On one of our special brand positioning and marketplace development projects, KBC provided marketing management, branding, and public relations development to support The Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival, a national cultural festival based in Tampa Bay, in its objective to position itself within the regional and national marketplace.
Key targeted brand strategy and developmental goals of the project were to:
- extend and create a substantive experience event beyond a weekend Festival;
- increase brand awareness and encourage diverse participation among non-attending community members;
- strengthen annual Festival event participation, connectivity, and education among existing community participants;
- drive brand awareness and increase brand visibility beyond the Tampa Bay region;
- connect visitors to the brand and create an engaging, educational, and consistent visitor experience; and
- link visitors to partner activities and cost-saving hotel room stays through Visit Tampa Bay.
Incorporated into KBC’s dual-campaign approach was the establishment and development of the organization’s first short-term and long-term strategic brand plans that would enhance longevity and sustainability throughout the stages of brand growth.
KBC worked directly with Visit Tampa Bay (the Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau) and formed inter- and intra-agency relationships among such municipalities as Hillsborough County and its Tourist Development Council and the City of Tampa as well as such destination agencies as Visit Florida to accomplish a targeted goal of increasing room night stays. Our process further incorporated hotel bookings, discounts, links to partner activities, and links within the Festival’s newly designed website – a targeted brand strategy – to offer visitors a one-click, unique destination experience of the Tampa Bay area.
As a part of the targeted development developmental approach, KBC collaboratively brainstormed uniquely distinct ideas to highlight the Festival’s 10th anniversary, to significantly establish the organization both in the local and national marketplace, and to give it a platform for sustained growth and visibility: 1) the creation and curated development of Signature Legacy Events and 2) cross-collaboration and partnership with ESSENCE MAGAZINE and The ESSENCE Festival to garner increased exposure and national brand awareness – which were achieved and were direct successes of targeted public relations, marketplace development, and market penetration strategies.
Key marketing services further included inter- and intra-agency collaboration; creative design, creative direction, and collaborative design; the establishment and incorporation of social media branding; email marketing; and collaborative website development.
Additional targeted marketing services included media buys; public service announcements; market research methods including street team deployment, customer experience survey development, data and demographic measurements, and collaboration with Bonn Marketing Research Group, Inc.
Brand successes additionally included distinguished and elevated brand value among community partners, vendors, and sponsors; increased annual local Festival participation; and brand scalability and sustainability.