Destination Granby targets anti-corporate identity in the marketing plan

The City of Granby wants to stand out from other mountain towns that it deems too corporate by emphasizing its independence.

“(We) are not such a big, corporate-owned resort town,” said Lauren Huber, general manager of Destination Granby. “We’re more of a small, independent, unique town, and people are really proud of that.”

Huber attended Granby’s June 13 board meeting with Griffin Galecreative director at Maly Marketing, based in Nebraska. Destination Granby hired Maly Marketing to create a new marketing campaign for Granby, centered on the word “independent”.

Huber said the new campaign will air this summer.

“This is a campaign that is going to be rolled out in different stages over the next year,” Huber said. “You’ll start seeing adverts already running around the 4th of July because we think Independence Day and our ‘independent’ campaign, you know, is the perfect time to kick it off.”

As she, Gale, and others working on the project spoke with members of the community, they found a common theme of independence in people, independent businesses, and the independent ski resort.

The mockups of the print ads have what Huber described at the board meeting as a sense of humor. A mockup for Two Pines Supply indicates that the store doesn’t carry everything an REI does, but carries things the locals need.

“Independence makes sense when you’re nestled in a small town 8,000 feet in the heart of Grand County,” the mockup reads. “You won’t find everything, but that’s kind of the point.”

The conversations Huber and others had with Granby residents inspired this voice, which remains consistent throughout the five print ad mockups. Huber said several community members told his team they didn’t want to be like Summit County.

“It comes from business owners,” Huber said. “It comes from community members (speaking) about the character, the community they were looking for, what drew them to Granby and why they stay in Granby.”

The campaign focuses on retail businesses in Granby, as traditional hospitality and tourism businesses in Granby have enough customers. Gale said in her presentation that the city is getting enough traffic and the campaign is looking to “capture more dollars” from people who are already passing through it.

“It’s kind of this thinking around sustainability and tourism,” Huber said. “We don’t want to overload the infrastructure we have here, but how do we move people to where we need them? »

An admin asked Gale what demographic the campaign was targeting, and he said the target, rather than being based on age or economic status, is people who want to try something new than their friends. did not. Huber said ads targeting this audience help them distinguish themselves from ads for other mountain towns.

Huber hopes the city appreciates and supports the campaign. She said other stakeholders had seen the mockups and approved them.

Digital ads will release first this summer, followed by print ads in the fall. Huber said Destination Granby hopes to install banners, signs and other physical elements starting this summer as well. The campaign will feature three or four businesses initially and will expand to more in the fall and winter.