Mississippi Ad a ‘Misstep’?

Calling marketing an art, not a science, an editorial in yesterday's Sun Herald tells the story of an ad run by the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and Visitor's Bureau, attempting to attract visitors coming into New Orleans for the upcoming Sugar Bowl.

"The radio spot, aired during the Southeastern Conference Championship game, portrayed a fictitious reservation handler at the “Hotel New Orleans” telling a caller that all the hotel rooms in New Orleans were sold out for the Sugar Bowl and that fans should make reservations on the Mississippi Coast instead.

The director of communications for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau immediately called foul on the ad, saying its central premise was wrong — indeed there are rooms available. The president of the NOCVB called the ad “false and misleading.” Perhaps even a greater problem involved the fact there is a Hotel New Orleans and its attorney is now in contact with the attorney for Harrison County and the MGCCVB. "

Adding insult to injury, Coast CVB director Richard Forester blew the mistake off:

“Oh, those poor little folks down there in New Orleans are afraid we’ll cut into their business,” Forester is quoted (by AP) as saying, then laughing and adding, “Well, we certainly do hope to be fairly significant competition for them.”

The editorial points out that, since Katrina, "there has been an ongoing effort by some to pit New Orleans and South Mississppi against each other" but that the neighbors will "survive, or fail, together." The editorial excuses the ad as "regrettable" and a "misstep" and excuses Forester for being a newcomer who "may not fully understand the need for comity and mutual support between the Coast and New Orleans."

The truth is, though, that marketing has quite a bit of science to it, regardless of what the Sun Herald editors believe. Responsible marketers do not use the name of a hotel (or a person, business, etc.) in a campaign without researching whether such an entity exists in the community, any more than they give a name to a product and design its logo without researching whether that name is already being used by a competitor.

Not following such basic marketing guidelines is what gets organizations sued. Or, at best, it can cause expensive campaigns to flop.

Competition is fine, and Mississippi would do well to advertise it's amenities to New Orleans visitors, but the MGCCVB forgot the basic research outlined in 'Marketing 101.' As director of a marketing organization, Forester should have known better instead of digging "the hole he was in even deeper," as the Sun Herald pointed out.