NOMINATION FORM FOR COMPETITIVE TRAVEL MARKETING AWARDS Name of Nominee: Otter Tail Lakes Country Tourism (H2M Marketing) Key Contact: Nicholas Leonard, Director of Tourism and Economic Development Phone: (218) Advertising time line : 5/1/15 Campaign Budget $ 50,000 and Less: Campaign Budget: Over $ 50,000 and Less Than $ 100,000 Campaign Budget: Greater Than $ 100,000

1. PLEASE SUBMIT A ONE-PARAGRAPH SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT, STATING WHAT YOU WANTED TO ACCOMPLISH, WHAT YOU DID TO ACCOMPLISH IT, AND HOW WELL YOU SUCCEEDED. In , Otter Tail County and Otter Tail Lakes Country Tourism partnered with the University of Minnesota Morris Center for Small Towns and Minnesota Extension to collect data on visitor perceptions of Otter Tail County. Through that study, we learned that brand awareness was a significant challenge for our region. More specifically, although 91% of respondents could describe characteristics of Otter Tail County, almost none could recall a regional symbol or “brand.” Based on these findings, Otter Tail Lakes Country Tourism, Otter Tail County, and nearly a dozen area communities partnered together in order to develop a distinct and memorable brand position in order to catapult Otter Tail County into the ‘considered set’ of Minnesota vacation destinations. This new brand gave communities and local businesses a unifying element they could all rally behind. Equally important, the brand offered a compelling market position through advertising and social media that garnered considerable attention and engagement.

2. DESCRIBE YOUR PROJECT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES. GOAL #1: Develop a distinct and memorable brand position in order to give communities and local businesses a unifying element they can all rally behind. OBJECTIVES: a.Increase the number of business participating in the Otter Tail Lakes Country Tourism Association. b.Form partnerships with local communities in order to facilitate collaboration and financial investment in the FYIO campaign. c.Make collateral available for business and community co-branding opportunities.

2. DESCRIBE YOUR PROJECT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES. GOAL #2: Develop a distinct and memorable brand position in order to promote the region as a desirable place to visit, live and work. OBJECTIVES: a.Develop and market a fun, interactive, online quiz that allows users to engage with the new branding at FindYourInnerOtter.com. b.Market the new branding and FYIO quiz to increase overall website traffic to OtterTailLakesCountry.com. c.Market the new branding to increase organic and direct website traffic.

3. DESCRIBE THE TARGET AUDIENCE AND PRIMARY MARKETS. GOAL #1: The target audience included businesses, organizations and communities throughout Otter Tail County. GOAL #2: The target audience included:

4. DESCRIBE ANY SECONDARY MARKETS: None identified.

5. DESCRIBE THE EFFORT’S CREATIVE BACKGROUND AND STRATEGY. Otter Tail Lakes Country Tourism Partnered with H2M Marketing to develop a campaign that looked beyond 2015 and offered a solution for long-term success. As mentioned earlier, the strategy had two broad goals: GOAL #1: Develop a distinct and memorable brand position in order to give communities and local businesses a unifying element they can all rally behind. GOAL #2: Develop a distinct and memorable brand position in order to promote the region as a desirable place to visit, live and work.

Invokes a positive and playful feeling. The otter of enlightenment is the Dali Lama of laid back lakes living. The guru of the getaway. The Buddha of the backstroke. He’s here to help you discover your inner otter. Captures the idea that when you come to lakes country you can relax and be yourself. Gives local businesses a unifying element they can all rally behind. FIND YOUR INNER OTTER

Strategy 1: Regional Branding

FIND YOUR INNER OTTER

Evaluation to date…

6. DESCRIBE THE TRACKING SYSTEM USED TO MEASURE RESULTS OF THE PROJECT. GOAL #1: The tracking system included monitoring and business count of association participants, examination of revenue generated, and assessment of merchandising with FYIO branding and/or co-branding. GOAL #2: Google Analytics was used to monitor all website traffic pertaining to the marketing campaign.

7. DESCRIBE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND RESULTS OF THE PROJECT. (SPECIFICALLY, HOW MANY PEOPLE CAME TO YOUR COMMUNITY AS A RESULT OF YOUR PROMOTION?) GOAL #1: Develop a distinct and memorable brand position in order to give communities and local businesses a unifying element they can all rally behind. OBJECTIVES: a.Increase the number of business participating in the Otter Tail Lakes Country Tourism Association. Recruited 230 new business partners as part of the campaign (132% increase).

7. DESCRIBE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND RESULTS OF THE PROJECT. (SPECIFICALLY, HOW MANY PEOPLE CAME TO YOUR COMMUNITY AS A RESULT OF YOUR PROMOTION?) GOAL #1: Develop a distinct and memorable brand position in order to give communities and local businesses a unifying element they can all rally behind. OBJECTIVES: b.Form partnerships with local communities in order to facilitate collaboration and financial investment in the FYIO campaign. Developed collaborative relationship with 10 Otter Tail County communities which resulted in $32,000 financial investment. Overall budget increased 87%.

7. DESCRIBE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND RESULTS OF THE PROJECT. (SPECIFICALLY, HOW MANY PEOPLE CAME TO YOUR COMMUNITY AS A RESULT OF YOUR PROMOTION?) GOAL #1: Develop a distinct and memorable brand position in order to give communities and local businesses a unifying element they can all rally behind. OBJECTIVES: c.Make collateral available for business and community co-branding opportunities. Dozens of Otter Tail County businesses and organizations have utilized the new branding for marketing, retail and merchandising, and much more. FYIO merchandise can also be purchased at our Zazzle store. (

7. DESCRIBE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND RESULTS OF THE PROJECT. (SPECIFICALLY, HOW MANY PEOPLE CAME TO YOUR COMMUNITY AS A RESULT OF YOUR PROMOTION?) GOAL #2: Develop a distinct and memorable brand position in order to promote the region as a desirable place to visit, live and work. OBJECTIVES: a.Develop and market a fun, interactive, online quiz that allows users to engage with the new branding at FindYourInnerOtter.com. FindYourInnerOtter.com had 13,520 sessions between 5/29 and 11/22 (11,419 new visitors) Just under half of the sessions were from MN users. The remaining users comprised every US state/territory and 49 other countries.

7. DESCRIBE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND RESULTS OF THE PROJECT. (SPECIFICALLY, HOW MANY PEOPLE CAME TO YOUR COMMUNITY AS A RESULT OF YOUR PROMOTION?) GOAL #2: Develop a distinct and memorable brand position in order to promote the region as a desirable place to visit, live and work. OBJECTIVES: b.Market the new branding and FYIO quiz to increase overall website traffic to OtterTailLakesCountry.com. Overall web sessions for OtterTailLakesCountry.com increased 35%; users increased 36%; pageviews increased 19% compared to same period in However, when paid search is excluded from year-to-year comparison, overall web traffic to OtterTailLakesCountry.com increased 80%. When both FindYourInnerOtter.com and OtterTailLakesCountry.com are examined, overall website traffic increased 87%.

7. DESCRIBE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND RESULTS OF THE PROJECT. (SPECIFICALLY, HOW MANY PEOPLE CAME TO YOUR COMMUNITY AS A RESULT OF YOUR PROMOTION?) GOAL #2: Develop a distinct and memorable brand position in order to promote the region as a desirable place to visit, live and work. OBJECTIVES: c.Market the new branding to increase organic and direct website traffic. Organic website traffic to OtterTailLakesCountry.com has increased 59%. Direct website traffic to OtterTailLakesCountry.com has increased 105%.

8. DETAIL THE EXACT BUDGET FOR THE PROGRAM, AND HOW IT BREAKS OUT. FIGURES SHOULD TOTAL THE AMOUNT OF THE EXACT BUDGET.

9. WHAT TRACKING METHODS DID YOU USE WITHIN THE PROGRAM AND WHAT WERE YOUR KEY RESULTS FOR THE EFFORT? GOAL #1: The tracking system included monitoring and business count of association participants, examination of revenue generated, and assessment of merchandising with FYIO branding and/or co-branding. Recruited 230 new business partners into the association (132% increase). Developed collaborative relationship with 10 Otter Tail County communities which resulted in $32,000 financial investment. Overall budget increased 87%. Dozens of Otter Tail County businesses and organizations have utilized the new branding for marketing, retail and merchandising, and much more. GOAL #2: Google Analytics was used to monitor all website traffic pertaining to the marketing campaign. Overall website traffic increased 87%. Organic website traffic to OtterTailLakesCountry.com has increased 59%. Direct website traffic to OtterTailLakesCountry.com has increased 105%.