Beyond the “new marketing activities”, public relations activities should always be included within the marketing system. No matter how the new technologies enable multi-sided communication and cooperation, there is always a need for “human touch”, so long as we intend to strengthen relationships and build emotional connections. Some of these could be:
- Participate in mission-driven-related and industry events and boards, to build the destination brand prestige, market the destination as a truly mission driven initiative and to make new connections.
- Collaborate in mission-driven-related and industry magazines, blogs, and other publications to market the destination’s mission driven value proposition and build thought leadership in this field.
- Organize industry related events such as conferences, congresses, workshops, etc. both to market the destination within the industry stakeholders and to make new connections.
- Partner with business schools to hire marketing students as trainees or to do thesis on marketing issues. They may bring in new ideas, and it helps marketing the destination to potential employees.
- Partner with non-profit organizations related to the destination’s mission, and cooperate with them in mission related programs. This may be an important source of volunteers and potential value driven employees.
What other tactics would you consider?
