Chowder Inc. co-produced the hour-long television special with NFL films.Unfortunately, the show was cancelled due to individual player scandals during that year. Stay Focused, aCayman Islands based non-profit organization dedicated to teaching handicapped children how to SCUBA diveasked Chowder Inc. to help tell its story. Chowder Inc. used its close relationship with the NFL to arrange forChicago Bears wide receiver, Brandon Lloyd to help host a filmed documentary. The segment was aired on theNFL Network and the National Broadcasting Corporation’s (NBC) “Football Night in America.”Chowder Inc.’s branded content activities for the Cayman Islands complements their traditionaltelevision, print, collateral and electronic executions that taken as a whole illustrate Chowder Inc.’s CaymanIslands integrated marketing communications strategy.ConclusionThis case study describes Chowder Inc. and the Cayman Islands’ government’s US marketingcommunications strategy over a six year period from the years 2002 through 2008. The terrorist attack ofSeptember 11, 2001 in the United States was still affecting the slowdown of US consumer holiday travel duringthe first half of 2002. The United States represents 80% of the Cayman Island’s tourism market with Canadaand Europe splitting the remaining 20 percent. The evolution of the Cayman Islands’ communicationscampaign is a direct result of market research, uncontrolled external factors, and the unique business model andphilosophy of Chowder Inc. Chowder Inc.’s business model is a relatively new model that assesses their clients’
innate uniqueness and applies it to a creative strategy involving traditional and non-traditional forms ofadvertising. Chowder Inc.’s business model is expressed in their tagline, “a creative mix.”The Cayman Islands people have proven to be a resilient population as was experienced in theirtourism rebound after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and their rebuilding effort of their tourism infrastructure afterthe devastation inflicted by Hurricane Ivan. Their resiliency and their strategic planning capabilities regardingtheir tourism planning and marketing communications strategies were impressive during the years 2002 -2008.The case study illustrates Chowder Inc.’s unique brand development model applied to the Cayman Island’stourism account and the success that they experienced after studying the competitive market, incorporating theeffects of uncontrollable external forces, and developing an effective marketing communications strategy.Chowder Inc. measured the perceptions and behaviours of the Cayman Islands’ market and appliedtheir One True Thing® assessment technique to identify the uniqueness of the Cayman Islands that informedChowder Inc.’s creative process. In addition, they considered the effects of both cognitive and emotivemessages and decided on an appropriate balance between emotional and cognitive creative and messagetechniques.Their assessments and strategies evolved during the six year period as external conditions changed.Chowder Inc. did not make drastic changes to the marketing communications programme even after HurricaneIvan; instead they evolved the past campaigns in order to keep a familiarity and consistency to the CaymanIslands brand. The current marketing communications campaign has yet to be measured but both Chowder Inc.and the Cayman Islands government are optimistic because of the Cayman Islands brand strength.ReferencesBelch, G. & Belch. M. (2001). Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing communicationsperspective, 5 th ed., McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York, NY.Duncan, T. (2002). IMC: Using advertising and promotion to build brands, International Ed. McGraw-Hill.New York, NY.Durkin, T. & Lawlor, M. (2001). The implications of the internet on the advertising-client relationship. TheServices Industries Journal, 21(2), 175-190.Fitzpatrick, K. (2005). The legal challenge of integrated marketing communication (IMC): Integratingcommercial and political speech. Journal of Advertising, 34(4), 93-102.Houman Andersen, P. (2001). Relationship development and marketing communication: An integrative model.The Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 16(3). 167-183.Ireland, L. (2002). Channel integration strategies. Target Marketing, 25(9), 34-36.Kim, I., Han, D. & Schultz, D. (2004). Understanding the diffusion of integrated marketing communications.Journal of Advertising Research. 44(1), 31-45.Kitchen, P. (2005). New paradigm – IMC – under fire. Competitiveness Review, 15(1), 72-80).Kitchen, P., Schultz, D. Kim, I, Han, D. & Li, T. (2004). Will agencies ever “get” (or understand) IMC?European Journal of Marketing, 38(11), 1417-1436.Kitchen, P. & Schultz, D. (1999). A multi-country comparison of the drive for IMC. Journal of AdvertisingResearch, 39(1), 21-38.Low, G. (2000). Correlates of integrated marketing communications. Journal of Advertising Research, 40(3),27-39.Maddox, K. (2003). Integrated marketing success stories. B to B, 90(10), 26-33.
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