Tourism branding effort seeks to give region image makeover

A new brand replacing the area’s “Cape Fear Coast” marketing moniker is on its way, but months of extensive research and planning will come first.

The creative agency recently selected to market the county as a tourism destination pitched its plan to re-brand the area at Wednesday night’s Tourism Development Authority meeting.

“Our goal is to find out those unique things that make this area different and remove ourselves from the competition for potential tourists,” said Andy Kovan, director of brand and creative strategy for The Brandon Agency.

The area’s existing brand was called into question by mayors and marketing representatives of the county’s three beach towns. They said “Cape Fear Coast” does not accurately represent Carolina Beach, Kure Beach and Wrightsville Beach, and the mayors jointly requested earlier this year that county tourism officials phase out the name or find a way to more prominently implement the names of each town into branding materials.

Officials from the Wilmington Cape Fear Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau already had the issue on their list of things for the new creative agency to tackle.

Kovan said the first step will be for the Myrtle Beach-based company to immerse itself in the area to observe tourists and residents from various perspectives.

Agency representatives also will receive input from people in the local travel and hospitality industry next week during strategic focus groups. Feedback will be used in developing a new brand, including a new logo, tagline and other advertising methods.

Article by Starnewsonline.com