After hiring SMG to develop a county-wide tourism marketing plan, the Coalition needed a brand to differentiate Inyo County from the competition and to use in all of its marketing programs to create one unifying theme for the entire destination.
SMG was retained to develop a destination brand for
Inyo County that included a positioning statement (tag line) and image.
SMG conducted a brand building exercise with the Coalition,
County Supervisors, land managers and a cross-section of community members. Using this input along with a review of
Inyo County’s competitive set brands,
SMG developed three strategic options that were sent via email survey to the Coalition visitor database to vote on the image and tag line.
From the tourism assessment SMG conducted to formulate the Coalition marketing plan, SMG understood that the greatest challenge was educating visitors that Inyo County is located in California not Nevada. (Many people think that Death Valley and the Eastern Sierra are in Nevada.) To correct this misconception, SMG created options that would clearly represent a geographic sense of place and an emotional state of mind for Inyo County. The brand also had to be completely different from the competition and defendable over the long-term.
“The Other Side of California” and a vintage old world poster theme were chosen. The tag line was developed to clarify the geographic location, and to promote the distinguishable Inyo County experience and attractions that are completely different from more well-known California attractions such as the beach, wine country and Disneyland.
Together, the tag line and image effectively capture the timeless, undeveloped appeal of Inyo County, and the extreme geographic diversity including the oldest living organisms on the planet (Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest), the highest elevation in the 48 states (Mt. Whitney: 14,497 feet) and the lowest (Badwater, Death Valley: 282 feet below sea level). According to SMG analysis, Inyo County’s undeveloped open space and iconic tourism assets are primary strategic points of difference and high indicators of visitor awareness.
