Destination marketing — Keeping it real.
Destination marketing’s rallying call is all about ‘finding new ways to tell the story’. But what does that really mean when destinations are all competing for that thin slice of audience attention? It has to become less about what you’re saying and more about how… and who’s saying it.
Who better to champion a place than its people? When it came to producing content for our island home, we found characters whose passion for the place shone out, and filmed them doing and talking about what they love.
People react best to real people. From photographers to all-weather swimmers, cliff-top shepherds, naturalists (not naturists… easy mistake), deli-owners, market traders, fish merchants, rock climbers and ape keepers, our ambassador stories let visitors see life through the lens of locals whilst keeping a polished real narrative that’s not fed from a marketing textbook.
Over the last few years, we’ve approached hundreds of people — locals with a story who’ve agreed to be part of telling the story of where they live. Nobody was paid. Every one of these ambassadors sat with us for a few hours and told us their island life story.
We listened while they talked about why the island is special to them; their memories, nostalgia, hidden gems and the places they feel drawn back to time and time again. Out of that discussion came a short heartfelt narrative — in their words and their phrases — about the effect the island has had on their life. You can see some of them here.
‘Like many other people, I’m not altogether at home in the limelight. That wasn’t an issue with The Observatory — they quickly put me at ease and the first time I saw the finished video a lump came to my throat. That takes some doing!’ The North Coast Shepherd
We know emotions are contagious. It’s hard to stay deadpan when you’re faced with someone who’s bursting with enthusiasm about their idea or their project. The same goes with seeing people talk about something or somewhere they love. It’s catching. The more emotionally expressive people are, the more easily they transfer their mood… often without us realising it’s happened.
From the first meeting with every character to filming them in their favourite places and recording their narrative, we kept everything relaxed, informal and fun. Obviously it was because we wanted to have fun as well — we love what we do and who we work with, so it’s always a pleasure. But there was another reason. The more relaxed people are, the more natural they are. And the more naturally they connect with viewers and transfer their enthusiasm for where they live.
It’s contagious — seeing and hearing someone talk about the things they love, mixed with a spike in oxytocin from feeling a real connection with someone. And suddenly, you’re falling in love with our island too.
To find out more about the real islanders we’ve had the pleasure working with, check out this https://www.jersey.com/ambassadors or view the complete regeneration of an island’s content here http://www.theobservatory.je/cs/visit-jersey
