Tulsa Tourism - Who Markets Tulsa? To Whom?

[PonderInc]

I've been doing some research on "heritage tourism" which helps people discover  interesting places that are notable for their history, unique architecture, etc. 

After the National Trust for Historic Preservation came to town last year, I expected that Tulsa would immediately jump on the heritage travel bandwagon.  But a quick search of the NTHP list of "distinctive places" for heritage travel in Oklahoma lists two cities: Bartlesville and Guthrie.

Hello?  Tulsa?

I looked at the Oklahoma Travel website, and was intrigued that when you're searching for travel info on Tulsa, it directs you to the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce home page (where the "breakfast network" group and "human resources forum" don't exactly make me want to jump in my car and travel here for vacation).

Eventually, you'll find a link to the CVB, which is better.  But their website doesn't inspire much either.  (Those "I Am" icons have got to be the least effective marketing tool ever!  It looks like my computer's desktop: "Let's see... do I want to travel to Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat today...?")

Are you excited about Art Deco?  This photo will really inspire you. (/sarcasm)


But if you click on the link to "View all Art Deco" you get the following list:
1. Mayo Hotel
2. Mayo Motor Inn

Sigh....

[Rico]

"I looked at the Oklahoma Travel website, and was intrigued that when you're searching for travel info on Tulsa, it directs you to the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce home page (where the "breakfast network" group and "human resources forum" don't exactly make me want to jump in my car and travel here for vacation)."

Careful you wouldn't want to awake the keepers at the gate....

The ire of the "Executive Order" contract can be quite extreme.

To say nothing of the TYpros that will inherit the Hotel Motel Tax fund.

[TheArtist]

 Help me create an Art-Deco Museum for Tulsa, we will promote and enhance our deco heritage. We will have the only real art-deco museum in the country (the one in Miami isnt really a museum per say as far as I can tell ), we could create the worlds premier, greatest, largest, etc. Art-Deco museum and promote it as such. If you like art-deco, Tulsa will be one of the, if not the, top dream destination/pilgrimage site. This is one of the few things we can hype about our city, and not be stretching the truth beyond defendable credibility lol. Its a natural fit for Tulsa and we could, and should, do it. If we dont its a sad sad statement.   

[cannon_fodder]

http://visittulsa.com/index.asp

That's the best website I found while Googling.  I didn't try to find associated search terms that I would expect:  Art Deco, Native American Culture, Storm Chasing, casinos, music, lakes, music festivals (Rocklahoma!  Country Fever, DFest), shows  . . . whatever search terms SHOULD be associated with Tulsa tourism (giant naked Indian statue).   There's a ton of stuff happening that could draw people in regionally for a long weekend or whatever.  Come for Paul McCartney, stay an extra day for [insert things here].

Also TravelOK has the NorthEast tourism pamphlet which has a lot of Tulsa stuff (7 meg pdf):
http://www.travelok.com/hm_banners/NEOKHistLandscapes-OT-J156.pdf

/brief search. I agree it could be marketed better and that I really don't know HOW it is being marketed.

[PonderInc]

Here's an example of what I mean.  I was looking at the Oklahoma Travel Guide, which is a big, glossy publication.  Based only on the ads below, which one makes you want to go there?

Here's the Tulsa ad:


And here's the OKC ad:

[Townsend]

Good catch.

Tulsa hire an OKC company to advertise Tulsa tourism?

[PonderInc]

You might be on to something there... 

The "urban magic" section of the Oklahoma Travel Guide includes an incredible photo of the Skirvin Hotel at night (lit up in all its newly restored glory) that takes up most of two pages.  Then, down in the lower right corner, there's a 2" square (or smaller?) photo of some weird "artsy" sign in the Blue Dome district that I've never even noticed before.  (In the parking lot across from Tsunami?)

That's suppposed to make me want to go to downtown Tulsa?

I don't know if there's an OKC bias, or if the Tulsa folks just aren't talking to the OK Tourism folks.  Or perhaps they fired the official Tulsa photographer back in the early 1990's?  (I bet their picture of the Philbrook garden is at least 10 years old.)

If it were up to me, I'd ask dsjeffries to inundate the OK Tourism people in OKC with amazing photographs of Tulsa.  (Why does he have so many great shots posted on Flickr, but they can't seem to find a decent one to publish?)

[Rico]

A little current info on Tulsa Tourism..

The report from the TMCC to the City Council earlier this year.

Then there are these... also from earlier this year. Report given to the City Council.(p.s. the date says 2007 but they may have been short of paper)

Myself; I don't give a rats a$$ that the Chamber markets the area. But are we getting the proper amount of bang for the buck?

[waterboy]

"From Cowboy to Contemporary, Hip to Historical..."

What a great tag line! I always thought Tulsa was the more creative fountain of word pictures. That just rocks. Perhaps the creatives in this city need a kick in the butt. Frankly, they have more to work with than we do as far as marketing to outsiders. But visitors to OKC must suffer from an intense case of letdown when they actually go there. We on the other hand, with our lowered expectations, always come out with a positive response...."nice little town".

[dsjeffries]

You might be on to something there... 

The "urban magic" section of the Oklahoma Travel Guide includes an incredible photo of the Skirvin Hotel at night (lit up in all its newly restored glory) that takes up most of two pages.  Then, down in the lower right corner, there's a 2" square (or smaller?) photo of some weird "artsy" sign in the Blue Dome district that I've never even noticed before.  (In the parking lot across from Tsunami?)

That's suppposed to make me want to go to downtown Tulsa?

I don't know if there's an OKC bias, or if the Tulsa folks just aren't talking to the OK Tourism folks.  Or perhaps they fired the official Tulsa photographer back in the early 1990's?  (I bet their picture of the Philbrook garden is at least 10 years old.)

If it were up to me, I'd ask dsjeffries to inundate the OK Tourism people in OKC with amazing photographs of Tulsa.  (Why does he have so many great shots posted on Flickr, but they can't seem to find a decent one to publish?)

Thanks for the plug, Ponder! On the subject of marketing and photography (two things I think I do pretty well), I've always wondered who was selling Tulsa and who they were trying to reach by using photos from the 1980s.  Actually, Ponder, you might be interested to know that part of the reason I have so many thousands of photos of Tulsa on flickr is precisely because I saw that very few great photos popped up when I typed "Tulsa architecture", "Tulsa skyline", "Tulsa downtown", etc. into Google, Flickr or any kind of travel website. Most photos at the time were very old, of poor quality, or were just photos of models or crayon pencils (type "Tulsa" into flickr and see what pops up first).

So I set out to document the city and present it in a dynamic way to anyone searching for photos of Tulsa. I would say that it's been pretty successful, too. 8 of my top 10 photos with the highest views are of Tulsa, with the top photo having been viewed more than 11,350 times. I'm hoping to change the way outsiders view the city, and doing so in small ways like having great images pop up in searches. It's small, but I think it makes a difference. I get so many comments from people saying, "Wow! That's in Tulsa?!?!?", "I never knew Tulsa had such tall, great buildings", or "I've got to visit that place!". That makes it worth it, stolen pictures and all .

If I can inundate the Oklahoma Department of Tourism with photos of Tulsa (they always seem to have the oldest and worst) or even our local agencies, just tell me who. I'd be more than happy.

One problem that keeps coming back time and time again is no follow-through with our marketing campaigns--we present things like the "i am" campaign and then never complete the websites (or even basic lists of art deco buildings, for crying out loud!), buy ad space in magazines, newspapers, travel websites, or even radio and television spots.

For example, how many times have you heard the cheesy Kansas City radio commercial with its own theme song?

Now, how many times have you gone anywhere and heard (or seen) any kind of promo for Tulsa?

Especially with the economy like it is and with people taking much shorter trips, Tulsa should be reaching out to every place within 5 hours of here, sticking its neck out and saying, "Hey...Hey!... HEY! Look at me! Come to Tulsa!".

Instead, we place "i am" billboards all around our own city. Now that's effective (/sarcasm).

While most other places are busy putting their best foot forward, we're busy kicking ourselves with our best foot. It's quite distracting.

[pmcalk]

"From Cowboy to Contemporary, Hip to Historical..."

What a great tag line! I always thought Tulsa was the more creative fountain of word pictures. That just rocks. Perhaps the creatives in this city need a kick in the butt. Frankly, they have more to work with than we do as far as marketing to outsiders. But visitors to OKC must suffer from an intense case of letdown when they actually go there. We on the other hand, with our lowered expectations, always come out with a positive response...."nice little town".

What??? And get rid of that great tag line "comfortably cosmopolitan"?

I have always thought the "I am" campaign was the worst I have ever seen.  The first billboard I saw was the one with part of a bicycle tire ("I am ____ miles of bike paths).  I almost had a wreck trying to figure out what the picture was, and what it meant.  I'm no advertising expert, but isn't the point to actually let the customer know what you are selling?  Who in the world came up with the idea to crop all of the pictures so you don't actually know what's there?  Can't wait to visit "ins room cing" on my next vacation (If I were Cains, I sure would be angry).  I live here, and I can't identify some of the pictures.  The point of advertising a vacation spot is to make the viewer want to BE THERE.  How could anyone want to be in Tulsa based on those pictures, when you can't even figure out what they are pictures of? 

[SXSW]

Thanks for the plug, Ponder! On the subject of marketing and photography (two things I think I do pretty well), I've always wondered who was selling Tulsa and who they were trying to reach by using photos from the 1980s.  Actually, Ponder, you might be interested to know that part of the reason I have so many thousands of photos of Tulsa on flickr is precisely because I saw that very few great photos popped up when I typed "Tulsa architecture", "Tulsa skyline", "Tulsa downtown", etc. into Google, Flickr or any kind of travel website. Most photos at the time were very old, of poor quality, or were just photos of models or crayon pencils (type "Tulsa" into flickr and see what pops up first).

So I set out to document the city and present it in a dynamic way to anyone searching for photos of Tulsa. I would say that it's been pretty successful, too. 8 of my top 10 photos with the highest views are of Tulsa, with the top photo having been viewed more than 11,350 times. I'm hoping to change the way outsiders view the city, and doing so in small ways like having great images pop up in searches. It's small, but I think it makes a difference. I get so many comments from people saying, "Wow! That's in Tulsa?!?!?", "I never knew Tulsa had such tall, great buildings", or "I've got to visit that place!". That makes it worth it, stolen pictures and all .

If I can inundate the Oklahoma Department of Tourism with photos of Tulsa (they always seem to have the oldest and worst) or even our local agencies, just tell me who. I'd be more than happy.

One problem that keeps coming back time and time again is no follow-through with our marketing campaigns--we present things like the "i am" campaign and then never complete the websites (or even basic lists of art deco buildings, for crying out loud!), buy ad space in magazines, newspapers, travel websites, or even radio and television spots.

For example, how many times have you heard the cheesy Kansas City radio commercial with its own theme song?

Now, how many times have you gone anywhere and heard (or seen) any kind of promo for Tulsa?

Especially with the economy like it is and with people taking much shorter trips, Tulsa should be reaching out to every place within 5 hours of here, sticking its neck out and saying, "Hey...Hey!... HEY! Look at me! Come to Tulsa!".

Instead, we place "i am" billboards all around our own city. Now that's effective (/sarcasm).

While most other places are busy putting their best foot forward, we're busy kicking ourselves with our best foot. It's quite distracting.

This type of organic marketing could actually be more successful as it reaches people via the internet, and more importantly, Google.  Skyscraperpage is another great medium for promoting cities and has a huge membership, actually one of the largest city-related forums on the internet with members from all over the U.S. and world.  They would adore your pics over there.  I have posted Tulsa pics there before and people (as usual) are always so surprised and amazed by our city.  There is a fantastic aerial photo thread over there http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=158609 that really was an awesome 'organic' marketing tool for all the people that viewed it, and more of that is needed.

[TheArtist]

Yes, I do a lot of stuff on Skyscraperpage and would love to see DScott to a photo thread or two on it.

[Townsend]

Looking at OK tourism twitter...the last time Tulsa was mentioned was June 24th

[PonderInc]

What??? And get rid of that great tag line "comfortably cosmopolitan"?

I have always thought the "I am" campaign was the worst I have ever seen.  The first billboard I saw was the one with part of a bicycle tire ("I am ____ miles of bike paths).  I almost had a wreck trying to figure out what the picture was, and what it meant.  I'm no advertising expert, but isn't the point to actually let the customer know what you are selling? 

I, too, drove past that billboard many times, trying to figure it out.  "What the heck IS THAT?!"  Ugh.

The examples of our I AM campaign versus the OKC photo are a good example of what real estate people mean by "staging."  The goal, when selling your house, is to stage it in such a way that people can IMAGINE THEMSELVES LIVING THERE.  They can see your house, and immediately picture themselves in that setting.

I look at the OKC picture (of a town I don't even really like), and I think: "That looks cool.  I'd go there.  I want to walk around there." 

I look at the I AM campaign, and I think: "Uh.  Whatever."  And then I turn the page without realizing that it's supposed to capture the best of Tulsa.

A couple years ago, Southwest Airlines magazine did a cover story on Tulsa.  It was fantastic, and it was the first time I'd ever seen anyone market our city properly.  It made me proud of our city, and it made me think: "Yes!  Beautiful!  Cool!"