The Holiday Park That Was 45 Minutes From the Wrong Thing

I worked with a holiday park in a relatively isolated location, a good ninety minutes from the nearest city. Nearby is an iconic national park that attracts a lot of domestic and international visitors.

But they had a problem.

Forty five minutes from the wrong thing

They were about forty five minutes outside the national park, and there were other holiday parks much closer to the icons you'd go there to see. Why would you stay with them when you could stay next to the thing you came for?

That's a marketing problem. It needs a marketing strategy.

There was a second problem underneath it. They operated an excellent business in a fantastic beachside location, but the park presented mostly as a base for fishing trips. If that's what you're there for, great. If you're not interested in fishing, it isn't overly attractive, despite being a perfect place to stay if you plan on spending a couple of days exploring the national park.

That's a brand problem. It needs a brand strategy.

They had both, and they're worth separating, because most owners try to fix both with the same tool. Usually more posts.

A little piece of paradise

The brand strategy process revealed they didn't need to appeal specifically to the fishing groups at all. Those people would most likely choose the park anyway, because it's the best choice for fishing in that location. Instead, we needed to brand the park as a little piece of paradise. Somewhere visitors should almost feel they'd discovered on their own. We positioned it for people who love peace away from the crowds, who look for little pockets of paradise as they travel, and who still want to tick off the bucket list items.

Once that was adopted, it led to a significant shift in the visual identity. The logo, the styles, the signage and the uniforms all needed updating to carry it.

Two strategies, two jobs

The marketing strategy had a different job. It had to solve the perception of distance from the national park.

Then you merge the two, and the story looks less like a base for fishing trips and more like a little piece of paradise, the perfect base to explore the region. With both strategies in hand, the tactics almost write themselves. Supporting stories, maps, messaging and imagery to change how far away the place feels.

The resort lens

Here's the same thing from another angle. Remember the caravan park with the quiet shoulder season? Their marketing strategy was to partner with events running in those months. Now say they've written their brand strategy as "resort feels at caravan park prices".

Look at what happens to the tactics. The irresistible offer to event organisers no longer needs a discount. Instead it highlights how participants won't need to leave the resort after a long day. We'd suggested a web page explaining transport to the event. Through the new lens, ask how a resort would treat transport. It would run a shuttle. Should it be priced into the package? The web page is probably redundant.

And it doesn't stop at marketing. Resorts feel like there's always something on. How do you create that with a small team? Resorts are well signed. Is the park? The uniforms are relaxed. Would a resort's be?

Caring about the details matters because every touchpoint adds to a person's overall feeling about the brand.

Which problem do you have?

So before you reach for another post, ask which problem you actually have. Is it that the right people don't know about you, or don't believe something about you? That's marketing. Or is it that you're presenting as something other than what you're best at? That's brand.

Most quiet businesses have a bit of both. Very few have neither.